Yes it is over after 8 days & 43SS.
Many thanks to all the sponsors, officials and competitors.
I had a ball, I believe the SS were demanding and all Teams had plenty of seat time.
I am quite sure that we averaged around 2.5 to 3 winches an SS.
Results are below, full SS times will be posted on http://www.xtreme4x4sport.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; early next week or it may even happen tonight if the celebrations finish at a nice hour.
Again thanks to all who made this event great.
Christian Trusz / Terry Kane-Patrol QLD 3938
Col Warneken / Cam Gale-Patrol NSW 3786
Aaron Ward / Steve O'Donnell-Patrol QLD 3629
Dave Burrows / Pat Burrows-Landcruiser NSW 3564
Shane Harris / Alex Driscoll-Patrol QLD 1054
Rod Rathbone / Russell Rathbone-Landcruiser NSW 855
Chris Wood / Chris Brame Patrol-QLD 20
Cheers
David Metcalfe
Competition Manager
Exedy XI - RFC Australia
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Exedy XI - RFC Australia Run & Won
Moderator: evanstaniland
Exedy XI - RFC Australia Run & Won
David Metcalfe, runs Xtreme 4X4 Sport which is the home of ARB Xtreme Winch Challenge Series, Xtreme International & 4WD Angel Adventure supporting Angel Flight Australia
Re: Exedy XI - RFC Australia Run & Won
Well done Christian & Terry you boys are unstoppable !!!! From your proud sponsors. Congrats to all the competitors for taking on a big 8 days of winch challenge its a great effort all round.
Re: Exedy XI - RFC Australia Run & Won
Exedy XI-RFC full report
Day 1
10 competitors were at the early morning briefing including new comers to the event, Andrew McFairlane and Mark Lauder in the British Off Road Land Rover Defender V8.
Competition got under way, after team profile photos were taken, with all doing stage 1. This was a long stage with vehicles climbing over logs in a creek bed, steep up hill winch followed by a run through to a gully with a small bog hole. Once out of this it was a short winch out of the gully and back to the original hill and a reverse winch down to the creek followed by a short run back to the finish.
Fastest time was 10.35 by Rod Rathbone in his V8 FJ40 but Andrew and Mark were less than a minute behind with 11.22.
Unfortunately for 4 competitors they did not finish within the time. Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll suffered winch problems, while Kevin Gorick and Scott Archer abused the body panels on the 60 Series Toyota when the got hooked up on a tree on the reverse winch and ran out of time. Earlier they had got stuck in the first water hole and Scott couldn’t get out his side so promptly walked over Kevin and out the drivers door. Chris Woods suffered winch problems in the bog and then engine once out the engine overheated and boiled. Chris was to spend the rest of the day replacing the head gasket on the highly modified 2.8 GU Nissan.
The all female team of Emily Taylor and Katie Ireland also ran out of time but were spectacular when they tipped on to their side in a water hole leading up to the bog. Katie was right their and had the winch out and they quickly recovered themselves.
Stages 2 and 3 ran together with stage 3 running smoothly with no mishaps. However it was Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell that provide the best save of the day and only a couple of people were witness to the skillful driving by Aaron. Having to sneak past a tree with an off camber, most used the winch to get through. Aaron was slowly getting passed when the rear slipped downhill, Aaron got on the gas and the front lifted completely off the ground as it slide backwards and then he managed to drive back up and stop on the ridge. It all happened so quickly that even Aaron was shocked, but it was probably more scared of damaging his wife’s car!
Col Wareneken and Cam Gale were having a good run winning 2 stages outright until they broken a CV on Stage 5 and withdrew to repair it before doing stage 4, and taking out the fastest time for the stage.
Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows in the grey FJ40 had a middle of the road sort of a day finishing all stages and even getting second fastest time on Stage 3 but unfortunately suffered 40 penalty points putting down the order.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane have had a good day winning 2 stages outright and now lead the field on 444 points followed closely by Andrew McFairlane and Mark Lauder in the V8 Defender.
Sunday will start with a run up the 2.8 Test Track along Diaper Creek followed by another 4 stages which will include a creek with a bit of water in it. For those doing the XI-RFC there will also be GPS night run.
Day 2
Another eventful day at the ARB Xtreme Winch Challenge and XI-RFC Australia at Landcruiser Mountain Park, in Jimna. The day started a with briefing at 7.15am and then by 7.45 competitors were lead out to the bottom of the 2.8km Test Track that runs along Diaper Creek. Unsure how the repairs were going with Chris Wood and Chris Brame and the 2.8 twin turboed GU but they failed to start any stages again today. Reports were Chris was changing the head gasket and another was that he was fitting a new engine.
The remaining 9 competitors, including Emily Taylor and Katie Ireland who managed to fix the winch overnight, would start a 4 minute intervals and drive to the top where it meets Iron Pot Road. Most came through with no problems with some quick times. Fastest was Christian Trusz and Terry Kane with 9.29.9 minutes followed by Aaron ward and Steve O’Donnell with 10.01.6 minutes and Col Warneken and Cam Gale with 10.29.3.
Shane Harris had a stand in co-driver after Alex Driscoll had to return to town, in the form of Troy Wilmot. Unfortunately they broke a rear axle inside the diff head and finished the stage with only front wheel drive. They had to winch a few times through the course and even winched through the ‘flying’ finish gate.
The already battered 60 Series of Kevin Gorick and Scott Archer got a further beating during the stage with Scott in the driver’s seat. They were being slowed with steering problems, and when Scott went to turn into a left hand corner the vehicle went straight ahead up the back falling back on the left hand side. The last competitors were Emily and Katie who had already caught them up and stopped to assist and check on the two boys. Kevin and Scott, who were unhurt, said for them to sneak past and continue but they chose to stay and help get the vehicle upright and then shepherded them to the finish. For this selfless act they were presented with the Team Spirit Award at presentation.
Stages 8 followed which was a short run along the creek bed, over a small log to a rock wall for a winch up and then drop back down and return the same way to the finish. First competitor was Rod and Russell Rathbone in the Toyota. They broke a CV and did most of the stage in 2WD which also meant they had to do and extra winch up the sand bank that no one else had to, not even the 60 Series. Fastest time went to Andrew McFairlane and Mark Calder in the V8 powered Land Rover Defender with 3.26 minutes, a whole 4 seconds faster than the next vehicle.
Stage 7 was another short and fast stage with a short creek drive, and then up through small trees before looping back across the creek and heading back across the creek again where there was a drop off into the water. As they dropped in here several vehicles leaned over heavily to the right then they had to head back along the creek to a sharp left turn and steep uphill winch to the finish box. Andrew McFarlane and Andrew Calder were very quick in the first part but it all came undone when they put the Land Rover onto its side trying to drive the front up the bank. They were quick and efficient in recovering and winch up the hill but did loose time and eventually got 4th fastest on the stage.
Not to be out done the 60 series nearly rolled at the drop off point into the creek but did also manage to roll onto the right hand side at the winch hill. The lads reckoned they needed to have the right side the same as the left.
Dave Burrows and son Pat Burrows in the FJ40 got hooked up on the rocks as the dropped into the creek and stalled. Restarting they managed to back just enough to drive through and managed to get third fastest time with 4.34 minutes.
Stages 9 and 10 were back in gullies and the predictable ‘enter gully, exit gully to left, enter gully, exit …..” and no significant problems apart from The Land Rover Defender breaking a steering box on Stage 9, their last stage of the day. Team Petticoat (anyone remember Petticoat Junction?) on Emily Taylor and Katie Ireland retired with further winch problems.
The competition finished by 1.30pm and everyone made their way back to camper at Trakka Terrace for presentation of the ARB XWC competition.
