September rolled around and all of a sudden we were off on another rallying adventure. After battling the forests of Launceston, Northern Hobart, Burnie and Southern Hobart we were off to Tasmania's North-East to the Scottsdale region, which boasts some of the most impressive tarmac roads in the state, therefore the world. We wouldn't be seeing much of them though as we were again heading to the forests. In comparison to other events the lead up was relatively stress free. Obviously the Charade had some battle scars after its incident in the Huon but a new windscreen provided by Shannons Insurance and some touch up body work from a friend of Mozza's at a very reasonable price had the yellow buzzbox raring to go again. Mechanically all was pretty sound so loaded on the trailer we began the long haul north with plenty of time to complete the journey which was a very pleasant change. In fact I had the opposite problem of making a 2.5 hour journey to Launceston last over 5 hours as I wasn't due to pick up navigator Tim until late afternoon.

Tim was joining me in the Charade again with Helen and Nick teaming up in the Commodore and Liam and Anthony were in the WRX, Liam with a fresh gearbox after turning 3rd gear into splinters in the Huon. After a stress free and pleasant journey through the rolling hills of north east tasmania we arrived at Bridport Resort, our accomodation for the weekend. It had temporarily been turned into a service park for the weekend with the entire rally community seemingly within its confines. Boded well for the after party! Being elite athletes, the shiftlock crew headed off to find some fuel for their bodies our appetites being satiated by a rather good Bridport restaurant which I have since forgotten the name of. However let's face it, it won't exactly be difficult to find agan will it!

After a the usual fitful pre-rally nights sleep we set off for Scottsdale High School for the official start. On a side note, it's odd that the combination of excitement, nerves and early starts pretty much guarantees that no-one involved in rallying gets a good nights sleep pre-event. Not exactly an ideal scenario for piloting a rally car through the trees at high speed, adrenaline is a wonderful thing. The High School was a nice venue to start with plenty of space yet the Charade was being its usual temperamental self with no brake lights, which meant no rally!

Me looking less than impressed that my car won't work

Thankfully the genius of Cameron Rolls and Nicholas Shaw got my brake lights working long enough for the all important scrutineers tick and we were off. I was happy to take it very easy to the start of the first stage given the time allowed and clear weather, Charade is painful to drive over 80km/h on the road anyway. While having a chat in line we saw Mozza doing some last minute lightening of the WRX by heaving up his breakfast. Obviously feeling the effects of a late night but at least he got it out of the way before the stage began! Mark Butcher's first Tasmanian Rally also got off to a poor beginning as the car alarm in his WRX wouldn't allow him to start the car. The decent sized field and soft ground by the time we got to the start line it was quite chewed up. I tried to select as clean a line as possible and waited for the familiar sound of Tim's voice "5..4..3..2..1..GO!" and we were off. I knew the rally would be an adventure when we were immediately up into 5th gear away from the start, not often you start with such high speed.

Stage 1 was to be honest a nightmare. Recent heavy rain meant that in parts of the stage grip was simply non existent. We passed Shane Russell over the side of a bank and even slowing almost to a crawl still almost slid into the back of him. Thankfully he was able to continue. Further along the stage we passed Kelly Hunt (who's car, the Plymouth Firearrow, has the coolest name in automotive history) also off the road as well as passing some almighty skid marks at various junctions, the 2008 Auspine was already baring its teeth. After running wide and over a bank on a slippery right hander I pressed the throttle and got nothing but a big flare of revs, selecting 4th gave the same result and I thought the worse that I had broken a driveshaft or similar. Eventually we got going ok but lost a lot of time as I was cautious for the next couple of km's in case something was in fact broken. Our small off must have just co-incided with a particularly slippery bit of stage causing the incessant wheelspin. Always annoying to needlessly lose time but better safe than sorry so they say. Stage 1 still had one victim to claim with Aaron Reader off into a tree within sight of the finish, thankfully he was able to continue and was even credited with a competitive time for that stage which left everyone scratching their heads a bit.


Excellent footage from Stage 1 provided by Andrew Newton who does superb work

Stage 2 provided an interesting experience as Kelly Hunt's Firearrow tore away from the start only to break down 200 metres into the stage blocking the road. 2 minutes went by and we were told to head off having to drive into the undergrowth to pass the stricken Plymouth. Not the best way to get into a rythym but stage 2 and 3 passed without incident. Stage 3 was tricky with many fast blind crests. Our tyres had done 2 events and after what happened at Huon I wasn't feeling particularly brave so perhaps it is no surprise to see that our times weren't exactly spectacular. I just wanted to make it to the finish in one piece. Nick was driving quickly despite feeling rather unwell being up late thanks to some late night revelling from the next door neighbours. Stage 4 had a bit of mixed surface with a few hundred meters of tarmac taken again in 5th gear....very fast rally this one. Long stages allowed you to get into a groove too, something that was broken when we saw a man waving furiously at us in the middle of the road near the end of stage. We were told to pull over due to Ben and Bec Sheldrick having a very nasty accident which required medical assistance. Thankfully they were battered and bruised but ultimately ok despite a very second hand looking Datsun 1600.



