The Lactos Heritage Rally is run in conjunction with the Computerland Rally of Tasmania, being a rally for modern vehicles. The Lactos is run over the same course and immediately after the Rally Tasmania vehicles have competed. The Friday night of the event compromised two competitive stages in an 80km loop from Burnie. They were to be Tewksberry and Moreville. The transport to Tewksberry was relatively tight on time and unfortunately, in a hurry to arrive on time, Reg Kenny and his beautiful Mark II Jaguar departed both the road and the rally. As Colin and I drove in towards the commencement of Tewksberry we were both concerned to see a pall of black smoke rising from the hills, obviously some way into the competitive section. Upon our arrival our worst fears were confirmed when we were confronted by a long queue of cars waiting to compete. None of the Lactos vehicles had commenced the section as there had been a number of incidents involving Computerland vehicles. One of the less fortunate was Ian Knight in his 944 Porsche which, after leaving the road and sustaining moderate damage had set fire to the surrounding grass area and had subsequently been completely destroyed by those flames. As a consequence the section was downgraded to touring and the whole of the Lactos Rally proceeded through at less than 60 km per hour. Subsequent to this we again arrived at the next competitive, being Moreville, to be confronted by a similar view of vehicles for similar reasons.

Further Computerland cars had had incidents on this stage and our start was delayed. Moreville had also been shorted by approximately 800 metres due to Burnie City Council requirements. The little Alpine ran beautifully through this section when we finally started and we were later to ascertain that we were sixth quickest. We completed the stage shortly after sundown but in reasonable twilight. A number of following competitors however were less lucky and as a result of them having to complete the stage in near darkness it was subsequently effectively cancelled by all competitors receiving the time of the slowest car.

We arrived at Savage River, being the longest and probably the most demanding stage of the Rally, with about 2 minutes of late running time left. We were shuffled up the queue and set off at a furious pace. The first 8 kms or thereabouts were substantially downhill and the car was running fine, however - not for long! The climb back up over the hills into Savage River commenced and so did our gremlins. It got so bad that in the end on a number of occasions we were forced to stop, turn off the engine and then run the fuel pumps with the ignition on but no motor running to refill the bowls of the carburettors. In this way we staggered to the end of the stage but effectively our Rally was over.

Great efforts were made over lunch by Colin Stark and two local Burnie boys who had volunteered to assist as service crew. We commenced the afternoon return of Savage River about 4th last car in the Rally. For the first 15 kms of the return out of Savage River the little car ran fast and sweet with the consequence that we passed the 3 cars that had commenced immediately before us. I was almost starting to believe our problems were solved when back they came worse than ever. Yet again for the last 7 kms we were reduced to stopping on a number of occasions to run the fuel pumps so that we could proceed. Again we achieved a disastrous time on Savage River.

We staggered back to Waratah and again spent considerably more time blowing the fuel tank lines in an attempt to clear the problem. Our service crew arrived during this process and arrangements were made to take the car back to Burnie and have it put on a hoist to check it further. It was decided to pull out of the rest of the day's rallying. However, once we set off having bypassed two competitive stages it became apparent that the vehicle was running well again. As a result we proceeded directly to the last competitive section of the day, being a hill climb at Wivenhoe. Although we were effectively out of the rally from that point on we were allowed to run at the back of the field. The car ran faultlessly and we subsequently returned it to parc ferme. We all retired to our apartment to lick our wounded pride and deal with a substantial number of lagers that had mysteriously appeared in our fridge.

Sunday dawned gloriously blue and we set off as tail end charlie for the Sunday drive. Due to the expiration of our late running time and our failure to compete on two special stages we were effectively out of the Rally, an hour behind the next closest car on corrected times and therefore out to just have some fun without any risks. The first two competitive sections on Sunday were Oldina and Yolla. Colin and I enjoyed both these sections which were a combination of tight corner sequences and more flowing sections. These two sections were followed by another run through Hellyer. After discussion with Colin we decided to generally have a cruisey day but we were still putting in times that were placing us about 15th on these sections. We then had a long transport to an excellent lunch at the Cradle Mountain Lodge followed by the final two special stages of the Rally. They were respectively a 9 km run on the main tourist road at Moina and then a great run through the Willnot Hills. Half way through Moina both Colin and I smelt the tell tale aroma of coolant. Unbeknowns to each other and without a word being said we both spent the second half of the section watching the temperature gauge more carefully than the road. We finished the section and admitted to each other that we had smelt coolant and in unison indicated that "But the temp gauge hasn't moved yet". As that was said it did! We exited control and then rolled with the engine off about km down a hill to a point where the double lines finished. A quick check of the engine bay disclosed a badly split coolant hose in the vicinity of the water pump. I had had a sense of foreboding at the start of Moina when Colin had told me that the boys were going to load up an FJ Holden with a broken axle to take it back to Burnie. My view was that Murphy's Law would intervene, and we would need the tow truck. It did and we did. In any event, no damage was done to the little car which was duly loaded on to the tow truck after the FJ was unloaded and towed away by some 4 wheel drivers who stopped to assist and we headed back to Burnie for more of the aforesaid lagers.

I have competed in three Targa Tasmanias as a navigator and have never been lucky enough to finish one. This is my second Lactos and the letters DNF sit next to my name for both events. Nevertheless, I have to say that bitumen rallying in Tasmania, in either event, is an experience not to be missed. The roads are sensational, the organisation excellent and the people friendly and helpful. Despite the fact that I am starting to believe that my little car doesn't like overseas trips I hope I get at least one more chance at the Lactos and I truly hope that third time is lucky. All I want to do is finish!