3rd Andrew McFairlane and Mark Calder 806 points
2nd Rod Rathbone and Russell Rathbone 832 points
1st Christian Trusz and Terry Kane 929 points.
For the overall series
1st Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows
2nd Col Warneken and Cam Gale
3rd Rod Rathbone and Russell Rathbone.
Tonight Shane Harris was still replacing the rear diff and axles under his vehicle, after Alex Driscoll returned with the complete rear end out of mate’s vehicle that had been left at Shane’s place. Moral never leave your vehicle at a mates place.
The XI-RFC Australia continues for another 6 days with some interesting stages planned over the next few days. The Sunday GPS night stage was postponed and instead we enjoyed sponsors nibbles from Aliant Food Services while event organiser briefed the remaining competitors for the next 6 days of competition and introduced his team of officials.
Day 3
Another beautiful day here at Landcruiser Mountain Park for the XI-RFC Australia although in the afternoon it wasn’t to last but more on that later. Competitor numbers had been official reduced due to Chris Wood and Chris Brame retiring from the event. Unfortunately after replacing the head the cooling systems was still pressurising and Chris thought it was because of one of the turbos, one of the few things he didn’t have a spare for.
Rod Rathbone and Russell Rathbone also retired due to family illness and the need to return home.
After briefing it was out to the Bundera area for 5 stages. Stage 13 was first with a couple of steep winches up hill, a short creek drive and driving over a couple of logs before the finish.
First up were Christian Trusz and Terry Kane who had a good run with no major problems. They winched three times and then at the logs, Christian managed to drive the first one but the second was more troublesome and they had to winch.
Col Warneken and Cam Gale had a smooth run and managed to take out a stage win while Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll broke the winch rope on the second winch hill. Alex eventually got it tied back to the hook after several more breaks. They still managed to finish the stage with the fifth fastest time.
Second stage was a long one that would test both driver and navi. First was a creek run over boulders then a water splash to more boulders then a sharp left for a winch out quickly followed a drop back down and onto the second winch. This was up a steep angled slip that needed a thought on winching angles followed by and steep rock winch climb, before heading back to a “bridge building” exercise and then another water splash to the finish.
The slip was to prove the undoing of Shane and Alex, who were first up, where they broke yet another winch rope (yes, it had been replaced with a new one). The vehicle became wedged in the ‘gut’ and couldn’t go up or back down. With the use of the rear winch they managed to get out but not before doing more panel damage to the right hand side and breaking the rear winch rope as well.
They would head off back to camp to make repairs, which also included panel beating the drivers door so that the electric windows would work.
Dave Burrows was running a new navi today with Pat Burrows sitting the next couple of days out. ‘Jumbo’ (sorry real name not known at this time) was in the hot seat and Dave certainly made him work when it came to the bridge building. While the other drivers got out helping manoeuvre the heavy steel ramps into position and then return them to the original location, Dave left it all to Jumbo. It was only afterwards that Dave Burrows realised just how heavy the ramps were.
On to stage 15 and there were now “only 4 competitors hanging on the wall ………….”. Stage 15 had a couple of little ‘tricks’ put in by MMM (Mean Mister Metcalfe) with them having to drive up a slip incline, stop and get winch out to ‘secure’ the vehicle. They then had to jack up the vehicle and remove the front right tyre, lay it on the ground and then refit using the bottle jack and wheel brace provided. After refitting they then back down and into a garage, before going forward to the next 2 winch hills. Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell went to line up for their start only to find that the TD4.2 GQ Nissan wouldn’t start. There was a rush to find the problem which was eventually traced to no power to the injector pump. This was “hot wired” to allow them to eventually get a start and finish the days stages. I wonder how come they were so experienced at ripping out ignition wires and hot wiring vehicles? Perhaps from some where in their past! Col Warneken and Cam Gale were the fastest on this stage.
By now the skies and darkened and thunder and lightning were about and at approximately 2.30pm the heavens opened up as the competitors were about to start stage 16. This involved several winch hills out of gullies before returning to the start/finish. One hill that Col and Cam winched on (they were first away) was actually driven by the others as the rain had stopped by the time they came though.
Just as the stage was completed Shane and Alex returned from doing their repairs. They opted not to do the stage and allow everyone to move onto the last stage, the sprint stage back towards camp. The track was greasy in places and made for an exciting drive. Back luck besieged Shane and Alex yet again with a front tyre going down on them, which slowed the time for the LS1 5.7 V8 powered GU Nissan. Their time was only 55 seconds slower than the fastest car.
Tonight was the chance for the competitors to have a night off and enjoy the hospitality of event organiser David Metcalfe with the “Captains table” where the competitors dined with David with food and nibble provided by sponsors Aliant Food Services.
Tomorrow is GPS day with two GPS stages during the day plus two night GPS stages to catch up on the stage postponed from Sunday night.
Day 4
It has been a quite day for the XI-RFC competitors today with only two GPS stages this morning, both based at the Hunters Camp. A simple one lane in and loop out system was taped up with vehicles to come in at a slow walking pace to the control area. Competitors then swap out the GPS points they have for a new one.
The idea is to get as many points as they can within the DNF time of 1 & ½ hours, one at a time, with a total of 20 to collect. At each GPS point there is an orientation punch that they must punch there card with. Each punch has a different pin hole pattern.
The second GPS stage is where they are given a list of 20 GPS points all at once and they have to go out for 1.5 hours maximum and get as many as they can. Again orientation punches are used and they punch their card with the appropriate corresponding number.
Generally it was straight forward but a couple of competitors tried to short the drive in system by having the navi run in. The bad news for them is MMM has deemed this to be “failure to follow course instructions” and possible penalties are pending.
For Dave Burrows and Howard Crossley (Jumbo) it was definitely not a smooth run. They had problems with the engine misfiring and cutting out. As they got back to control each time they would have the bonnet up trying to trace the problem. They would think it was right again and head out only to suffer the problem yet again. Pat Burrows was at control and even he was beaten as to the cause.
With still 15 minutes to go Dave said “he was sick of it” and called time and began seriously pulling the vehicle apart. Some one then mentioned “where’s the ECU computer” to which Dave replied in the glove box. It was in a box in there and when they pulled it out it rattled. Further investigation revealed the source of the problem; not a 5 cent part but actually a 5 cent piece. It had got into the box and with the bouncing cross country it would occasionally short the computer.
It was all over but 1.30pm and competitors headed back to camp for a rest and service before tonight’s sprint run along the 2.8 Test track again (in opposite direction) and then two more GPS stages, again from the hunters camp.
Most competitors took the chance to check over the vehicle with Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell changing the rear brake pads which were worn to metal. This would have been why they were having poor braking problems the previous day.
Why the competitors were busy on the GPS, MMM lead a team of officials to the head of the Brisbane River to finish setting the stages for Wednesday. 4 more stages were pegged out, a couple with an interesting twist which should be entertaining for competitors and spectators alike. Mick Garner even went beyond the call of duty and put his Suzuki on the line, and he found out that Suzuki’s do not float!
Later on MMM even went for a walk along Cowah Creek checking for deep water holes and possible Stages. All went well until he found a hole and ended up neck deep in the water.
At 5.30pm competitors had their briefing and then were lead out for the sprint stage back along 2.8km Test Track to the hunter’s camp and the start of the two night GPS stages. These stages would follow the same format as the ones earlier in the day but with different points to find.
I headed out with Mean Mister Metcalfe (MMM) to the start of the sprint stage and tried to get a couple of photos of competitors with their lights on.
On the way back MMM got geographically embarrassed missing the turn off to come back down the Tarago Trail. When we got back to the top of Tarago Trail, he turned the indicator on to turn, despite there being no one else around.
The night stages are still in progress as so results are not available by the time this report was written. Results are available at http://www.xtreme4x4sport.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and competition is close with a tie for second place and the next only a further 13 points adrift.
