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The Winter Classic Rally, 1998
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The thought of participating in a rally at the beginning of a Melbourne Winter I found quite appealing. I don=t know whether it was fond memories of The 3 Peaks when it was conducted at this time of year, or whether it was the fact I just like going on rallies, whatever reason it did seem like a good idea. So on a typically cold Friday night in Melbourne I set forth to pick up my nephew, who had agreed to navigate, and thence to the Ballarat Light Car Club to register, as 50 or so others would do. Although the rally was not scheduled to start on the Friday night, the organisers had worked on the assumption that it would be easier for them (and the participants) to get themselves to Ballarat the night before, so the event could get off to a good start. On arriving at the BLCC Club rooms we found something to eat and drink and a warm welcoming atmosphere. We were running a little late, but arrived just in time for a briefing on the principles of the navigation for the event. Reflecting on that now, no doubt we would have benefited from arriving a little earlier and hearing the full briefing. Notwithstanding, the usual routine of registration proceeded smoothly and efficiently and on securing our roadbooks, we joined everyone else to find out what the organisers had in store for us over the next three days. There were of course lots of familiar faces present, whether from Club Track Days, Grand Prix Rallies or Targa Tasmania=s past and of course a sprinkling of Club members. Club members included Jeff and Nerida Beable in their 1995 Nissan 200SXR, Ian and Robyn Begley in their 1973 Porsche, John Hardy in his 1967 Renault Alpine A110, Winston and Lee Kim in their 1998 Ferrari 355 and Chris and Dee Stephen giving Dee=s Ashopping basket@ a Mercedes Benze 300 CE the sort if exercise it doesn=t usually get in the Safeway Supermarket parking lot. Looking over the Aday@ books that had been provided later that night, I was impressed to see a Maserati Merak featured on the front cover. The car was that of Dene Burgess and appeared to have been taken at Grand Prix Rally held some years ago. Saturday morning was overcast. There had been heavy rain overnight, but by the time we had found our way to the first stage the weather gods had decided to hold their next downpour for later in the day. The opening stage for the event was a closed road speed stage of 2.90 km through Victoria Park. That was a bit of a buzz and a great way to start the day. Cold tyres and slippery conditions notwithstanding. From Victoria Park there was a navigation stage appropriately named AFrom the frying pan into ...@. The stage to follow was a closed road speed stage of 2.67 km named ADevil=s Kitchen@. This stage proved to be very tight and very slippery! Unfortunately one of our number in a Nissan GTR Vspec N, recently returned from a successful campaign in Targa Tasmania had a very big off, leaving the near new GTR very much out of the event and in need of major repair. From the ADevils Kitchen@ it was into the rain and South toward Colac in a navigation stage called AHallmost Peerless@. Lunch at Colac was accompanied by a motorkhana that (horror!) involved reversing the car into a garage. With the horrors of getting the car into reverse and actually getting into the garage and the completion of the motorkhana behind us we set sail once again on a navigation stage named AHardly B-Double Territory, Noel@ which took us back into Ballarat for a Motorkhana. According to the road book we had travelled 404 km in what was a very enjoyable and varied day. Sunday, the day of the Albert Park Classic in Melbourne didn=t look too bad. The early morning sun was trying to break through, but the closed road speed stage AVictoria Two@ again held at Victoria Park looked as if it hadn=t seen any sun for a month or more. There=s nothing like starting the day on cold tyres, on wet and cold bitumen with a topping of mulched leaves in darkened corners to start the day. It certainly wakes you up! Leaving Victoria Park with the sun out was a welcome change. The next stage AGeoff=s Gospel@ , a navigation stage took us on a tour through Creswick, Clunes, Yandoit and Harcourt on our way to another closed road speed stage called AMt Alexander@. This stage, apparently a favourite with rally organisers at 2.98 km climbing up and around a mountain was a brilliant bit of tarmac. Interestingly, there is a quarry about half-way up (a little