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The 1998 HRA Spring Tour
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In search of a hot shower |
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If you have spent a week in Melbourne without a hot shower, then the opportunity to get out of town to somewhere else in the state where gas may be available or alternatively to stay at a hotel/motel with an electric hot water service, sounds like a really great idea. It just so happens that Melbourne and most of the State of Victoria had been suffering withdrawal symptoms from gas for over a week, when it came time to venture from home and off to Ballarat in preparation for the 1998 HRA Spring Tour. To break the journey, my navigator (Travis Williams) and I decided to have a pleasant meal at John Fitzpatrick =s The Swallows with Chris and Dee Stephen before venturing out of town. Leaving later that evening for the trip to Ballarat, both Travis and I had a hot shower on our agenda. That thought was more than reinforced by the buckets of cold water that came from the heavens as we were midway through our journey. It was so wet, I think the car aquaplaned most of the way to Ballarat. Arriving at the Mercure Belltower Motor Inn, we checked in immediately, parked the car and raced into the room to check the shower. Alas, more cold water.By Saturday morning the rain had disappeared and although a trifle windy, we were set for the first stage of the morning ... a closed road stage, through Victoria Park (of Winter Classic Rally fame). This stage was a little different to most as it involved a stop and go at five different points in the stage. Something, that some of our colleagues apparently forgot to do. It was an interesting stage and a good way to get rid of the cobwebs and start the day. John Hardy, the Club Secretary, found little to his liking however. Midway through the stage, the beautiful Alpine Renault A110 1600S Grp4 suddenly started running on three cylinders and fearing a repeat of an earlier mishap in the Winter Class, which required an engine rebuild, he took a short cut and lost maximum points. A half-hour spent snipping wires and making new connections, saw him back in the field and on his way, along with everyone else onto the next stage. The next stage also involved a closed section. Held at the Bus Station in Ballarat it comprised some high speed manoeuvres, around a series of islands in the parking area and then a high speed sprint to the finish line. From there it was into the discipline for which the HRA is renowned. A navigation stage using 1956 maps. Now, we were well prepared for this stage. On the way up to Ballarat, we had discovered that the Terratrip was providing erroneous readings. So getting up early before the start of the day =s proceedings, we took off for the HRA=s measured 10 km to calibrate the Terratrip. All that exercise proved was the Terratrip had a problem with its sensor and would have to be replaced. Result, no Terratrip. Not that it mattered, we could always use the speedo, Travis intoned. He didn=t look real good when I told him that the Speedo (and the odometer) hadn=t worked for several years! So there we were using 1956 maps with no distance measuring device. Well, there was no miracle cure, we just resolved to be super observant!We weren =t the only ones with a problem however. Dee Stephen had just taken delivery of a new Mercedes Benz C43 AMG, one of the few in the country. Chris Stephen thought it had great rally potential. Somehow he convinced Dee to have a Terratrip fitted and entered it in the rally. The condition was that Chris got to navigate, but he could also drive the speed sections. Still, there were compensations, Dee did help with the navigation.The navigation stage took us from Ballarat through to Colac by a winding and complicated route. It seemed to be remarkably difficult judging by the comments of our fellow competitors. Given the starting point I had given Travis, I felt the wise thing to do, was say nothing and just drive. Somehow (and with a few excursions) our method of guessing distances seemed to pay off and we made it to Colac. The final stage for the day was an acceleration and braking test over a couple of hundred metres. Most cars lined up in pairs and there was a lot of hilarity as various bets were laid on backing who would beat who. The best part of the day was arriving in the room at the Mid-City Hotel in Colac to find they had hot water. It seemed like a lifetime since I had a hot shower. As they say in that Toyota ad AOh what a feeling!@ Saturday night was held at the Colac Golf Club ... no there was no midnight rallying over tees and greens, instead a dinner was put on for all participants.Apart from a little early rain Sunday turned out to be fine as well. We left Colac early and arrived in Camperdown for a breakfast hosted by the local Apex to aid a Camperdown charity. From breakfast it was off to the local saleyards and nearby industrial estate for a 2 kilometre high speed gymkhana and from there onto the Mt Leura hill climb. Following a navigation stage from Camperdown back to Colac and a special gymkhana in the Colac saleyards it was back into navigation once more. This time from Colac to Geelong. In keeping with their tradition, the HRA once again presented us with a tricky navigation exercise. Fortunately, we completed it just in time to arrive at our final destination the Waurn Ponds Hotel to have a celebratory drink and to watch Mick Doohan embark on and win his fifth world championship. It was an interesting rally, over good roads. At $165 including the Saturday night meal, no wonder it was fully subscribed with a capacity field of 50 cars. I would recommend you put a marker in your diary for this event for next year. |
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