Finally the most bizarre statement for the day; “Anything to do with winching, … I hate!”
Day 5
It has been a quite day for the XI-RFC competitors today with only two GPS stages this morning, both based at the Hunters Camp. A simple one lane in and loop out system was taped up with vehicles to come in at a slow walking pace to the control area. Competitors then swap out the GPS points they have for a new one.
The idea is to get as many points as they can within the DNF time of 1 & ½ hours, one at a time, with a total of 20 to collect. At each GPS point there is an orientation punch that they must punch there card with. Each punch has a different pin hole pattern.
The second GPS stage is where they are given a list of 20 GPS points all at once and they have to go out for 1.5 hours maximum and get as many as they can. Again orientation punches are used and they punch their card with the appropriate corresponding number.
Generally it was straight forward but a couple of competitors tried to short the drive in system by having the navi run in. The bad news for them is MMM has deemed this to be “failure to follow course instructions” and possible penalties are pending.
For Dave Burrows and Howard Crossley (Jumbo) it was definitely not a smooth run. They had problems with the engine misfiring and cutting out. As they got back to control each time they would have the bonnet up trying to trace the problem. They would think it was right again and head out only to suffer the problem yet again. Pat Burrows was at control and even he was beaten as to the cause.
With still 15 minutes to go Dave said “he was sick of it” and called time and began seriously pulling the vehicle apart. Some one then mentioned “where’s the ECU computer” to which Dave replied in the glove box. It was in a box in there and when they pulled it out it rattled. Further investigation revealed the source of the problem; not a 5 cent part but actually a 5 cent piece. It had got into the box and with the bouncing cross country it would occasionally short the computer.
It was all over but 1.30pm and competitors headed back to camp for a rest and service before tonight’s sprint run along the 2.8 Test track again (in opposite direction) and then two more GPS stages, again from the hunters camp.
Most competitors took the chance to check over the vehicle with Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell changing the rear brake pads which were worn to metal. This would have been why they were having poor braking problems the previous day.
Why the competitors were busy on the GPS, MMM lead a team of officials to the head of the Brisbane River to finish setting the stages for Wednesday. 4 more stages were pegged out, a couple with an interesting twist which should be entertaining for competitors and spectators alike. Mick Garner even went beyond the call of duty and put his Suzuki on the line, and he found out that Suzuki’s do not float!
Later on MMM even went for a walk along Cowah Creek checking for deep water holes and possible Stages. All went well until he found a hole and ended up neck deep in the water.
At 5.30pm competitors had their briefing and then were lead out for the sprint stage back along 2.8km Test Track to the hunter’s camp and the start of the two night GPS stages. These stages would follow the same format as the ones earlier in the day but with different points to find.
I headed out with Mean Mister Metcalfe (MMM) to the start of the sprint stage and tried to get a couple of photos of competitors with their lights on.
On the way back MMM got geographically embarrassed missing the turn off to come back down the Tarago Trail. When we got back to the top of Tarago Trail, he turned the indicator on to turn, despite there being no one else around.
The night stages are still in progress as so results are not available by the time this report was written. Results are available at http://www.xtreme4x4sport.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and competition is close with a tie for second place and the next only a further 13 points adrift.
Finally the most bizarre statement for the day; “Anything to do with winching, … I hate!”
Day 6
A little ditty to start with from yesterday.
“There were 5 competitors hanging on the winch wall,
There were 5 competitors hanging on the winch wall,
There were 5 competitors hanging on the winch wall,
And if one should accidentally fall,
There will be 4 competitors hanging on the winch wall…..”
And yes so there were only four competitors after Shane has sat the stages out on medical advise from Darrin Burgess, the on site event paramedic. So for the four remaining competitors it was off to Cowah falls Camp and the start of Cruiser Canyon. This would be yet another stage theoretically with no winching as the competitors would sprint to the top where it comes out on Rav Ridge.
Fastest to the top were Christian Trusz and Terry Kane with a time of 7.19 closely followed by Col Warneken and Can Gale with 7.21. Dave Burrows was next on 7.58 but Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell suffered a flat tyre during the stage on the front right and had to change eventually doing it in 14.14.
Moving on to the bottom of Rav Ridge and Yelburn for three winch stages. Yesterday the set up crew were attached by a Magpie diving on them so the warning was to look out for him today. I didn’t here any reports of people getting dive bombed.
First stage had a couple of winch hills and one that was a possible drive. Christian Trusz did manage to drive this particular hill and took fastest time on the stage with 9.56 followed by Col Warneken and Cam Gale with 11.48. Dave Burrows, now with son Pat back in the left hand seat picked up 30 penalty points for not driving between the pegs but you had to feel sorry for Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell who had a couple of misfortunes and took 20.38, still well within the DNF time of 30 minutes.
At the first winch hill Steve O’Donnell climbed up but went through a patch of stinging nettle that brushed his face and it was starting to sting by the time he got to the second hill. He climbed up with the rope, set the winch and Aaron started winching. Steve was hunched over trying to get his breath with a stinging face and the winch rope, tree protector went passed him and back down to the bottom. He had to repeat the whole thing again. Once Aaron was up there was a tight turn around and drive back to the bottom. Aaron didn’t get the lock right and after several back and forth to try he ended up with the back on the hill so he had to back down this steep hill. No easy feat but Aaron made it a walk in the park.
Stage 28 was another short stage with two winch hills and a wrecked VN Commodore to negotiate. Col Warneken and Cam Gale were last to do this stage and Col did an impressive performance actually driving the second winch hill to complete the stage in 3.55. Dave Burrows picked up yet another 10 penalty points.
Stage 29 another winching one with a run in and out of the gully. Col Warneken was fastest on the stage with a time of 2.52 as he successfully drove both all winch hills, but he hit two ‘barbers pole’ pegs and getting a total of 60 penalties points. This allows Christian Trusz to take the stage win in a time of 5.51 minutes.
The last stage of the day was yet another sprint stage involving a creek drive up Cowah Creek from behind Trakka Terrance, across the flat below the hill climb area and up towards Cowah Falls and then back again. Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll gave this one ago after the others and managed a good time of 4.59 to be third fastest. Shane was buzzing afterwards, despite admitting it took a toll on his injured elbow and he was now paying the price.
Quickest was Col Warneken at 4.05 with Dave Burrows next with 4.36 and Aaron Ward took 4th spot with a time of 5.14. Christian Trusz and Terry Kane suffered yet another flat tyre and damaged rim (alloy that cost $500 each new for this event) and had to change the flat tyre. Their time was 9.11 minutes.
Overall another very good day at the Exedy XI-RFC Australia at Landcruiser Mountain Park.
Update; have heard that Aaron Ward is working hard to fix his vehicle tonight so that he had continue competing tomorrow. After breaking a CV and front axle earlier today he is now trying to repair a broken front diff/locker.
Quote of the day; There is no truth, There is only perception
Day 7
Another nice sunny day at the XI-RFC after a cool night. We are now getting down to the sharp end of the competition and everyone is starting to feel the tension build. With only 13 stages to go and the results still close enough for anyone to pounce if the leaders should falter or break.
But before we go into the days activities I have to update yesterdays report. Apparently that rogue magpie did return and dive bombed the officials several times as the prepared to start the competitors.
Of course today is de-ja-vu Friday where we go back to stages the competitors liked and would like to do again. As much as I would have liked to go back to day’s one stages from a photographic point of view it was off to the Bundera area from day three of the event.
Shane Harris was still sitting the winching stages out due to his elbow injury, but was keen to do the sprint stages, even though he suffers badly with pain afterwards.
While they may have basically been the same stages “Dictator Dave” had a few subtle little changes to make things interesting, but continued to walk the competitors through the stage beforehand.
