Akademos 2002

Akademos 2002 turned out to be a reconfirmation of Murphy's Law for the Never Say Dai Rally Team. It all started to go wrong on the way to the event, with the tail-shaft center bearing on our tow car collapsing, making for a very slow, noisy, shuddery, nerve racking drive over the hills.

All the cars assembled in Perkins street, Alexandra before the event, so interested spectators and locals could have a look at the cars and chat with the competitors. I was chuffed to have a number of people wander over and congratulate us the teams web site ( www.dairally.cjb.net ).

With most VCRS events being navigational, our time pre-event is usually taken up plotting our route and double checking vias, however, as the Akademos was full route chart it was easy for those of us at the tail end of the field to get carried away with the free time we had before we started. With a little under an hour before we were due to start, I walked away from the crowds and colour of the assembly area, to have a final read through the notes and to focus on the drive ahead.

I had not driven the Charade in anger since the TCV, nearly three months earlier, so we took SS1 pretty quietly. We were trying out some new tyres and I was just trying to get a feel for the car and learn the characteristics of the roads. For the most part the roads were dry, but a few corners with overhanging trees still hadn't dried out from the weeks rain and the road would suddenly go very slippery in places.

We spun on one of these damp bends. A right hander was a little longer than I anticipated, and as we hit a damp patch on the road the back of the car started to step out. At this early stage of the rally I thought it better to stamp on the brakes and turn the car around on the spot, loosing a little time, than to try to ride it out and probably end up backwards in the trees.

We went on the attack in SS2 and had a great run, only to come unstuck on the second last bend, which (just our luck) was a spectator point. If you were to talk to me, I could give you the slow motion, every detail explanation of exactly what happened, but to put it simply - I got it wrong!! We started to under steer mid way thought the fast left hander. A quick dab on the brakes failed to make the back come around. A second, harder dab on the brakes simply locked the front wheels and we skidded towards the outside of the corner. I looked up to see startled spectators scrambling from their vantage points. The right hand front wheel dropped into the ditch on the outside and we slammed into a bank. The impact tipped the car up and threw it back onto the road, bending the steering, right hand front suspension and buckling a rim. The car came to rest, thankfully on all four wheels (albeit not all pointing in the same direction), Deb shouted at me "keep going, go go!!" so I did.

We limped into service to repair the damage as best we could. We cut into our late time a little incurring a 1:25min penalty, but we got a new wheel on and the steering pointed forward. We left service to a small round of applause from those that were watching the frantic work and headed off with the only reminders of the stage 2 excursion being a noisy front wheel bearing and an off center steering wheel.

We were very cautious on SS3, as the right hand tie rod had been wound right out to within a couple of turns of its end to compensate for the bent steering knuckle. We were also unsure if we had done any unseen damage, however the car lasted the stage, even withstanding a couple of big bumps. The offset steering wheel was very disconcerting, but I soon got a feel for what was straight and where to put my hands to avoid fouling on the spokes.

On SS4 we had a slow puncture, but managed to drive out of the stage without losing much time. After SS5 we got another chance to service. We fine tuned the repairs from the earlier incident, double checked everything and put the last of our useable tyres in as the spare.

As we left service the rain began to fall, and by the time we reached the start of SS6 it was pouring down. While this made the roads ahead slippery at least now the roads were consistent, with no surprises, just slippery all the way. Sure that the car was going to hold together, we pushed fairly hard this stage, all the while being conscious that we could hope for no more than a finish, hopefully for a couple of points in class A. Despite having mixed matched wheels on the front the car, it handled well, and this time I didn't make a mistake.

Just when it looked like the event would finish on a high note for us, everything went sour. A mis-read/mis-understood/mis-interpreted (take your pick) instruction at about 4km saw us head up the wrong road (no bunting) for a couple of kms, before a period of disorientation, and then, finally, finding our way back onto the correct route.

By the time we arrived back at rally HQ after the final liaison stage, Deb was in shock. Not knowing what had caused the error, we were frustrated that it had cost us so much time. There was some debate over weather or not we would be classed as finishers after difficulties at the finish control of SS7, but after discussions with the appropriate officials we were assured that we had in fact finished. (breath a big sigh of relief!!!)

Though the whole event went terribly wrong for us, we managed to place 6th in "class A" just by finishing. This secured us one championship point. While this may not sound much now, it might just tip the scales in our favor come the business end of the season if the championship goes down to the wire.

Finally congratulations to the organizers and a BIG thank you to all the officials who stood out in the wind rain and snow (literally) all day and long into the night. You guys are all legends - Thank you.