More excellent footage from Andrew (Stage 4)



And again from Stage 5.

Nothing in particular stands out from the afternoon loop of stages. It was the last rally of the year and given we had been through so much no-one wanted to do anything silly in the last few stages. Craig Brooks was leading as usual with Lynn Rattray also in a Subaru Sti hot on his heels. Liam was getting to grips with 4WD on the gravel going faster and faster. The former owner of Nick's car Craig Sault had acquired a new V8 commodore that was so loud you could see wildlife dropping out of trees as it roared past, a situation only made worse when he knocked the muffler off at a bad triple caution. Footage of said incident can be found below.



I did basically the same as Craig and approached at exactly the wrong speed. Faster and we would have jumped, slower and it would have been ok but I went just fast enough to knock Tim and I's fillings out. Next time remember triple caution means triple caution!!! Nick was driving quick as well but we both just wanted to get to the finish. One of the Charade's rear sump guard bolts had made a bid for freedom meaning the old faithful cable ties made an appearance. It was a bandaid solution as they got ripped to shreds very quickly but better than having the sump guard fall off. Liam's pre-rally warning of Auspine being the hardest rally physically was bearing fruit as I was starting to feel pretty buggered. We made it to succesfully to Stage 8, the last stage of the year still in one piece with only 21km to go until the finish of our first year of rallying. Given Stage 8 was mostly Stage 1 in reverse it was again mega slippery in parts being caution was still the key but I was determined to have a proper go to finish off the year. Apart from misjudging one corner and having to take the escape road (Sam Kirkland made exactly the same error!) it was trouble free and when we ended with the mega fast opening section of Stage 4 it was time for maximum attack. Taking the Charade to the limiter in every gear the last couple of km's I drove as hard as I could with a couple of slides in 4th and 5th gear and as we rolled up to the finish line we had the brakes smoking for the first time all weekend. A satisfying way to finish an immensely challenging rally. As for the after party?? Well what goes on in Bridport should probably stay at Bridport!!


More footage from Andrew from the last stage of the 2008 T.R.S

Nick and Helen again had an excellent result and wrapped up the P4 Class State Title. An awesome effort in their first season of rallying. Liam and Anthony had another steady rally to continue his steep learning curve and most importantly kept the car in the same shape as it was at the start. As for Timmy and I, well while the lack of speed at Auspine was a bit disappointing we made it to the finish, as we did every rally this year despite my best efforts at times to prevent that. Rolling up to the start line of Mountain Stages we could not have dreamed that we would experience and achieve so much in the year. It took a lot of long days, restless nights and almost every dollar I had but I would do it again in a second. The rallying bug has firmly bitten and I can't imagine going back to tarmac 100% again.

This final paragraph has to be dedicated to the immense amount of help I received and continue to receive. Without these people I wouldn't be writing this as I would not be rallying. They allow me to live a dream and mentioning their names here is a tiny way to say thankyou, but unfortunately its the best I can do. First off Nick, Anthony and Cam a.k.a the Shiftlock Motorsport boys for fixing my car, helping me out with a million things, kicking me up the arse when needed and generally being awesome fellas. James, Daniel and Gary Willson of Willson Automotive for their assistance, the use of their tools/workshop, James for servicing at Hellyer and for selling me a cool little car. My mum and her partner Greg Hall of Renegade Dance Studios for their financial assistance as it was a massive help towards the end of the year when funds were running low. Tobias O'Toole at Koolstik Designs for his awesome sticker work. Mark Blake of City Automotive for always lending me a trailer at a bargain price. David Waldon of E-Home Partnership and Troy Johnson of Moonah Auto Salvage for buying me tyres and not expecting payment in return. An incredible act of generosity from the rallying community. Thanks Shaun for servicing this year and being a top bloke! Last but not least thankyou to Tim Kulhanek for sitting next to someone who had never driven a front wheel drive and never driven competitively on gravel before. A big leap of faith on his part and I hope you enjoyed the ride. Anyone I have forgotten my sincere apologies but all the support I receive means the world.

Thats it for the 2008 T.R.S Stay tuned for more updates Shiftlock has not been idle over the 2009 Summer! I hope you have enjoyed reading half as much as I have enjoyed writing.
Scotty Newman on behalf of the Shiftlock Clan.