Rally Photos again
Discussion
Squeezed a couple of days happy-snapping in between some track days (photos of those to come later), it didn't even rain this year! Fantastic roads and horde of sideways Escorts as usual...
Hayden Paddon cleaned up NZRC:
Ari Vatanen hasn't changed, very quick and smooth as silk driving but crashed out of a 1 minute lead on the last stage.
Van Gisbergen Snr:
Southland farmer and now 3-times Otago Classic winner Derek Ayson:
NZ rallying legend Jeff Judd:
Tasty 911:
Richard Mason a bit off his usual pace in 4th.
Not quite the same shape as the start of the rally:
The rest here:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e392/GravelBen/O...
Hayden Paddon cleaned up NZRC:
Ari Vatanen hasn't changed, very quick and smooth as silk driving but crashed out of a 1 minute lead on the last stage.
Van Gisbergen Snr:
Southland farmer and now 3-times Otago Classic winner Derek Ayson:
NZ rallying legend Jeff Judd:
Tasty 911:
Richard Mason a bit off his usual pace in 4th.
Not quite the same shape as the start of the rally:
The rest here:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e392/GravelBen/O...
Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 14th April 11:32
Thanks for comments... pretty sure the Evo co-driver was laughing, its either laugh or cry in that situation!
Photos from Levels playday, a lot of them taken by my brother while I was busy driving:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e392/GravelBen/P...
Photos from Levels playday, a lot of them taken by my brother while I was busy driving:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e392/GravelBen/P...
Esprit said:
That Iso Grifo is GORGEOUS.... don't think I've seen one in the flesh before.... one of the all-time beauties.
Lovely machine isn't it - first one I've seen as well, someone told me its the only one in NZ and one of 312 ever made.
Good on the bloke for taking something as rare (and presumably expensive!) as that out on track too.
cheddar said:
Ben, how about a wee write up on the Southern Circuit Tour, I'd love to hear what went on.
Not too much to tell really, but for what its worth:Up bright and early monday morning and off to Teretonga, my 'local' about an hour away. Nice gentle sighting laps and then into it for the first session as all my plans to ease into things gently went out the window.
Unfortunately I only got about 15 minutes of track time before blowing out a turbo gasket and melting some hoses before I noticed it. Spent most of that day trying to fix it before dropping it off with a mechanic to finish after a stud snapped and I had to work the next day.
Couple of days frantic rushing around whenever I wasn't at work had it ready to go again just in time for the cruise up to Timaru the night before the Levels Playday.
Pulled into the petrol station on the way out to Levels beside the Iso above, had a massive "is that really a..." double-take but I think the owner was more surprised that anybody knew what it was at all!
Levels was a good day for the most part, semi-official timing put me 9th quickest with a 1:19.6 which I was fairly happy with, room for improvement but not bad for a 'hairdresser's car'
. Mid afternoon the turbo gasket let go again, turned out the mechanic hadn't done such a good job of it. Only missed a couple of sessions though so it wasn't so bad. Some really tasty machinery there like the Iso and full race-spec Mk1 Escort BDA.Spent the following day with the turbo off to fix things myself (hard to find a specific steel gasket at short notice!), and doing a few other little jobs while I had the thing apart. And then in the interests of sanity I borrowed a more sensible car from my brother and took off to Dunedin to watch a rally for the weekend.
Ruapuna was the most relaxed fun of the week, I was taking it a bit easier on the car to make sure but didn't have any problems and got a lot of track time in - lap times of 1:54-55 (estimate from other cars) for GP+dipper and 1:49 for GP circuit (while gooning around sideways) are well off what the car is capable of, but decent enough for not taking it at all seriously.
It was a fun week but busier than planned, went back to work for a rest afterwards! Photos from Ruapuna still to come once I finish processing.
1.49 for the GP circuit is very tasty in a MX5 - let alone one that's 'Gooning around sideways'.
A standard Mk1 normally manages 2 mins, the late model big tyred Mk2's would manage around 1.55. An S2000 Honda runs about 1.50's as do early Mk1 Elises.
Quick car you've got there Ben - are you running R Spec tyres by any chance?
A standard Mk1 normally manages 2 mins, the late model big tyred Mk2's would manage around 1.55. An S2000 Honda runs about 1.50's as do early Mk1 Elises.
Quick car you've got there Ben - are you running R Spec tyres by any chance?
Thanks - it is a quick car and running Achilles 123 rubber, which are cheap track-biased tyres but less extreme than an R888 or A048 etc.
I was keeping the boost low at 10-12psi and shortshifting around 6k on the straight (was paranoid about heat after the previous issues), but still somewhere off the clock (speedo pegs itself at 180) up the straight on a good lap should give an idea of the performance on tap.
and running Achilles 123 rubber, which are cheap track-biased tyres but less extreme than an R888 or A048 etc.I was keeping the boost low at 10-12psi and shortshifting around 6k on the straight (was paranoid about heat after the previous issues), but still somewhere off the clock (speedo pegs itself at 180) up the straight on a good lap should give an idea of the performance on tap.
Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 19th April 02:03
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