Shiftlock Motorsport

2009-06-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

Well the first rally of 2009 is out of the way but before I cover that a long overdue update on the happenings of the summer. Unfortunately an indiscretion early in 2008 meant I was licence-less over the summer break, this put a severe dampener on motorsport and indeed driving activities in general.

Early in December I was due to compete in a khanacross however heavy rain caused the cancellation. Not wishing to waste the day off I took the Charade out to Baskerville Raceway for a day of circuit work. The rain was now so heavy that propellers and a keel would be the key for a quick lap time but I enjoy driving in conditions like that especially as its easier on the car. Having only ever driven the Charade on dirt I wasn't sure what to expect on tarmac but the fact that the suspension is very stiff means it handles like a big go-kart really, although that is a terrible cliche. $50 tyres in torrential rain means grip was fairly non-existent and I quickly learned that driving a front wheel drive in the rain is an exercise in patience and throttle control.

Confidence overtook circumspection on the second lap entering Calvin's corner, the difficult downhill left hander that leads on to the back straight. There is a slight hump just at the braking point and on this occasion the Charade locked up all its wheels and slid straight off the outside of the corner. Now there is plenty of run-off area however the wet grass was like ice and I was wondering if I would ever be able to turn around, thankfully I eventually made it back to the black bit unscathed. As an example of how slippery it was during off track excursions, a Mitsubishi Evolution 6 left the track and it was all hands on deck to get it back to the tarmac despite its four wheel drive.

I spent the day chasing a tarmac rally-er in his newly acquired V8 Commodore ute. The conditions meant that his enormous power advantage was negated and was only pulling a few tenths per lap. Very difficult to be patient when the car in front is so close. After 30 or so laps the speed bug was satiated with the sad knowledge that it would be the last "competition driving" for a while.

As summer drew to a close it was time for the first event of 2009. Still licence-less I was suffering badly from the dreaded "itchy feet". Known to keen drivers everywhere when the skills haven't been utilised in a while, it has been known to lead to insanity. Thankfully an opportunity arose to compete in a Khanacross in the perfect vehicle....somebody else's! Vehicle in question was a 1988 Magna wagon owned by dual Australian rally champion Lee Petersen. A family vehicle made decidedly less family by the removal of all interior trimmings and cutting off the exhaust. It was however great fun to drive despite expectations. Anyone that says front wheel drive isn't fun to drive hasn't driven one fast! The long wheelbase made it much easier to hold slides than the Charade.

I had strong competition in the form of Brad Gunn, who knows how to punt front wheel drives pretty briskly. Lucky for me Brad Gunn had a bad run and I managed to edge him out. Unfortunately I lost first place by 2 seconds on the last run of the day which was pretty disappointing but still did the best I could and got some free movie tickets out of it for driver of the day! A few weeks later round 2 of the khanacross series took place and I managed to get offered a drive in Luke How's Hyundai Excel. Although its a humble base its a decent bit of gear with $$$$ Drummond suspension and very light. Luke and I had a great battle however he pipped me by 7 seconds at the end of the day.

This activity was great to whet the appetite but the first round of the Tasmanian Rally Series was fast approaching and there was still a lot of work to do!!! More on that soon!

2009-02-15T02:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Huon Rally

2008-12-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

The 4th round of the Tasmanian Rally series took place in the Huon Forests, approxiametly 70 km south of Hobart. This was the venue for the last few ARC rounds to be held in Tasmania so in modern terms at least, it is Tasmania's spiritual home for gravel rallying. The Shiftlock crew was to be represented again by myself and Tim in the Charade, Nick and Helen, who was returning after her Hellyer absence, and Anthony was navigating for Liam Coyle who was driving the WRX previously owned by David Waldon, who we have heard about before. Service would be ably provided by Shaun and Cam again.

The Shiftlock clan had differing opinions on the best way to handle travel arrangements. The rest of the crew decided to get up early and head down the morning of the rally. Not being a complete mental I decided to head down the night before and stay at the Kermandie Hotel which was situated a 2 minute drive from the start line. This was where the adventure started for me, Kermandie Hotel draws an interesting clientele on a friday evening so I guess I looked very much like an outsider when I entered given the looks I was receiving. On collecting my room keyI was warned that karaoke goes quite late and advised breakfast would be served from 7. Perfect. The room was quite decent for the price (read: cheap!) but my dream of a peaceful nights sleep soon evaporated as my "lullaby" of increasingly inebriated young women warbled their way through the latest hits on the karaoke machine. Maybe driving down in the morning wasn't as silly as it seemed! After dropping the car off at the start line the dramas continued as I found that all the hotel staff had decided to have a lie in, leaving me to fix my own breakfast in the hotel kitchen. However you don't read this to hear about my travel adventures, you want to hear about rallying!

