Scott and I left the children in Auckland and headed away for a weekend of racing (thank goodness for wonderful Grandparents). This year was the first year we have entered the Taupo 2WD Rally; we are rapt that we did.
The event was full. 51 cars entered. We were seeded at 42, which enabled us to check out the first cars attacking the
various stages before we gave them a go.
Special stage one: Going great guns then Scott starts tapping the temperature gauge, which is rapidly rising and then stuck on hottest! We were only a third of the way through, so we tried hard to keep a bit of speed, but remain cautious. Then POP dirty water sprayed our helmets, car, we coasted to complete the stage.
After cooling the engine, some ingenious engineering and a test drive around the block we were ready for special stage 2. The culprit was a stuck thermostat. We started cautiously, the temperature gauge was kept a very close eye on and behaved. The car didn’t miss a beat.
The rest of the day went without incident for us. You don’t have a huge amount of time in between the stages, usually half an hour to prepare and then you’re back in the seat ready to line up to go through the start control area.
An extremely well organised, fun event, with a lot of driving time. We ended up third in our class and fifteenth overall. Not bad for our first attempt.
There was time for a quick play at the end of the day, so I went around the track as a passenger in Mark Parson’s V8 TR7, that was an awesome experience.
Drinks, food and general banter followed, along with the prize giving. Give it a go next year if you have the chance; we’ll be there again.
Ida