Stage 31 was the one with a couple of gully winch hills and of course the infamous twin logs, however the first log had rolled closer to the second making it a little harder to drive. Unfortunately for Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell the vehicle stalled entering the creek and the vehicle was caught on a tree stump or rock. Steve tried winching and even managed to get a face full of “stay-a-while” for his efforts. When they winched the dead vehicle it popped the left front tyre off and eventually ran out of time. On recovery the problem was traced to a blown 60amp fuse.
Stage 32 was shortened to just the two winch hills and the ramps for bridge building. Col Warneken and Cam gale had a good run completing it in a time of 9.03 a full minute ahead of Christian Trusz and Terry Kane. Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell came in third fastest.
Stage 33 was the stage where they had to do a wheel change, but nice Mr Metcalfe took out the actual wheel change but the stage remained as done previously. Christian Trusz pointed to the big hill out of the creek and said “That’s Christian’s Hill” saying he was going to drive it. Guess Christian wasn’t around when Allan Tierney rolled on that hill in an early XI. When he got into the creek I think Christian had second thoughts and didn’t even attempt to drive it and sent Terry up first with the winch to complete the stage in a time of 7.43 but it was Col and Cam that won the stage with a time of 6.50.
SS34 had its dramas for Christian and Terry. They broke a rear axle on the second winch hill and struggled on the third hill which had designated trees for winching from and if a snatch block was used which tree should be used. With no rear drive they doubled lined pulled the Nissan up but did not use the designated winch points and therefore got a penalty for not following stage instructions. Christian and Terry then returned to camp to quickly change a diff and rear axle before getting back for Stage 35.
SS35 was to be the sprint stage but it was a totally new track. They would run park of the track they used in Stage 34 but when they veered off the track there was a steep muddy bank. They weren’t made aware of this and you could almost hear the swearing from Pat Burrows over the roaring of the V8 in Dave Burrows Toyota.
Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll decided they would do this stage as well and when they got to the bank there was a delay before Alex got out to hook up the winch. When he did it was without the cable damper and of course as soon as Shane went to winch the rope broke. At least it was only a short winch and Alex was well out of the way. Winch rope tied to hook again they winched out and were on their way again but were slowest with 7.19 minutes.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane got back in time to complete the stage with the fastest time of 4.26 with Col and Cam second quickest at 4.32.
Later that evening there were another 3 night stages back in the Tarago Trail area. On the first stage we had to utilize the services of our paramedic Darrin Burgess when Steve O’Donnell got the winch hook in his face. He was in pain but wouldn’t stop until he and Aaron had completed the stage. Not a good couple of days for Steve and the result now were a couple of chipped and cracked teeth. Medical advice was he was to sit out the next two stages that night.
This left Aaron with a problem and eventually it was agreed that Linda Ward (Barbie) would take over the driving while Aaron would be the “wrench man”.
Everything thing finished around 10.45pm and it was back to camp for a rest before the last 5 stages for the competition tomorrow.
Quote of the day; If you haven’t grown up by 50, you don’t have to!!
(Courtesy of the rear window of Dave Burrows Farmtruck)
Day 8
The last day and boy are many of the officials and competitors are really looking towards the end. Only 5 stages to go and everyone is counting down to the finish as it has been a long week. Even I was feeling it after running around after them taking over 6500 photos during the week.
Can Christian Trusz and Terry Kane hold that lead or will something else break? Now Lynda Ward is in the driver’s seat with Aaron running, can they pick up enough points to threaten the lead and can Col Warenken and Cam Gale pull something out of the bag on the last day? And what about Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows; can they push that old Toyota just a little bit harder and survive?
We were soon to find out.
All stages today were to be around the river below the pig pen area. First up was a sprint stage and unfortunately since the team recc'ed the area for the stages some one had set up camp next to the hill climb. Oh well, they pressed on and set up the stage anyway. Even though it was a sprint stage, Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll sat this one out, learning their lesson from the other day.
Christian and Terry managed to take yet another stage win with a time of 2.47 with Dave and Pat behind on 2.54 and Col and Cam on 2.55.
Stage 40 was in same area but involved water crossings. They entered the river then came out to do the sprint hill again across the top of the ridge and then drop down into the river, over a log and then go right to the exit, but they had to exit to their left! These meant either back down the river or do a turn down there to be able to comply. Winching was required to exit with designated trees which were nicely paced out to be longer than anyone had rope on their winch go extensions were required.
It was a steep hill up for the winch men but for poor Aaron he had to do it twice when Lynda hadn’t engaged gear properly and when she went to drive off there was a loud rev and the vehicle rolled backwards into the river. Still they managed third fastest with 10.59, Christian and Terry were second fastest with 7.30 but Col and Cam did a blistering 6.30 to take the stage win.
Stage 41 used the river crossing with the log yet again. They started the other side came down across the river, looped around over the log back into the river to the other side then up across country to a winch hill. After winching up they came back into the river again, over the log and up the hill to the finish.
Three of the competitors lost time on this stage by going the wrong way and having to double back to the winch hill, costing them time. Dave Burrows was the only one who did it correctly straight off and therefore managed a stage win with a time of 5.19 and Lynda and Aaron second on 6.46.
Stage 42 the penultimate stage again involving the river crossing and a drive to a tight little gully, which became snake gully as when they walked the competitors through the stage there was a brown snake in the bank very close to where Terry Kane was standing. It wasn’t there when the stage was set up 20 minutes earlier but fortunately it did head off leaving the competitors alone.
The stage was straight forward except for snake gully. It was so tight and difficult to get in and angled out the other side that vehicles were lifting wheels high into the air and getting the front caught on the opposite bank as they entered. It proved disastrous for Lynda and Aaron Ward, when the vehicle dropped in and caught the other bank. The right front CV broke and Aaron did a lot of work using the rear winch to pull the rear around and the front at the same time.
The others didn’t want to hang around in snake gully for as long and were quickly through with no incidents other than getting on some awkward angles and wheels in the air stuff. Fastest time was Christian and Terry with 5.24 followed by Col and Cam on 6.53.
Stage 43, the final stage and then it will be all over. This stage was over the other side of the pig pen and would be a short 5-7 minute stage, involving two possible winch climbs. I say possible as they were both drivable. The course was laid out with ‘strip’ bunting with directions to get it on the left going into the stage and on the right coming back. There was one tricky bit Dictator Dave had put in where one strip of bunting was close to others but meant they had to do a two or three point turn around a small tree to comply. Several competitors were caught out with the bunting and the whistle was blown to correct them costing them time.
Second up on this stage were Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows who were unfortunately DNF’ed the stage 10 seconds from the finish gate and totaled the Toyota with an end over end roll off the bank. No one was hurt as the roll cage had done it job but the vehicle sat upside down at the bottom with body damage and the gear box on the back had broken off.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane were the fastest on the stage with a time of 4.09 with Col and Cam behind on 5.38.
After 8 days, 43 stages of off road magic, mayhem and madness it has been a tiring but extremely enjoyable time for Competitors, organisers and officials alike and already they are talking about next year before the prize giving.
Overall the results weren’t too far apart with only 152 points separating 1st and 2nd places and 157 points between 2nd and 3rd.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane took 1st place with 3938 points and Col Warneken and Cam Gale second on 3786 with Aaron & Lynda Ward with Steve O’Donnell 3rd on 3629.
The draw for the trip to the Malaysian RFC Challenge for 2012 sponsored by Exedy Clutches and Luis J.A.Wee (Malaysian RFC) was won by Dave Burrows. Unfortunately since the vehicle was so badly damaged and is unlikely to be back in good health before its needs to be shipped it looks like they will still go and participate as ‘adventurers’ following the RFC.
Thanks must go to all who supported the event, from competitors, officials and sponsors who without them all it would not have been possible.