Following Hellyer's example we were again presented with a waterfront start, although the heavy fog, limiting visibility to about 100 metres, meant the spectacle wasn't quite as impressive. The Charade had developed a misfire when cold and given temperature was barely above freezing when we coughed away from the start line I was a little apprehensive. Thankfully once up to temperature the car didn't miss a beat. The Charade used to spend most of its life in Dover therefore basically drove itself to the first stage, Daniel Willson (former owner) joked it could probably do the entire rally without any driver assistance! Throughout the first stage the car felt very "oversteery" (won't find THAT one in the Oxford dictionary) probably due to the fact we had worn tyres on the rear and near new ones on the front. The stage was quite rough with some wince inducing hits and I felt like we were going at a snails pace. I wasn't happy with our progress however as we pulled up to the finish of Stage one we were followed by plumes of smoke from the wheels so I must have been pushing harder than I thought. Timmy at least seemed fairly pleased despite the lack of balance in the car.

Onwards to stage 2 we were warned of snow and ice which was quite exciting. We expected to see some white stuff heaped at the side of the road, it was a shock to come over a crest to be confronted with.....

This section was just hilarious fun, the Charade felt like it had a box full of neutrals, each gearchange was accompanied by more wheelspin, only 4th and 5th offered any meaningful forward progress. I just tried to keep reasonable momentum without doing anything silly as didn't want to hit a patch of ice and end the rally early. Thankfully we had wheel tracks from the leading cars to follow, it wouldn't have been pleasant having to find your own line. The following in-car video from Shane Russell shows just how fast it can all go wrong, he was able to continue until gearbox failure ended his day.

This video shows the majority of the stage from Mark Kyle's Datsun 1600. You can tell from navigator Glenn's reaction that none of were quite expecting conditions that extreme.

Tim and I made it through unscathed and as it turns out equal 3rd outright fastest, beaten by Craig Brooks and Shane Russell and dead heating with Aaron Reader. This result is probably the one I am proudest of all year and we headed to the first service point buzzing from the excitement of snow rallying.

SS3 was very rough at the start and a cautious approach lost us some time but only a few seconds and we started SS4 full of confidence. Unfortunately the old saying "pride coming before a fall" was about to bite hard. We were on a very fast section of road that curved right through a logging section before the next call which was a left hander. We were well into 4th gear but the surface was reasonably dry so I felt confident that I could brake fairly late for the left. While the main line was dry the road edges were still wet and I had drifted too far left so when I hit the brakes the rear of the car snapped sideways. Even at this point all is well, there is usually a few times per rally that the car is very out of shape and so far the car, possibly by good luck more than good management, had always ended up back in a straight line and off we go at full speed. This time the slide continued and we nosed into the bank, it was a soft hit but nudged the car up onto two wheels, I tried to turn the steering wheel so the wheels natural rotation would put us back on all four but wasn't fast enough and we rolled onto the roof. It was a fairly slow roll, but still a bit of an impact that cracked the windscreen. Timmy was already trying to get out while I was trying to figure out where it all went so wrong. In his rush he seemed to forget the world was inverted so collapsed in a heap on the roof, taking the navigation equipment with him. They say a picture tells a thousand words so here is the aftermath.

The recovery crew was made up of rally drivers who had "been there done that" so to speak, having sympathetic and understanding people around you is a massive help in such a situation and they soon had the charade righted and fired up again. After an all clear from scrutineer Andrew Lamont we strapped back in and made our way to service. The car drove fine as despite going upside down hadn't really sustained any major knocks, once back at service we were checked over by the medics. To be honest I was a bit shaken and wasn't feeling very well, I couldn't remember my name for a moment to write it on the medical form, but we got the all clear and set about making the car driveable for the afternoon stages. The main worry was the cracked windscreen which was taped up which restricted my vision but wasn't a major issue.