Akademos 2002 turned out to be a reconfirmation of Murphy's Law for the Never Say Dai Rally Team. It all started to go wrong on the way to the event, with the tail-shaft center bearing on our tow car collapsing, making for a very slow, noisy, shuddery, nerve racking drive over the hills.
All the cars assembled in Perkins street, Alexandra before the event, so interested spectators and locals could have a look at the cars and chat with the competitors. I was chuffed to have a number of people wander over and congratulate us the teams web site ( www.dairally.cjb.net ).
With most VCRS events being navigational, our time pre-event is usually taken up plotting our route and double checking vias, however, as the Akademos was full route chart it was easy for those of us at the tail end of the field to get carried away with the free time we had before we started. With a little under an hour before we were due to start, I walked away from the crowds and colour of the assembly area, to have a final read through the notes and to focus on the drive ahead.

	I had not driven the Charade in anger since the TCV, nearly three months earlier, so we took SS1 pretty quietly. We were trying out some new tyres and I was just trying to get a feel for the car and learn the characteristics of the roads. For the most part the roads were dry, but a few corners with overhanging trees still hadn't dried out from the weeks rain and the road would suddenly go very slippery in places.
We spun on one of these damp bends. A right hander was a little longer than I anticipated, and as we hit a damp patch on the road the back of the car started to step out. At this early stage of the rally I thought it better to stamp on the brakes and turn the car around on the spot, loosing a little time, than to try to ride it out and probably end up backwards in the trees. We went on the attack in SS2 and had a great run, only to come unstuck on the second last bend, which (just our luck) was a spectator point. If you were to talk to me, I could give you the slow motion, every detail explanation of exactly what happened, but to put it simply - I got it wrong!! We started to under steer mid way thought the fast left hander. A quick dab on the brakes failed to make the back come around. A second, harder dab on the brakes simply locked the front wheels and we skidded towards the outside of the corner. I looked up to see startled spectators scrambling from their vantage points. The right hand front wheel dropped into the ditch on the outside and we slammed into a bank. The impact tipped the car up and threw it back onto the road, bending the steering, right hand front suspension and buckling a rim. The car came to rest, thankfully on all four wheels (albeit not all pointing in the same direction), Deb shouted at me "keep going, go go!!" so I did.
	We limped into service to repair the damage as best we could. We cut into our late time a little incurring a 1:25min penalty, but we got a new wheel on and the steering pointed forward. We left service to a small round of applause from those that were watching the frantic work and headed off with the only reminders of the stage 2 excursion being a noisy front wheel bearing and an off center steering wheel.
We were very cautious on SS3, as the right hand tie rod had been wound right out to within a couple of turns of its end to compensate for the bent steering knuckle. We were also unsure if we had done any unseen damage, however the car lasted the stage, even withstanding a couple of big bumps. The offset steering wheel was very disconcerting, but I soon got a feel for what was straight and where to put my hands to avoid fouling on the spokes. On SS4 we had a slow puncture, but managed to drive out of the stage without losing much time. After SS5 we got another chance to service. We fine tuned the repairs from the earlier incident, double checked everything and put the last of our useable tyres in as the spare. As we left service the rain began to fall, and by the time we reached the start of SS6 it was pouring down. While this made the roads ahead slippery at least now the roads were consistent, with no surprises, just slippery all the way. Sure that the car was going to hold together, we pushed fairly hard this stage, all the while being conscious that we could hope for no more than a finish, hopefully for a couple of points in class A. Despite having mixed matched wheels on the front the car, it handled well, and this time I didn't make a mistake. Just when it looked like the event would finish on a high note for us, everything went sour. A mis-read/mis-understood/mis-interpreted (take your pick) instruction at about 4km saw us head up the wrong road (no bunting) for a couple of kms, before a period of disorientation, and then, finally, finding our way back onto the correct route. By the time we arrived back at rally HQ after the final liaison stage, Deb was in shock. Not knowing what had caused the error, we were frustrated that it had cost us so much time. There was some debate over weather or not we would be classed as finishers after difficulties at the finish control of SS7, but after discussions with the appropriate officials we were assured that we had in fact finished. (breath a big sigh of relief!!!) Though the whole event went terribly wrong for us, we managed to place 6th in "class A" just by finishing. This secured us one championship point. While this may not sound much now, it might just tip the scales in our favor come the business end of the season if the championship goes down to the wire. Finally congratulations to the organizers and a BIG thank you to all the officials who stood out in the wind rain and snow (literally) all day and long into the night. You guys are all legends - Thank you.