Sponsors included;
Exedy Clutches
RFC Malaysia
Aliant Food Services
Roo Systems
Dynamic Wheels
CCIP
Safety Quip Rocklea
All Four x Four Parts
Springers Lawnton
Massojet
Lightforce
Cat Power Hire
Xtreme 4x4 Sport
Landcruiser Mountain Park
Cynergy Printing
NZ4WD magazine
Supported by
Dirtcomp
4WDTV
Maersk Shipping
Day 1
10 competitors were at the early morning briefing including new comers to the event, Andrew McFairlane and Mark Lauder in the British Off Road Land Rover Defender V8.
Competition got under way, after team profile photos were taken, with all doing stage 1. This was a long stage with vehicles climbing over logs in a creek bed, steep up hill winch followed by a run through to a gully with a small bog hole. Once out of this it was a short winch out of the gully and back to the original hill and a reverse winch down to the creek followed by a short run back to the finish.
Fastest time was 10.35 by Rod Rathbone in his V8 FJ40 but Andrew and Mark were less than a minute behind with 11.22.
Unfortunately for 4 competitors they did not finish within the time. Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll suffered winch problems, while Kevin Gorick and Scott Archer abused the body panels on the 60 Series Toyota when the got hooked up on a tree on the reverse winch and ran out of time. Earlier they had got stuck in the first water hole and Scott couldn’t get out his side so promptly walked over Kevin and out the drivers door. Chris Woods suffered winch problems in the bog and then engine once out the engine overheated and boiled. Chris was to spend the rest of the day replacing the head gasket on the highly modified 2.8 GU Nissan.
The all female team of Emily Taylor and Katie Ireland also ran out of time but were spectacular when they tipped on to their side in a water hole leading up to the bog. Katie was right their and had the winch out and they quickly recovered themselves.
Stages 2 and 3 ran together with stage 3 running smoothly with no mishaps. However it was Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell that provide the best save of the day and only a couple of people were witness to the skillful driving by Aaron. Having to sneak past a tree with an off camber, most used the winch to get through. Aaron was slowly getting passed when the rear slipped downhill, Aaron got on the gas and the front lifted completely off the ground as it slide backwards and then he managed to drive back up and stop on the ridge. It all happened so quickly that even Aaron was shocked, but it was probably more scared of damaging his wife’s car!
Col Wareneken and Cam Gale were having a good run winning 2 stages outright until they broken a CV on Stage 5 and withdrew to repair it before doing stage 4, and taking out the fastest time for the stage.
Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows in the grey FJ40 had a middle of the road sort of a day finishing all stages and even getting second fastest time on Stage 3 but unfortunately suffered 40 penalty points putting down the order.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane have had a good day winning 2 stages outright and now lead the field on 444 points followed closely by Andrew McFairlane and Mark Lauder in the V8 Defender.
Sunday will start with a run up the 2.8 Test Track along Diaper Creek followed by another 4 stages which will include a creek with a bit of water in it. For those doing the XI-RFC there will also be GPS night run.
Day 2
Another eventful day at the ARB Xtreme Winch Challenge and XI-RFC Australia at Landcruiser Mountain Park, in Jimna. The day started a with briefing at 7.15am and then by 7.45 competitors were lead out to the bottom of the 2.8km Test Track that runs along Diaper Creek. Unsure how the repairs were going with Chris Wood and Chris Brame and the 2.8 twin turboed GU but they failed to start any stages again today. Reports were Chris was changing the head gasket and another was that he was fitting a new engine.
The remaining 9 competitors, including Emily Taylor and Katie Ireland who managed to fix the winch overnight, would start a 4 minute intervals and drive to the top where it meets Iron Pot Road. Most came through with no problems with some quick times. Fastest was Christian Trusz and Terry Kane with 9.29.9 minutes followed by Aaron ward and Steve O’Donnell with 10.01.6 minutes and Col Warneken and Cam Gale with 10.29.3.
Shane Harris had a stand in co-driver after Alex Driscoll had to return to town, in the form of Troy Wilmot. Unfortunately they broke a rear axle inside the diff head and finished the stage with only front wheel drive. They had to winch a few times through the course and even winched through the ‘flying’ finish gate.
The already battered 60 Series of Kevin Gorick and Scott Archer got a further beating during the stage with Scott in the driver’s seat. They were being slowed with steering problems, and when Scott went to turn into a left hand corner the vehicle went straight ahead up the back falling back on the left hand side. The last competitors were Emily and Katie who had already caught them up and stopped to assist and check on the two boys. Kevin and Scott, who were unhurt, said for them to sneak past and continue but they chose to stay and help get the vehicle upright and then shepherded them to the finish. For this selfless act they were presented with the Team Spirit Award at presentation.
Stages 8 followed which was a short run along the creek bed, over a small log to a rock wall for a winch up and then drop back down and return the same way to the finish. First competitor was Rod and Russell Rathbone in the Toyota. They broke a CV and did most of the stage in 2WD which also meant they had to do and extra winch up the sand bank that no one else had to, not even the 60 Series. Fastest time went to Andrew McFairlane and Mark Calder in the V8 powered Land Rover Defender with 3.26 minutes, a whole 4 seconds faster than the next vehicle.
Stage 7 was another short and fast stage with a short creek drive, and then up through small trees before looping back across the creek and heading back across the creek again where there was a drop off into the water. As they dropped in here several vehicles leaned over heavily to the right then they had to head back along the creek to a sharp left turn and steep uphill winch to the finish box. Andrew McFarlane and Andrew Calder were very quick in the first part but it all came undone when they put the Land Rover onto its side trying to drive the front up the bank. They were quick and efficient in recovering and winch up the hill but did loose time and eventually got 4th fastest on the stage.
Not to be out done the 60 series nearly rolled at the drop off point into the creek but did also manage to roll onto the right hand side at the winch hill. The lads reckoned they needed to have the right side the same as the left.
Dave Burrows and son Pat Burrows in the FJ40 got hooked up on the rocks as the dropped into the creek and stalled. Restarting they managed to back just enough to drive through and managed to get third fastest time with 4.34 minutes.
Stages 9 and 10 were back in gullies and the predictable ‘enter gully, exit gully to left, enter gully, exit …..” and no significant problems apart from The Land Rover Defender breaking a steering box on Stage 9, their last stage of the day. Team Petticoat (anyone remember Petticoat Junction?) on Emily Taylor and Katie Ireland retired with further winch problems.
The competition finished by 1.30pm and everyone made their way back to camper at Trakka Terrace for presentation of the ARB XWC competition.
3rd Andrew McFairlane and Mark Calder 806 points
2nd Rod Rathbone and Russell Rathbone 832 points
1st Christian Trusz and Terry Kane 929 points.
For the overall series
1st Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows
2nd Col Warneken and Cam Gale
3rd Rod Rathbone and Russell Rathbone.
Tonight Shane Harris was still replacing the rear diff and axles under his vehicle, after Alex Driscoll returned with the complete rear end out of mate’s vehicle that had been left at Shane’s place. Moral never leave your vehicle at a mates place.
The XI-RFC Australia continues for another 6 days with some interesting stages planned over the next few days. The Sunday GPS night stage was postponed and instead we enjoyed sponsors nibbles from Aliant Food Services while event organiser briefed the remaining competitors for the next 6 days of competition and introduced his team of officials.
Day 3
Another beautiful day here at Landcruiser Mountain Park for the XI-RFC Australia although in the afternoon it wasn’t to last but more on that later. Competitor numbers had been official reduced due to Chris Wood and Chris Brame retiring from the event. Unfortunately after replacing the head the cooling systems was still pressurising and Chris thought it was because of one of the turbos, one of the few things he didn’t have a spare for.
Rod Rathbone and Russell Rathbone also retired due to family illness and the need to return home.