Driving to SS5 the last place I really wanted to be was behind the wheel but I knew it was very important for me to get back on the horse. The good thing about driving is you only have to go as fast as you want to, I have to say the first few slides weren't very enjoyable though. About halfway through SS6 the rhythm started to come back and I started to have some fun again. The last service brought the bad news that Liam had retired with a broken gearbox, as had Shane Russell. This added to the mechanical dramas of Sam Kirkland in his Mazda and Brad Gunn who only managed a couple of hundred metres before his Charade's insatiable appetite for driveshafts struck again. Wanting to get to the finish a cautious run through the rough SS7 (a repeat of SS3) brought us to the start line of SS8 which was a second run through the snow. Standing by the car I was suddenly struck by an enormous sense of deja vu that I couldn't place. I realised that I was standing in almost the exact same spot that I had officiated at the Subaru Safari ARC round back in 2005. Back then watching Australia's best I never would have dreamed that I would be driving the same road 3 years later. I had got a bit of confidence back so decided to have a bit of a push, especially since we had had such a good run on this stage first time around. This confidence lasted until the first patch of ice that we hit too fast and had another very large moment, my first thought was "oh shit not again" but we came out ok of this one and drove with a bit more reserve for the rest of the stage. Despite another couple of big hits through the suspension the performed superbly and then it was sideways through the last corner and across the finish line with the brakes smoking again. After such an eventful day the rally just seemed to fly by with hardly time to draw breath.

With so much happening I didn't get a chance to talk to Nick much throughout the day to keep track of his progress. He and I were extremely close in the morning with him pipping me by a few seconds on all but SS2. Unfortunately his great run ended with a puncture in the afternoon meaning he dropped a lot of time. It was still a great result for both of us to finish though with he and Helen 5th outright and Tim and I 6th. Despite getting to the finish I didn't find it the most enjoyable rally, even discounting the crash. The stages were very challenging and obviously provided a highlight with the snow but the roughness in places I really didn't enjoy as I don't like the feeling that the car is being damaged, even though they are built to take it. The Huon Rally was very memorable for one competitor though, as Craig Brooks wrapped up his first Tasmanian Rally Series title with one round to spare which is a fantastic effort after many years of being very close. Of course many many thanks must go to the organisers of the rally, all the officials and support crew and our awesome service crew that don't miss a beat.

The next round to be held was the Auspine Rally in North Eastern Tasmania and from all reports it would be the most challenging of the lot. Full report will hopefully be along soon (along with some great video footage!)
Bye for now
Scotty on behalf of the Shiftlock Crew.

2008-11-15T00:43:00.000-08:00

Ok so this blog is now unfortunately no longer chronological as I thought I had written about the Styx Valley Rally when in fact I hadn't! No matter I will rectify this now.

The Styx Valley rally was held in the forests north of Hobart using some famous bits of road. Styx Road itself was once described by Australian Champion Neal Bates as "one of the best rally stages in the world". You can see this stage from the best seat in the house on the following clip, in-car footage from two time state champion David Waldon's Subaru Impreza STi

The drama unfortunately started long before the event. A week before scrutineering the Charade went in for what should have been a routine gearbox freshen up. Unfortunately as the car got moved into the workshop the timing belt tensioner cover fell off and got picked up by the belt causing it to skip 2 teeth. Despite less than ideal timing luck was clearly on my side as had it happened anywhere else I would be needing a new motor. A couple of long days and the car was good as new (albeit with no rebuilt gearbox) 30 minutes before scrutineering.

Photos from the Start

Your Author and wanna-be rally driverThe mighty Shiftlock Rally Team for Styx. One RWD, One FWD and one AWD.

2008 Tasmanian Rally Series champion Craig Brooks with ex-works Scooby Doo.

Being the closest rally to home there was no accommodation to worry about and no long trailer trips. Just a simple 20 minute drive as the sun crept its way over the horizon to a beautiful, if rather chilly morning. First hurdle was actually finding the startline. Shoichi Nakadai, who was starting his first Tasmanian rally after many years rallying in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Unfortunately he was under the mis-apprehension that Tim and I had the faintest idea where we were going so a 2 car convoy did a quick sightseeing trip of New Norfolk. We eventually found the start located next to the river reverberating to the bark of warming rally cars.

The first stage was located a short and pleasant drive along a road that would have made a perfectly good tarmac rally stage in itself. We also passed the scene of the Ed Ordynski's enormous ARC crash that put him in a rather bad way. Lining up on the first stage we were warned that the first few kilometres were "really slippery....no, no really.......REALLY slippery". Words to heed when coming from the aforementioned Mr Waldon. A fresh coating of gravel just before the rally meant that each wheel seemed to want to go in a direction entirely independent of all the others. Very unpredictable, not very fast but a lot of fun. As the gravel thinned the speed increased with many sections requiring 5th gear for extended periods. We unfortunately passed Ben Sheldrick who had misjudged a downhill left hander and ended up backwards in a ditch. He was extracted and managed to succesfully complete the remainder of the event.

