Rally Driving – 2012 Expert Cup – WA State Rally Championship
Demonstrating the popularity of Wellington Dam’s logging roads, the 2012 Experts Cup Rally had a good field. 35 State Rally Championship (WARC) teams and 9 Clubman Rally Series (Clubman Cup) teams traveled to Collie in the Southwestern States for round 3 of the respective championships. The Expert Cup was again a full pace rally and used 4 special stages which were repeated for a total competitive distance of just over 115km.
Long before because I lined up at the first time control, the organizers had a lot of work ahead of them. Logging operations in the forest, along with some severe storms in the area, had made some of the paths marked out for the stages literally impassable. Downed trees and other debris had to be quickly cleared by organizers and volunteers to allow the route to be ready for the start of recce on Saturday morning.
The rally started as scheduled in mid-afternoon in dry weather. Leading the field was Lee McIlroy/Ash Ridden in his Spec C WRX. Be the first because on the road it is usually a disadvantage. The first couple of cars act as a road sweeper, removing the loose top layer from the surface for the following cars and also providing guidance for braking and corner lines. In this case, McIlroy/Ridden drove well in the first two stages despite the road position, setting top 3 stage times.
In SS2, Gavin Morgan/Chris Parish were the first to duel on the slippery clay surface. The pair were just outside the top 3 in the first stage and were running well in their Spec C WRX when an altercation with the scenery damaged the Subaru too much to continue. The retirement continued a run of bad luck for the team which had just cured an electric gremlin that had forced retirement at two previous rallies.
SS2 also caused complaints from brothers Mark and Steve Davies. The guys lost 3rd gear in the second stint before their WRX transmission stuck in 2nd gear on SS3 and forced an early retirement. The duo were understandably dejected after strong results at the Forest and Donnelly rallies earlier this year. Brett Tolomei and Owain Thomas also retired on SS2 when their Mazda 323 Familia succumbed to mechanical problems.
By the time the teams returned for the first service, it was apparent that the loose conditions were already scarring some cars. Even seasoned competitors had had trouble holding on in places. McIlroy/Ridden were going to find out how loose the roads were on SS3. In a left-hand curve, the pair slid slightly into a window and stuck the car on a small stump. Despite a great effort, the car could not be recovered and both knew their career was over. Anthony Chudleigh/Matthew Hare (Hyundai Excel) found the stage in SS3, retiring with damaged front suspension and Lea Welch/Justin Smith retired in SS4 with a gearbox problem in their V8 Ford Falcon.
Although the weather had been dry all day, it was not hot. As the day progressed towards the end of the afternoon and the beginning of the night, the temperature dropped rapidly. The weather definitely favored the turbocharged cars and tire wear was not a major issue either.
SS6 would see the end of the V8 Ford/Holden battle with zero. Kiel Douglas/Anthony Paynter (Holden Commodore) found the same spot on the same corner that McIlroy/Ridden had found earlier. This time, however, the orange Commodore would go straight off the road and encounter the stump, causing some suspension damage and retirement. SS6 also saw the retirement of Rainer Offermann/Tim Lennon. The team had a brush with the scenery on SS5 and on SS6 the lights on their WRX were not up to the challenge of the night stages which forced a retirement.
The rally had been eventful for many competitors, some of whom had thrown their all into the event to simply finish. Carlos Deltoro/Darren Wiese had front suspension issues for most of the rally which kept their service team entertained and Julian Wright/Niall Doherty appeared to be having trouble in their Datsun 1200. Returning after a long break from competition, Duncan Leighton with Marc Louden together pulled off some impressive panel damage amidships in their Ford MK1, and John Farrell/Chris Randell also found the scene in their WRX.
In the Experts cup a new timing arrangement was tested in parallel to the traditional system. Through the use of transponders fitted to each car, a series of receivers throughout the stages and in the service park allowed for faster collection of stage times. The battle-weary top ten were in.
John Clinton/Shaun Brennan took their Lancer Evo 9 to tenth behind Dylan King/Andrew Hannigan (Ford) in ninth. A big battle with King/Hannigan resulted in Blair Pugh/Paul Helm taking 1st 2WD and 8th in their Ford. Steve Oxley/Michael Wood brought their current Impreza STI up to seventh behind Garry Whittle/Ryan Doe (WRX) in sixth. Before the rally started, Whittle/Doe were unsure if they could start the event with a suspected coolant leak. Fortunately, their service team fixed the issue and allowed the pair to compete and finish in the top 10. John O’Dowd/Ben Searcy (Spec C WRX) provided another steady drive to take fifth place and increase their points run in WARC. Alex Stone/Hanna Drury (WRX) led for most of the rally. In SS7, a faulty turbo kicked in and dropped them from 1st to 4th place. The finish allowed enough points to hold a WARC lead. Third place went to Doug Tostevin and Tammy Adams in their WRX. The pair had been consistent within the top 6 stage times all day and were the only team to win an Expert Cup trophy in 2012. Travis White/Greg Flood had to overcome their own problems during the rally. The pair had it all figured out on the final stage, setting the fastest time and taking their PWRC-spec Lancer Evo 9 to second. The gap between second and third place was very close at just 6 seconds. Leigh Hynes/Stuart Percival used their “charge hard early” strategy to try and gain an advantage. A spin on SS2 and a busy day for the service team showed that his pace under the conditions was on the edge. With Stone/Drury out of contention for the final two stages, Hynes/Percival could slow the pace enough to allow a straight run to the finish and the 1st place trophy.