After briefing it was out to the Bundera area for 5 stages. Stage 13 was first with a couple of steep winches up hill, a short creek drive and driving over a couple of logs before the finish.
First up were Christian Trusz and Terry Kane who had a good run with no major problems. They winched three times and then at the logs, Christian managed to drive the first one but the second was more troublesome and they had to winch.
Col Warneken and Cam Gale had a smooth run and managed to take out a stage win while Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll broke the winch rope on the second winch hill. Alex eventually got it tied back to the hook after several more breaks. They still managed to finish the stage with the fifth fastest time.
Second stage was a long one that would test both driver and navi. First was a creek run over boulders then a water splash to more boulders then a sharp left for a winch out quickly followed a drop back down and onto the second winch. This was up a steep angled slip that needed a thought on winching angles followed by and steep rock winch climb, before heading back to a “bridge building” exercise and then another water splash to the finish.
The slip was to prove the undoing of Shane and Alex, who were first up, where they broke yet another winch rope (yes, it had been replaced with a new one). The vehicle became wedged in the ‘gut’ and couldn’t go up or back down. With the use of the rear winch they managed to get out but not before doing more panel damage to the right hand side and breaking the rear winch rope as well.
They would head off back to camp to make repairs, which also included panel beating the drivers door so that the electric windows would work.
Dave Burrows was running a new navi today with Pat Burrows sitting the next couple of days out. ‘Jumbo’ (sorry real name not known at this time) was in the hot seat and Dave certainly made him work when it came to the bridge building. While the other drivers got out helping manoeuvre the heavy steel ramps into position and then return them to the original location, Dave left it all to Jumbo. It was only afterwards that Dave Burrows realised just how heavy the ramps were.
On to stage 15 and there were now “only 4 competitors hanging on the wall ………….”. Stage 15 had a couple of little ‘tricks’ put in by MMM (Mean Mister Metcalfe) with them having to drive up a slip incline, stop and get winch out to ‘secure’ the vehicle. They then had to jack up the vehicle and remove the front right tyre, lay it on the ground and then refit using the bottle jack and wheel brace provided. After refitting they then back down and into a garage, before going forward to the next 2 winch hills. Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell went to line up for their start only to find that the TD4.2 GQ Nissan wouldn’t start. There was a rush to find the problem which was eventually traced to no power to the injector pump. This was “hot wired” to allow them to eventually get a start and finish the days stages. I wonder how come they were so experienced at ripping out ignition wires and hot wiring vehicles? Perhaps from some where in their past! Col Warneken and Cam Gale were the fastest on this stage.
By now the skies and darkened and thunder and lightning were about and at approximately 2.30pm the heavens opened up as the competitors were about to start stage 16. This involved several winch hills out of gullies before returning to the start/finish. One hill that Col and Cam winched on (they were first away) was actually driven by the others as the rain had stopped by the time they came though.
Just as the stage was completed Shane and Alex returned from doing their repairs. They opted not to do the stage and allow everyone to move onto the last stage, the sprint stage back towards camp. The track was greasy in places and made for an exciting drive. Back luck besieged Shane and Alex yet again with a front tyre going down on them, which slowed the time for the LS1 5.7 V8 powered GU Nissan. Their time was only 55 seconds slower than the fastest car.
Tonight was the chance for the competitors to have a night off and enjoy the hospitality of event organiser David Metcalfe with the “Captains table” where the competitors dined with David with food and nibble provided by sponsors Aliant Food Services.
Tomorrow is GPS day with two GPS stages during the day plus two night GPS stages to catch up on the stage postponed from Sunday night.
Day 4
It has been a quite day for the XI-RFC competitors today with only two GPS stages this morning, both based at the Hunters Camp. A simple one lane in and loop out system was taped up with vehicles to come in at a slow walking pace to the control area. Competitors then swap out the GPS points they have for a new one.
The idea is to get as many points as they can within the DNF time of 1 & ½ hours, one at a time, with a total of 20 to collect. At each GPS point there is an orientation punch that they must punch there card with. Each punch has a different pin hole pattern.
The second GPS stage is where they are given a list of 20 GPS points all at once and they have to go out for 1.5 hours maximum and get as many as they can. Again orientation punches are used and they punch their card with the appropriate corresponding number.
Generally it was straight forward but a couple of competitors tried to short the drive in system by having the navi run in. The bad news for them is MMM has deemed this to be “failure to follow course instructions” and possible penalties are pending.
For Dave Burrows and Howard Crossley (Jumbo) it was definitely not a smooth run. They had problems with the engine misfiring and cutting out. As they got back to control each time they would have the bonnet up trying to trace the problem. They would think it was right again and head out only to suffer the problem yet again. Pat Burrows was at control and even he was beaten as to the cause.
With still 15 minutes to go Dave said “he was sick of it” and called time and began seriously pulling the vehicle apart. Some one then mentioned “where’s the ECU computer” to which Dave replied in the glove box. It was in a box in there and when they pulled it out it rattled. Further investigation revealed the source of the problem; not a 5 cent part but actually a 5 cent piece. It had got into the box and with the bouncing cross country it would occasionally short the computer.
It was all over but 1.30pm and competitors headed back to camp for a rest and service before tonight’s sprint run along the 2.8 Test track again (in opposite direction) and then two more GPS stages, again from the hunters camp.
Most competitors took the chance to check over the vehicle with Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell changing the rear brake pads which were worn to metal. This would have been why they were having poor braking problems the previous day.
Why the competitors were busy on the GPS, MMM lead a team of officials to the head of the Brisbane River to finish setting the stages for Wednesday. 4 more stages were pegged out, a couple with an interesting twist which should be entertaining for competitors and spectators alike. Mick Garner even went beyond the call of duty and put his Suzuki on the line, and he found out that Suzuki’s do not float!
Later on MMM even went for a walk along Cowah Creek checking for deep water holes and possible Stages. All went well until he found a hole and ended up neck deep in the water.
At 5.30pm competitors had their briefing and then were lead out for the sprint stage back along 2.8km Test Track to the hunter’s camp and the start of the two night GPS stages. These stages would follow the same format as the ones earlier in the day but with different points to find.
I headed out with Mean Mister Metcalfe (MMM) to the start of the sprint stage and tried to get a couple of photos of competitors with their lights on.
On the way back MMM got geographically embarrassed missing the turn off to come back down the Tarago Trail. When we got back to the top of Tarago Trail, he turned the indicator on to turn, despite there being no one else around.
The night stages are still in progress as so results are not available by the time this report was written. Results are available at http://www.xtreme4x4sport.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and competition is close with a tie for second place and the next only a further 13 points adrift.
Finally the most bizarre statement for the day; “Anything to do with winching, … I hate!”
Day 5
It has been a quite day for the XI-RFC competitors today with only two GPS stages this morning, both based at the Hunters Camp. A simple one lane in and loop out system was taped up with vehicles to come in at a slow walking pace to the control area. Competitors then swap out the GPS points they have for a new one.
The idea is to get as many points as they can within the DNF time of 1 & ½ hours, one at a time, with a total of 20 to collect. At each GPS point there is an orientation punch that they must punch there card with. Each punch has a different pin hole pattern.
The second GPS stage is where they are given a list of 20 GPS points all at once and they have to go out for 1.5 hours maximum and get as many as they can. Again orientation punches are used and they punch their card with the appropriate corresponding number.
Generally it was straight forward but a couple of competitors tried to short the drive in system by having the navi run in. The bad news for them is MMM has deemed this to be “failure to follow course instructions” and possible penalties are pending.
For Dave Burrows and Howard Crossley (Jumbo) it was definitely not a smooth run. They had problems with the engine misfiring and cutting out. As they got back to control each time they would have the bonnet up trying to trace the problem. They would think it was right again and head out only to suffer the problem yet again. Pat Burrows was at control and even he was beaten as to the cause.