Footage from Stage 1 at the first spectator point

This image was taken just after the above video, moments before I steered into the ditch. Oops

The length of the stage (over 20k's) allowed us to catch fellow Shiftlocker Anthony Shaw who was introducing Sam Kirkland to the joys of rally in Sam's Mazda 323 Turbo. Anthony was taking it very sedately given it wasn't his car, it certainly isn't a reflection of our respective driving abilities! It did pose the unique question of how does one pass another car on a stage? Given the noise and the fact the rear windows are covered in mud I wasn't even sure Anthony knew we were there. As we closed up along one straight Anthony was keeping left so I figured that that was about as good a chance as I was going to get so dived down the inside, however this meant we were carrying too much speed into the following right hander. A quick pull on the handbrake and a prayer that we had already cleared the 323 got us round more by good luck than good management.

The rest of the morning passed quite uneventfully with SS3 Maynes Road being a highlight with its great surface, quick corners and "yumps" being reminiscent of Finland. Anthony was keeping everything neat and tidy in the interests of car preservation. Nick and Helen in the Commodore were struggling with tyre grip which was making the big rear wheel drive a bit of a handful. We reached the lunchtime service to be informed that the very short SS4 and 5 were cancelled due to recent heavy rain making the risk not worth 3km of competitive driving. This meant a rather long lunch break during which the competitors quickly exhausted the sights of Maydena woodyard, Dreamworld its not, but a great service park it is. The long break meant caution was needed at the restart until tyres, brakes and more importantly brains got back up to temperature. However a little yellow Charade driver decided he would try and catch the Toyota Sprinter of Craig Wright in the afternoon. The charge lasted all of 500 metres into stage SS6 before we were sliding backwards down the road towards the forest. Again luck was on our side with a small bank of earth saving us from needing a 3 week expedition to locate the car. The car escaped without a scratch and we continued on our way albeit at a rather more leisurely pace for the rest of the stage.

Bad parking. VERY big drop behind us.

Great footage from Maynes Road (SS3 and SS6)

SS7 was approached with a bit more discretion to regain confidence before the final run back through Styx Road. With the road a lot drier in the afternoon speeds were even higher on the reverse run through Styx, Craig Brooks telemetry showing a peak of 187km/h. This time we hit the slippery stuff with a full days driving behind us and pushed a bit. Smiling ear to ear as the Charade oversteered around corners as if it was RWD, I hate to think how sideways Nick was in the Commodore. With the end in sight I had another brain fade and almost threw it away. One of the last calls in the road book was "Road goes right over crest". I must have been watching too much WRC In-car recently though as I heard it as "Keep right over crest", as in hug the right side of the road. So I duly moved to the right side of the road, grabbed 4th gear and pinned the foot to the firewall again, only to find as we crested the brow the road disappearing rapidly to the right. Cue handbrake and more sideways sliding yet thankfully managed not to hit anything.

All cars safely reached the finish yet when we arrived we found that Craig Brooks had made our attempts at crashing look decidely amateur having left the road backwards at over 150km/h. Despite cutting some trees in half (strong things those Subies!) the car suffered no major damage and he went on to win the event. Footage also showed Aaron Reader who won P2 attacking the scenery on the last stage, which you can see in the video below.

Nick and Helen on the last stage.

Timmy and I in the same place.

The story at Styx doesn't quite end there. The following week David Waldon invited me out to pack up a few last things which I gladly accepted, although nervous being a very very bad passenger. What followed was not only a day of stunning scenery but a driving masterclass. You wouldn't believe how fast a Landcruiser can go. Despite David's assertions he was taking it easy it quickly became apparent that my career is a navigator is over before it begun as I forgot about anything but hanging on!

Next the Shiftlock blog will visit the Huon which saw even more highs and lows.

