Australian 4x4 Masters R1

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It was an early start and Ian drove the 'LJ' while I followed on behind in the Cruiser. We met Clarrie at the front gate of Eastern Creek before 6.00am and it was still dark. More and more cars started lining up waiting on the gates to open and we all had a good chat and catch up and made ourselves a good hot cuppa.

Once inside, we quickly set up the awnings off the Cruiser for shade and then proceeded to take the 'LJ' up to the bunted competitors area. Dave and Mark arrived some time later followed not too long by James and Rob. James hadn't had time to get his 'cut off' switch done so it was up with the bonnet and Mark was delegated the task.

While the guys were deciding on how to do the switch, the Scrutineers made their way around to check over the cars. Obviously they failed James because of not having the switch done, but also because they considered his recovery points on the rear of his vehicle were not satisfactory and there was no way they were going to pass the vehicle. This was a real concern as it was not something that would be fixed in a hurry as they had to weld the points on to the car & no-one had a welder on them. Ian also only had one recovery point on his car at the back, but Clarrie was able to get this passed as it was centred & very secure and also the requirement of 2 points on the back had not been advised to Clarrie prior to the day.

James had no option but to take off to purchase the parts and go to a mate's place & hopefully get his car done. Glenn had since arrived and seeing all the mayhem made a quick call to his mates for help and he headed back home to get his car & come back to take James' place in case he was unable to get his car ready.

Once driver briefing was over, Mark headed off the Event 5 where he would be marshalling for the day and Ian headed off to the Travel Ramp

With James still not back, Ian & Dave were up on Event 1 and headed to the start line. The course was really tight (like pretty much all of the courses) and there were a lot of rocks to get over & tight bends to get around. Dave did a top job holding down the 'LJ' with the snatch strap on a couple of the dicey bends and Ian had a hard time of it steering the course without power steering as you were changing directions all the time in a very tight space. The little car bopped and bounced its way almost to the top with an unbelievable drive and could not make the rock step which claimed even some of the bigger cars.

Glenn, Andrew and the boys arrived back and set about getting the door nets on the windows and pulling the front bumper off. They had all their tools out and it was a real beehive of activity from the boys to try & get his car finished for scrutineering. By this time James arrived back with everything finished and was passed by the officials but he was having trouble with the 'kill switch' which had cut all power and he wasn't able to get the car started. Dave was under the bonnet by this trying to work out the problem and then he & Ian were called to do Event 2. They headed off to the start line and after the brief with the Event Marshal, were about to start the event when I got word from James that they had the car going. I relayed the message to Ian & Dave & they waited for him at the start.

Once again it was a really tight course with some deep holes to go in & James waited for Ian to do the first loop & then snatched him out of the hole & then he followed around the loop and was able to launch himself out of the hole with the added power. They continued up and around the course with both Dave & Rob doing a great job navigating each one individually around & over the obstacles & giving physical assistance where needed. Unfortunately for the guys they timed out near the finish line but they had really driven a terrific course and the four of them had worked so well together to try & get through.

James decided to go and do Event 1 that he had missed earlier and he also bobbed & weaved his way up the course & tried to launch himself over the rock face at the top but ended up putting himself on his side much to the delight of the crowd. Luckily he had some rocks to lean against otherwise he could have gone right over & down the hill. The car did not want to start on this angle & Rob was able to pull him back over with the strap. Rob, Ian & Dave tried to assist by directing him but the car kept stalling & James needed snatching out of the course.

Dave once again was under the bonnet trying to sort out the problem while Clarrie checked on the status of their next event. They could get the car started but it just did not want to keep idling. Ian & Dave had to take off to do Event 3 and Clarrie made the decision to leave James out of this one as the car would be a problem if it stopped & would not start through the course. I must admit I was feeling quite sick by this as Event 3 was called the 'Concrete Jungle' and had a nasty climb to the top and drop off from there. With the 'LJ' being so small & tippy I didn't really want to watch. I couldn't believe it when the car bucked, bopped & jumped it's way through the course, over some thick cement blocks. Dave did a great job holding her down while Ian drove around the tight bends and he actually launched himself over the top rock step and was on the flat above.....phew.... breathe Margaret breathe....Next it was time to descend the top face and Dave once again had a tight grip on the strap as Ian slowly drove the little car over the side and down the rock step. He continued on down the course and I heard the commentator saying how he was now driving through the hardest part of the course. Ian made it look so easy and had no trouble getting over and around the huge concrete boulders & then I saw him get his front tyres up on the finish line and before long he was over having completed the 100 points.....yea. The crowd went wild as he was the only one up till then that had actually got the 100 points...what a terrific team effort by the boys.