With still 15 minutes to go Dave said “he was sick of it” and called time and began seriously pulling the vehicle apart. Some one then mentioned “where’s the ECU computer” to which Dave replied in the glove box. It was in a box in there and when they pulled it out it rattled. Further investigation revealed the source of the problem; not a 5 cent part but actually a 5 cent piece. It had got into the box and with the bouncing cross country it would occasionally short the computer.
It was all over but 1.30pm and competitors headed back to camp for a rest and service before tonight’s sprint run along the 2.8 Test track again (in opposite direction) and then two more GPS stages, again from the hunters camp.
Most competitors took the chance to check over the vehicle with Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell changing the rear brake pads which were worn to metal. This would have been why they were having poor braking problems the previous day.
Why the competitors were busy on the GPS, MMM lead a team of officials to the head of the Brisbane River to finish setting the stages for Wednesday. 4 more stages were pegged out, a couple with an interesting twist which should be entertaining for competitors and spectators alike. Mick Garner even went beyond the call of duty and put his Suzuki on the line, and he found out that Suzuki’s do not float!
Later on MMM even went for a walk along Cowah Creek checking for deep water holes and possible Stages. All went well until he found a hole and ended up neck deep in the water.
At 5.30pm competitors had their briefing and then were lead out for the sprint stage back along 2.8km Test Track to the hunter’s camp and the start of the two night GPS stages. These stages would follow the same format as the ones earlier in the day but with different points to find.
I headed out with Mean Mister Metcalfe (MMM) to the start of the sprint stage and tried to get a couple of photos of competitors with their lights on.
On the way back MMM got geographically embarrassed missing the turn off to come back down the Tarago Trail. When we got back to the top of Tarago Trail, he turned the indicator on to turn, despite there being no one else around.
The night stages are still in progress as so results are not available by the time this report was written. Results are available at http://www.xtreme4x4sport.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and competition is close with a tie for second place and the next only a further 13 points adrift.
Finally the most bizarre statement for the day; “Anything to do with winching, … I hate!”
Day 6
A little ditty to start with from yesterday.
“There were 5 competitors hanging on the winch wall,
There were 5 competitors hanging on the winch wall,
There were 5 competitors hanging on the winch wall,
And if one should accidentally fall,
There will be 4 competitors hanging on the winch wall…..”
And yes so there were only four competitors after Shane has sat the stages out on medical advise from Darrin Burgess, the on site event paramedic. So for the four remaining competitors it was off to Cowah falls Camp and the start of Cruiser Canyon. This would be yet another stage theoretically with no winching as the competitors would sprint to the top where it comes out on Rav Ridge.
Fastest to the top were Christian Trusz and Terry Kane with a time of 7.19 closely followed by Col Warneken and Can Gale with 7.21. Dave Burrows was next on 7.58 but Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell suffered a flat tyre during the stage on the front right and had to change eventually doing it in 14.14.
Moving on to the bottom of Rav Ridge and Yelburn for three winch stages. Yesterday the set up crew were attached by a Magpie diving on them so the warning was to look out for him today. I didn’t here any reports of people getting dive bombed.
First stage had a couple of winch hills and one that was a possible drive. Christian Trusz did manage to drive this particular hill and took fastest time on the stage with 9.56 followed by Col Warneken and Cam Gale with 11.48. Dave Burrows, now with son Pat back in the left hand seat picked up 30 penalty points for not driving between the pegs but you had to feel sorry for Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell who had a couple of misfortunes and took 20.38, still well within the DNF time of 30 minutes.
At the first winch hill Steve O’Donnell climbed up but went through a patch of stinging nettle that brushed his face and it was starting to sting by the time he got to the second hill. He climbed up with the rope, set the winch and Aaron started winching. Steve was hunched over trying to get his breath with a stinging face and the winch rope, tree protector went passed him and back down to the bottom. He had to repeat the whole thing again. Once Aaron was up there was a tight turn around and drive back to the bottom. Aaron didn’t get the lock right and after several back and forth to try he ended up with the back on the hill so he had to back down this steep hill. No easy feat but Aaron made it a walk in the park.
Stage 28 was another short stage with two winch hills and a wrecked VN Commodore to negotiate. Col Warneken and Cam Gale were last to do this stage and Col did an impressive performance actually driving the second winch hill to complete the stage in 3.55. Dave Burrows picked up yet another 10 penalty points.
Stage 29 another winching one with a run in and out of the gully. Col Warneken was fastest on the stage with a time of 2.52 as he successfully drove both all winch hills, but he hit two ‘barbers pole’ pegs and getting a total of 60 penalties points. This allows Christian Trusz to take the stage win in a time of 5.51 minutes.
The last stage of the day was yet another sprint stage involving a creek drive up Cowah Creek from behind Trakka Terrance, across the flat below the hill climb area and up towards Cowah Falls and then back again. Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll gave this one ago after the others and managed a good time of 4.59 to be third fastest. Shane was buzzing afterwards, despite admitting it took a toll on his injured elbow and he was now paying the price.
Quickest was Col Warneken at 4.05 with Dave Burrows next with 4.36 and Aaron Ward took 4th spot with a time of 5.14. Christian Trusz and Terry Kane suffered yet another flat tyre and damaged rim (alloy that cost $500 each new for this event) and had to change the flat tyre. Their time was 9.11 minutes.
Overall another very good day at the Exedy XI-RFC Australia at Landcruiser Mountain Park.
Update; have heard that Aaron Ward is working hard to fix his vehicle tonight so that he had continue competing tomorrow. After breaking a CV and front axle earlier today he is now trying to repair a broken front diff/locker.
Quote of the day; There is no truth, There is only perception
Day 7
Another nice sunny day at the XI-RFC after a cool night. We are now getting down to the sharp end of the competition and everyone is starting to feel the tension build. With only 13 stages to go and the results still close enough for anyone to pounce if the leaders should falter or break.
But before we go into the days activities I have to update yesterdays report. Apparently that rogue magpie did return and dive bombed the officials several times as the prepared to start the competitors.
Of course today is de-ja-vu Friday where we go back to stages the competitors liked and would like to do again. As much as I would have liked to go back to day’s one stages from a photographic point of view it was off to the Bundera area from day three of the event.
Shane Harris was still sitting the winching stages out due to his elbow injury, but was keen to do the sprint stages, even though he suffers badly with pain afterwards.
While they may have basically been the same stages “Dictator Dave” had a few subtle little changes to make things interesting, but continued to walk the competitors through the stage beforehand.
Stage 31 was the one with a couple of gully winch hills and of course the infamous twin logs, however the first log had rolled closer to the second making it a little harder to drive. Unfortunately for Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell the vehicle stalled entering the creek and the vehicle was caught on a tree stump or rock. Steve tried winching and even managed to get a face full of “stay-a-while” for his efforts. When they winched the dead vehicle it popped the left front tyre off and eventually ran out of time. On recovery the problem was traced to a blown 60amp fuse.
Stage 32 was shortened to just the two winch hills and the ramps for bridge building. Col Warneken and Cam gale had a good run completing it in a time of 9.03 a full minute ahead of Christian Trusz and Terry Kane. Aaron Ward and Steve O’Donnell came in third fastest.
Stage 33 was the stage where they had to do a wheel change, but nice Mr Metcalfe took out the actual wheel change but the stage remained as done previously. Christian Trusz pointed to the big hill out of the creek and said “That’s Christian’s Hill” saying he was going to drive it. Guess Christian wasn’t around when Allan Tierney rolled on that hill in an early XI. When he got into the creek I think Christian had second thoughts and didn’t even attempt to drive it and sent Terry up first with the winch to complete the stage in a time of 7.43 but it was Col and Cam that won the stage with a time of 6.50.