Hellyer Rally 2008

2008-07-22T02:59:00.000-07:00

With 2 rounds down in the 2008 Tasmanian Rally Series the Shiftlock crew embarked on its biggest journey yet. Two cars on trailers, tools, spares and crew loaded into 3 vehicles for the 4.5 hour trek to Burnie for the Hellyer Rally. Nick Shaw would have a new co-driver for the event in Scooter Cresswell, taking his old seat in the left hand side of the Commodore as usual co-pilot Helen Blake was snowed under with university exams. Timmy Kulhanek was once again joining me in the Charade while Anthony Shaw was co-driving for first time entrant Luke How in his newly built Hyundai Excel. The Hellyer Rally saw the largest field assembled for a TRS round in quite some time. 23 crews made for a great sight on the Burnie waterfront with 5 crews even making the trip from Victoria. One of these was another Charade the same model as mine which would make for some interesting competition. The advantage of a waterfront start is simply stunning views as the sun rose over Bass Straight. You simply couldn't help but be in a good mood and it made the early start a lot easier. Burnie local and TRS front runner Craig Brooks' suggestion that ocean views be mandatory at all future TRS driver's briefings certainly had merit, although perhaps a little challenging logistically for those events held further inland.
A short trip north found the field lined up at the start of the first stage. Those of us at the back were facing a slightly longer wait than normal but thankfully the first stage allowed the cars to be heard and seen for the first minute or so of competition. The conditions were great, damp from overnight rain (nothing worse than dust) yet clear skies and cool conditions. New tyres and new brakes on the car meant the car felt a little different so a few nerves were present. Unfortunately we passed competitor Nathan Newton on the first stage, his Skyline ground to a halt just past the first spectator point. Thankfully it was a minor issue and they continued to the end of the day. More surprises were to come with Ben Sheldrick parked his Datsun 1600 in a ditch only a couple of hundred metres from the start of stage 2. He continued after extraction by the recovery crew and all competitors made it to the first service safely. The usual stories are swapped about scary moments and the nature of the stages until I get a smack across the head from crew chief Cam for not checking the tyre pressures before the start, which now read 45psi! Given the car felt quite balanced it gave me confidence that Tim and I could push a bit harder in the coming stages.
The Hellyer stages were brilliant. Very "rhythmic" and flowing, not very rough and quite fast. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves with few incidents to be reported and the increased number of special stages meant there was rarely a moment for rest. We struck trouble on the transport heading to the lunch break with a strange noise coming from the right hand front wheel. My immediate thought was driveshaft (it turned out to be wheel bearings!) but after inspection at the lunch break the service crew found nothing really amiss so I thought I would just try and take it easy and nurse the car to the finish. Nick was doing another great job with he and I taking turns to beat one another on each stage. He was ahead overall and leading his class. Anthony and Luke in the Excel were getting faster with each passing kilometre. Unfortunately this performance was soon to come to an end with Luke rolling the car heavily on the first stage after lunch. He and Anthony escaped uninjured however the same could not be said for Luke's previously pristine Hyundai. The damage was extensive enough that a new shell would be required but happily his enthusiasm was not dampened and he is already back competing in club events in a new car!
The afternoon stages were the highlight of the day with high speed sections meaning 5th gear was frequently visited in the little Charade. We had a good rhythm going and the horrible noises coming from the right front didn't seem to slow us down. Every start and slow corner was taken with extreme caution, ironically this smooth approach seemed to gain us time. Once we saw rival Aaron Reader off the road in his Mirage the tension increased as if we finished we would win our class. The fading light led to the cancellation of stage 10 but also meant Nick could blind some spectators with his flashy driving lights, hell he had dragged them 400km he might as well use them!! It also meant our ailing Charade had one less stage to survive before the finish. The last stage also had drama when rally leader Craig Brooks threw his WRX off the road despite a huge lead. The incident and subsequent flat tyre cost him 15 minutes and dropped him from 1st to 10th in the results. Competition over we begun the trek back to Burnie as night fell, Tim and I grimacing everytime the Charade protested at going any further with failing wheel bearings.

The relief at finally crossing the finish line was enormous especially as the results for the Shiftlock clan had made the event very worthwhile. Nick Shaw/Scooter Cresswell first in P4 and 7th outright. Scott Newman/Tim Kulhanek first in P2/P1 and 8th outright. The only thing left to do was sample the Burnie nightlife! A great feed at Mallee Grill and a few (dozen??) drinks at the after party topped off a great day. Little did we know the highlight of the weekend was still to come!! The sight of Crew Chief Cam trying to order a McDonalds breakfast with no voice resulted in hysterics and a very bemused McDonalds employee.

The Hellyer Rally was a credit to its organisers!! Definitely worth the long trek, stay tuned for Shiftlock's next adventure in the Huon forests. Can we reproduce these great results a little closer to home?

