A small report about a fantastic weekend of racing at Condobolin
The RV2 was prepared by myself and Peter Calvert with the necessary equipment for a cross country rally - blinkers, stop and tail lights, etc. plus the absolutely essential navigational aids.
Friday
We calibrated the trip metre and then had scrutineering in the evening in the main street of Condobolin.
Saturday
An early start with briefing at 6 am, then off to prologue which was about 11 km.
There were 5 competitive sections totalling 326 km and 161 km of transport.
After the prologue it only took about 30 minutes to sort out the start order.
The longest section was 130 km which finished at the lunch break with 45 minutes to service the cars.
There were 3 service breaks during the day and the finishing time was about 4 pm.
The tracks at Condo are a good mix of fast fence-line runs, farm tracks and tight-wooded 1st gear trails of up to 5 km long.
The route instructions were very easy to read and precise but they kept Peter (navigator) busy, especially when there were several instructions in a short distance.
As well as navigating, the navigator has to open and close gates that have a yellow marker on them. There were about 12 gates in this year's event.
At the end of the day I was in about 8th place auto, Ian Irons and Gordon Tardrew 16th, and Steve Taylor and Heather Sherlock 17th.
Sunday
Start was at 7.30 am from the showground with a short 5 km road section to the start of a 115 km competitive stage.
This stage caused us a bit grief due to 3 flat tyres.
At the 60 km point we got 2 flat tyres on the navigator's side.
We must have hit something nasty but we didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.
We only had one spare, so on the rear it went.
At about 90 km I clipped the other front so then I had 2 flat front tyres.
We managed to get to the end of the stage okay.
Lucky our trusted service crew, Grant Walker, was at the end of the stage with all our spares.
There were 5 competitive stages of 331 km and transport 103 km.
Other than the flat tyres the car went fantastic and we all had a great time.
It was dusty and dry but they give you plenty of time between cars and if you get caught behind someone you get on the radio and tell them to move over.
So overall at the end of the weekend we came home in 7th place outright, Ian 13th and Steve 17th after a flat tyre and an electrical issue
A special thanks goes out to Peter for navigating and to Grant for being my service crew.
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