I think it was lunch time by this, so we all sat down to a cold drink and rested. It was quite hot and Dave was exhausted after all the effort of last event and made the most of the rest. During this break the boys were able to look at James' car and get it running again and after lunch they headed off to Event 4 which was the event they had chosen for the Navvies, Dave & Rob to drive. It also wasn't an easy course especially when you were not accustomed to driving the vehicle. There were some thick rocks & concrete at the top of the course which took some getting over & Rob was on some acute angles a couple times & I was a bit concerned for James as he was navigating him from the lean-to side of the car & if Rob went over, he would have taken James with him. The boys had to do a circuit of this course 3 times before making their way out of a deep rut. The four of them worked really well together as a Team and tried everything to get through the last deep rut which eventually proved too hard to get through & they timed out after a great effort and about the 90 point marker.

More cold drinks and finding some shade to rest, especially Ian who had been a navigator this time & had to run up & down the slopes to assist and hold down the 'LJ'. Next it was time for Event 5 which had some really nasty big tyres to get around & over. Both cars found some trouble at the start but eventually got through. They then had to drive around some more tyres, up a track & then over some HUGE tyres on the top of the hill. James absolutely launched himself straight off the first & over the second - 4 wheels off the ground at once & there were photos snapping all over the place.  The 'LJ' also surprisingly got over the tyres (that were almost bigger than it is) but a little more subdued than the 'Rocky'. Next they had to come down a steep track & on to some logs that became a balance beam & then travel further down & over some more huge tyres. James got stuck on the last lot of tyres and despite heaps of attempts by Ian at snatching him back for another go, he still was not able to pass through. They timed out again right at the finish gate but not after a huge effort & some skilful driving and assistance from the navvies again. They got to catch up with Mark who had been navigating this event all day.

James was again having trouble with the Rocky and Ian towed it back to camp for them all to try & sort out the problem. Time was getting away again & Clarrie checked with the Marshals as to how much time they had to complete the last event. He decided that Ian & Dave should finish the last event which was a pretty hard course & most vehicles had not got passed the 40 point marker so he wasn't expecting them to get far but a least any points secured went towards the team rather than miss out at all. Ian & Dave headed off and the start was really hard with logs to get over and causing major cross-ups. After some brilliant thinking using the jack to get them over the logs, they moved on further into the course which consisted of more logs and deep ruts. Once around the corner the course was really getting rugged with some even larger logs & ruts to contend with. After many tries there was no way they were going to get over these logs & so Ian called time out. They had still managed to get 40 points and made it to where the bigger cars had got so there was definately nothing to be ashamed of.

We went back to the Cruiser & threw ourselves on the ground and Ian offered Dave, Clarrie & Mark a well deserved Jack Daniels to quench their thirst. Clarrie then headed off to the competition area to pick up the Club banner and see how James was faring. He got them to bring all Ian's tools down to the cruiser so that he & Dave didn't have to go back up. James & Rob headed back so that he could pick up a trailer to tow the Rocky home & Clarrie also headed off as well as it was Angela's birthday & he wanted to spend some time with her. We waited for James to get back and then Mark, Ian & Dave helped him get the Rocky loaded on the trailer & then we all headed off home.

What a top day it turned out to be. The event had some really good driving tracks and what was good about it was that all the drivers were able to have a go at each event without being called out because they stopped for a 3 second count. They were able to realign themself or recover themself to complete the course....they definately got their money's worth.

The guys all worked together as a team to try & get through the courses rather than being individuals thinking of only themself. Great driving was seen by both Ian & James and I cannot remember when the 'LJ' has driven so well in an event and especially with no breakages. Both drivers gave the crowds something to Ooh and Ahh about.

A huge thanks to Dave & Rob for their committment in getting the cars through some really exhausting courses. They did not let up all day & even proved to be good drivers themselves when their turn came in the driver's seat.

Thanks also to Glenn for racing home to get his car back with the help of Andrew & the boys when it looked like James was not going to be ready to run. It was good to see him thinking of the Team first.

Thanks also to Mark for coming out straight from work & Marshalling all day. We did not have much time with him but I think he enjoyed his day as well.

And lastly a  big thanks to Clarrie for all his hard work leading up to the event and on the day. He had to make some 'executive decisions', but to his credit, his decisions were based on what was best for the team on the day. Thanks mate for a job well done

Round 2 should be a good one with Glenn and Ian driving in a day/night event so lets hope they have a safe one there too.