Mountain Stages 2008

2008-06-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Tasmanian Rally series kicked off with the Mountain Stages rally, held on the forestry roads surrounding Ben Lomond. The Shiftlock crew was well represented with three cars making the 200km trip from Hobart to Launceston. Myself in the Charade, Nick with the Commodore and Anthony deciding to enter the Gemini. Having had it up for sale but no buyers, the only course of action was to drive it! Our respective co-drivers were Tim Kulhanek (Charade), Helen Blake (Commodore) and Scott "Scooter" Cresswell in the Gemini. The Charade and Commodore crews were complete novices, with the guys in the Gemini being relative veterans!

Just as the competitors took their places on the start line the heavens opened. One major advantage of motor racing is that even if the weather is a touch inclement, you still have a nice warm dry environment to compete in. Provided of course your car stays in tact, look up Henning Solberg (WRC Sweden 06) or Yvan Muller (Bathurst 06) for what happens when this fails to occur. Our first introduction to rally was a 55km transport to the first stage......rally cars aren't exactly the most pleasant vehicles for a sunday drive.

Unfortunately it was an eventful morning for the Shiftlock crew. The motor in the Gemini decided it had had enough of this rally caper and promptly expired on the second stage. Nick managed to have possibly the slowest accident in the history of Tasmanian motorsport. Having recovered from a spin, whilst maneuvering the car back in the right direction a wheel dropped off the side of the road dragging the car down into a ditch. Thankfully no harm was done and after being pulled out they continued. The Charade completed the morning loop without incident, however at the speed we were going it we were unlikely to have a mishap, still better safe than sorry and it still felt all very exciting.

The two remaining Shiftlock cars (the Gemini sadly going no further) were mechanically fine so service was simply a matter of making sure nothing had...or was likely to fall off. The service crew of Cam, Shaun and Bree (Anthony's girlfriend) soon had the cars ready to roll again. Stories were swapped at the lunch break of big moments and top speeds before strapping back in for the afternoon stages. The stages themselves were brilliant, the last one being the highlight with the little Charade humming along and giving Tim and I a glimpse into just how fast you can go on rally tyres, and we were only scratching the tip of the iceberg. After the many hours of car preparation and conjecture as to whether the event would proceed at all to cross the finish line was such a feeling of elation. Nick drove incredibly well to win his class (P4) in his first event, no doubt the first of many. Massive thanks must got to the Motorsports Club of Tasmania for organising such a great event.

The rally bug had certainly bitten and we all couldn't wait for the next round in the Styx Valley.
Anthony and Scooter tipping it in on the first stage. Note the amount of water!

Nick and Helen on their way to a successful debut.

Tim and I concentrating hard. Charade headlights have a disturbing habit of working loose.

Photos courtesy of Bruce Bain Photography. Visit his website here.
http://brucebainphotography.com.au/

Welcome!!

2008-06-30T03:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Shiftlock Motorsport Blog,
Shiftlock Motorsport is a motorsport team based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the brainchild of the Shaw twins Anthony and Nick. The team made its competitive debut with Anthony competing in the 2007 Tasmanian Rally Series in his Holden Gemini. Nick helped out as service crew as well as recruiting Cameron Rolls as crew chief and Shaun McCartney as service crew. It was a very successful year with Anthony competing in all 5 rounds and winning the P2 (up to 1600cc) state championship. You can see Anthony in action in the following clip.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fu7SojQMOy8

2007 rolled into 2008 and the Shiftlock crew was about to expand. Nick purchased a VL commodore which had proven itself to be spectacularly quick in the hands of former owner Craig Sault's hands, regularly being the fastest two wheel drive car in the state. The other addition to the team was your author, Scott Newman, having taken possession of a Daihatsu Charade, another car with a proven competition record, having won both the P1 (up to 1300cc) and P2 state titles.

Nick in action with co-driver Helen Blake at the Styx Valley Rally

Yours truly with co-driver Tim Kulhanek at the same event.

2008 is very much a learning year for the team. Being our first year rallying both Nick and myself are aiming to keep it on the road and learn as much as possible while finishing every event. We are all young with Nick, Anthony, myself, Cam and Shaun all 21 years of age so time is on our side for the moment. Despite the high demands rallying makes on both time and wallet we are all committed to giving our absolute best in our chosen sport. Hopefully you have enjoyed this introduction. The next few posts will be coverage of the first 3 events this year (this blog is being written somewhat retrospectively) but you can be sure there will be many more updates to come!
Regards
Scott Newman on behalf of the entire Shiftlock clan!