SS34 had its dramas for Christian and Terry. They broke a rear axle on the second winch hill and struggled on the third hill which had designated trees for winching from and if a snatch block was used which tree should be used. With no rear drive they doubled lined pulled the Nissan up but did not use the designated winch points and therefore got a penalty for not following stage instructions. Christian and Terry then returned to camp to quickly change a diff and rear axle before getting back for Stage 35.
SS35 was to be the sprint stage but it was a totally new track. They would run park of the track they used in Stage 34 but when they veered off the track there was a steep muddy bank. They weren’t made aware of this and you could almost hear the swearing from Pat Burrows over the roaring of the V8 in Dave Burrows Toyota.
Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll decided they would do this stage as well and when they got to the bank there was a delay before Alex got out to hook up the winch. When he did it was without the cable damper and of course as soon as Shane went to winch the rope broke. At least it was only a short winch and Alex was well out of the way. Winch rope tied to hook again they winched out and were on their way again but were slowest with 7.19 minutes.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane got back in time to complete the stage with the fastest time of 4.26 with Col and Cam second quickest at 4.32.
Later that evening there were another 3 night stages back in the Tarago Trail area. On the first stage we had to utilize the services of our paramedic Darrin Burgess when Steve O’Donnell got the winch hook in his face. He was in pain but wouldn’t stop until he and Aaron had completed the stage. Not a good couple of days for Steve and the result now were a couple of chipped and cracked teeth. Medical advice was he was to sit out the next two stages that night.
This left Aaron with a problem and eventually it was agreed that Linda Ward (Barbie) would take over the driving while Aaron would be the “wrench man”.
Everything thing finished around 10.45pm and it was back to camp for a rest before the last 5 stages for the competition tomorrow.
Quote of the day; If you haven’t grown up by 50, you don’t have to!!
(Courtesy of the rear window of Dave Burrows Farmtruck)
Day 8
The last day and boy are many of the officials and competitors are really looking towards the end. Only 5 stages to go and everyone is counting down to the finish as it has been a long week. Even I was feeling it after running around after them taking over 6500 photos during the week.
Can Christian Trusz and Terry Kane hold that lead or will something else break? Now Lynda Ward is in the driver’s seat with Aaron running, can they pick up enough points to threaten the lead and can Col Warenken and Cam Gale pull something out of the bag on the last day? And what about Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows; can they push that old Toyota just a little bit harder and survive?
We were soon to find out.
All stages today were to be around the river below the pig pen area. First up was a sprint stage and unfortunately since the team recc'ed the area for the stages some one had set up camp next to the hill climb. Oh well, they pressed on and set up the stage anyway. Even though it was a sprint stage, Shane Harris and Alex Driscoll sat this one out, learning their lesson from the other day.
Christian and Terry managed to take yet another stage win with a time of 2.47 with Dave and Pat behind on 2.54 and Col and Cam on 2.55.
Stage 40 was in same area but involved water crossings. They entered the river then came out to do the sprint hill again across the top of the ridge and then drop down into the river, over a log and then go right to the exit, but they had to exit to their left! These meant either back down the river or do a turn down there to be able to comply. Winching was required to exit with designated trees which were nicely paced out to be longer than anyone had rope on their winch go extensions were required.
It was a steep hill up for the winch men but for poor Aaron he had to do it twice when Lynda hadn’t engaged gear properly and when she went to drive off there was a loud rev and the vehicle rolled backwards into the river. Still they managed third fastest with 10.59, Christian and Terry were second fastest with 7.30 but Col and Cam did a blistering 6.30 to take the stage win.
Stage 41 used the river crossing with the log yet again. They started the other side came down across the river, looped around over the log back into the river to the other side then up across country to a winch hill. After winching up they came back into the river again, over the log and up the hill to the finish.
Three of the competitors lost time on this stage by going the wrong way and having to double back to the winch hill, costing them time. Dave Burrows was the only one who did it correctly straight off and therefore managed a stage win with a time of 5.19 and Lynda and Aaron second on 6.46.
Stage 42 the penultimate stage again involving the river crossing and a drive to a tight little gully, which became snake gully as when they walked the competitors through the stage there was a brown snake in the bank very close to where Terry Kane was standing. It wasn’t there when the stage was set up 20 minutes earlier but fortunately it did head off leaving the competitors alone.
The stage was straight forward except for snake gully. It was so tight and difficult to get in and angled out the other side that vehicles were lifting wheels high into the air and getting the front caught on the opposite bank as they entered. It proved disastrous for Lynda and Aaron Ward, when the vehicle dropped in and caught the other bank. The right front CV broke and Aaron did a lot of work using the rear winch to pull the rear around and the front at the same time.
The others didn’t want to hang around in snake gully for as long and were quickly through with no incidents other than getting on some awkward angles and wheels in the air stuff. Fastest time was Christian and Terry with 5.24 followed by Col and Cam on 6.53.
Stage 43, the final stage and then it will be all over. This stage was over the other side of the pig pen and would be a short 5-7 minute stage, involving two possible winch climbs. I say possible as they were both drivable. The course was laid out with ‘strip’ bunting with directions to get it on the left going into the stage and on the right coming back. There was one tricky bit Dictator Dave had put in where one strip of bunting was close to others but meant they had to do a two or three point turn around a small tree to comply. Several competitors were caught out with the bunting and the whistle was blown to correct them costing them time.
Second up on this stage were Dave Burrows and Pat Burrows who were unfortunately DNF’ed the stage 10 seconds from the finish gate and totaled the Toyota with an end over end roll off the bank. No one was hurt as the roll cage had done it job but the vehicle sat upside down at the bottom with body damage and the gear box on the back had broken off.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane were the fastest on the stage with a time of 4.09 with Col and Cam behind on 5.38.
After 8 days, 43 stages of off road magic, mayhem and madness it has been a tiring but extremely enjoyable time for Competitors, organisers and officials alike and already they are talking about next year before the prize giving.
Overall the results weren’t too far apart with only 152 points separating 1st and 2nd places and 157 points between 2nd and 3rd.
Christian Trusz and Terry Kane took 1st place with 3938 points and Col Warneken and Cam Gale second on 3786 with Aaron & Lynda Ward with Steve O’Donnell 3rd on 3629.
The draw for the trip to the Malaysian RFC Challenge for 2012 sponsored by Exedy Clutches and Luis J.A.Wee (Malaysian RFC) was won by Dave Burrows. Unfortunately since the vehicle was so badly damaged and is unlikely to be back in good health before its needs to be shipped it looks like they will still go and participate as ‘adventurers’ following the RFC.
Thanks must go to all who supported the event, from competitors, officials and sponsors who without them all it would not have been possible.
Sponsors included;
Exedy Clutches
RFC Malaysia
Aliant Food Services
Roo Systems
Dynamic Wheels
CCIP
Safety Quip Rocklea
All Four x Four Parts
Springers Lawnton
Massojet
Lightforce
Cat Power Hire
Xtreme 4x4 Sport
Landcruiser Mountain Park
Cynergy Printing
NZ4WD magazine
Supported by
Dirtcomp
4WDTV
Maersk Shipping
Last edited by XTREME MMM on Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
David Metcalfe, runs Xtreme 4X4 Sport which is the home of ARB Xtreme Winch Challenge Series, Xtreme International & 4WD Angel Adventure supporting Angel Flight Australia
Re: Exedy XI - RFC Australia Run & Won
Many thanks to Ashley Lucas for the above report.
Cheers
David
Cheers
David
David Metcalfe, runs Xtreme 4X4 Sport which is the home of ARB Xtreme Winch Challenge Series, Xtreme International & 4WD Angel Adventure supporting Angel Flight Australia
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