reminscent of one famous stage on day 2 of Targa) with lots of rubber turning very hard right to a concealed entrance. Quite a few Aidiots@ myself included, momentarily decided to take the hard right on seeing the rubber, but eventually recovering the car to keep going Astraight on@ when seeing the rather imposing 3 metre solid wire gate. It was a great stage. Would love to do it again! Following a further navigation stage AMosquito Creek@ which took us via Sutton Grange and Axedale we arrived at the Maryborough Raceway for a quarter mile sprint and a motorkahana on the drag strip. Apart from the gale force winds sweeping over the strip it was a great venue providing the opportunity to watch everyone else tackle these two events. It was also the site of great disappointment for John Hardy, who in his enthusiasm over revved the stalwart Alpine Renault A110 whilst readying himself for a blinding quarter-mile. The result meant a long trip home and a rebuild for this magnificent little car. Saturday continued with a navigation stage called ADaylesford@ which took us via Mia Mia, Green Hill, Lauriston, Spring Hill, Daylesford, Blampied, Rocklyn and eventually back into Ballart to the grounds of the Lakeside Hospital. ALakeside Khanacross@ was the site of a special test to conclude the day. It was in essence a sprint round some of the hospital buildings, starting in a Agarage@ and finishing in a Agarage@. The only problem was the roads were very narrow with high kerbs and in some sections had more leaf mulch than Victoria Park. This meant on some corners you had to be particularly careful not to slide through a corner and leave a rim on the kerb. It was an exciting and precise test. It also gave the competitors the opportunity to Ahave a look@ at each other on this testing little circuit. It was a lot of fun! Perhaps the best performance was that of Steve Coad in the four door Subaru WRX usually reserved for shopping trips. This light car with its four wheel drive and great power was piloted with great expertise and daring by Steve to set a time that few could come close to. ALakeside@ concluded the day. It was a day on which we travelled 402 km. Conditions were great and apart from the wind it was for the most part a pleasant sunny day enjoyed by all. Sunday, like the previous days started in AVictoria Park@ with yet another route through the Park. This time it was a 2.49 km speed closed road stage, featuring some of the Park=s darker corners but also some of its more open sections. As was the case on the previous two mornings, the passage through the park successfully woke everyone up and fully acquainted them with the new day. Following a safety check in Ballarat we proceeded on the navigation stage to follow, aptly named AA Massive Tour@. This stage took us through Dean, Springbank and via Ballan down to Greendale, the Gisborne, Sunbury, Diggers Rest and finally to Lady Northcote Camp for lunch. Following lunch and a short transport stage we embarked on ACut Hill@ which was a very interesting closed road speed stage of 3.00 km. Although considerable tighter, I thought it was reminscent of Cranbrook on day 4 of Targa. It was to be the last of the six closed road speed stages for the event. Following a further navigation stage titled AHeips Bungalled@ we headed back to Ballarat for a AFire Track Stop-Go Test@ and a return visit to ALakeside@ to see if we could improve on yesterday=s times. Nearly everyone did! As it transpired the third day of the rally was the shortest ... only marginally so though as we travelled 375 km on this day. Well so much for the description of the event. What was it really like? I thought it was an excellent rally. It had a great balance of Afull-on@ speed events, Aspeed@ khanacross, a genuine motorkhana, a quarter mile sprint and some excellent navigation sections which varied from straightforward to downright difficult. The closed road stages were challenging, some particularly so in the weather conditions. It combined excellent roads with a large section of central Victoria, which many Victorians have probably never visited before. It operated at full pace all day. There was no time to get bored. In short it offered something for everyone. Best of all the Entry Fee included lunch on each day and dinner each evening. Accommodation was at the comfortable and well presented Belltower, a Mercure Inn on the Western Highway on the edge of the Ballarat CBD. It was a well thought out and well planned event. Would I do it again? You bet! |
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