WE Rock - Round 1 - Rover Park 12/13 March

[-CHAZZA-]

Nice vid Antt very impressive By the way where did you get the lizard from and why did you put it in the vid

But anyway great video keep up the good work

Charmaine

[LmcD]

thats it . i have had enough, its buggy time for me

[phippsy]

Just got back, awesome weekend, will have some pics up tomorrow. Well driven by everyone, I think Adrian took out 1st place. Not sure about 2nd & 3rd.
Was a shame for Tony to bust a cv on the last climb of the weekend, but gave a good tyre smoking show b4 it let go
The drunken yobs were certainly a lot quieter today.

Overall big to Sam and all the crew who organised the event and big thanks to Rover Park for the venue.

edit: Was sad to see the mogrover break a reduction gear thingy(?) on the last stage as well as the rear steer arm as it was backing (falling) down the rock too. I think it was Jamie with the turboed buggy that slid it sideways across a ledge and ripped the bottom off his transfer case as well. And the little zook flopped on its side near the end of the last stage today. Some good carnage today

[CHOPZUKI]

nice vid ant looks like there was some really good courses

wish i was there

[rock chick]

Well I have just spoken to Adrian and he has confirmed that he was the winner with 54 points!!!

(I'm glad all his hard work for the about the last 4 weeks of getting the buggy ready has paid off, just a bummer I couldn't go with him this time.)

Second placing goes to Tony and Wes and third was Dave (BeeBee) and Greg. He wasn't too sure of the actually scores for Tony and Dave so they will be posted later.

Sam Keck rolled on the last stage and as it was mention earlier Jamie damaged his transfer case.

That's about all the details I could get but as always they will tell their own stories when they are home.

Congratulations guys!!!

[calelux]

just got back guys
awesome weekend i think an excellent turnout for the first we rock!
well done adrian you drove well and sam keck for his roll over!
and how could i forget the yobos! alot quieter today!

[munga]

wots with all the guys walking round on the course?

i just watched antt's video, and saw what seemed to be about half a dozen guys in their fluoro shirts taking footage or something.

i understand that everyone wants to get up close for that killer shot or whatever, but jeez.

bit hard to get a good shot when half the local council is in your way.

[Aza]

wots with all the guys walking round on the course?

i just watched antt's video, and saw what seemed to be about half a dozen guys in their fluoro shirts taking footage or something.

i understand that everyone wants to get up close for that killer shot or whatever, but jeez.

bit hard to get a good shot when half the local council is in your way.

judges, safety crew, film crew, photographers, etc comp's dont run themselves and its a world event they have to be dead acurate with the judging

[blu125]

What an unbelievable weekend!

The short sections proved their worth with continuous action all day, both days.

All courses (except for S3 on Sat) allowed easy, quick recovery. (S3 was worth the delays for the incredible action!)

Adrian showed that depth of knowledge is THE most important thing in sports commentary.

The catering & hospitality from the Park was great.

Every competitor drove well, in well prepared vehicles......and the show didn't stop.....

Thanks Guys...

[antt]

wots with all the guys walking round on the course?

i just watched antt's video, and saw what seemed to be about half a dozen guys in their fluoro shirts taking footage or something.

i understand that everyone wants to get up close for that killer shot or whatever, but jeez.

bit hard to get a good shot when half the local council is in your way.

i agree munga, thats why i said this bit

its getting harder and harder to get good footage with the amount of advertising and people on the courses, i dont think i'll bother at future comps

[humphey]

man that would be the hardest comp i've done yet .put trev through his some nasty stuff ,some off the course's were pretty tight but they were nice short runs 3 to 4 gates . big congat's to sam and everybodie involved with puttin on a great event . had a ball . congrats to pos ruff and bee bee for well earned victory . was great to meet some off the people from the ol board and the boys from down south like cheesey,guts ,sam and dave .they all drove hard to the point off brakin stuff top effort .jamie way was goin hard till the tranfer airrated it self.

[Bighazza]

damn i so wish i went


any pics yet?

[Daisy]

Whoaaaa...... !!!!

What a weekend...

Upon arrival... due to my rushed preparation of the patrol (was in pieces) on friday night to be put back together.. a panhard bolt worked its way loose and sent my rear passengers wheel on its way off the road 100 metres from the rover park entrance .

Many thanks to Mick (bobtail) and his spottie Roger for pullin over and giving me a hand in jackin up the car and helping to find my missing wheel that went off in the ditch in the dark. Owe you a beer boys...

And thanks to Mick again for letting me drive his new land rover buggy. It had teething problems at the start with the front air locker not engaging and i still gave it a shot on the S1 climb which resulted in me flopping the buggy on its side

Brett @ On Track 4WD came to the assistance offering to find out what was wrong with air locker in his mini workshop that he had set up near the event site. The locker was fixed in no time and just in time to complete for the 2nd stage. Great work boys.. Will be popping around for a chat soon

on the 3rd stage.. the auto started playing up - slipping very badly. It had teething problems since we had it going and it was back to Brett @ On Track 4WD again for a quick looknsee and it was diagnosed with a blocked gearbox breather hose which was quickly blasted with the air and the transmission refilled with some oil.

The 4th stage.. I got the lowest score and won that stage - full credit to Brett for this as the auto was working beautifully then

the remaining stages i gave it a good bootful and enjoyed every minute of it

A very well organised event - full credit to Sam Overton.

And thanks to Hans @ Rover Park for letting me use his welder to weld my wheel onto the studs that were stripped when the wheel let go on my arrival.

Awesome event... Now i gotta finish my buggy

I have a few pics and will put them up shortly..

TOM

(PS - i hope i got the stage events right on what happened.. if im wrong.. corrrect me )

[phippsy]

Pics

[phippsy]

more...

[ferog]

We had a great weekend. I have some awsome pics I'll put up saturday.

W00t w00t Adrian ! Congratulations

Good work Drivers!

My favorites were Dave and Greg, good on you fella's, inspirational and to watch.

Jeremy is at the workshop working on his buggy and Im at work working on a computer As always it was worth the 10 hour drive and creulty of monday morning.

[antt]

did ya fix your tire before you drove home em?

[Midget]

Drove staright through last night,Got home at 12.30am.
Had a bloody blast all weekend.Big congrats to Sam & his team for organising and running the event.
HUGE congrats to POS for taking out 1st place,Top effort mate.
A big congrats should go to the guys at ON TRACK 4WD for there efforts in the PIT TENT..
And again an EVEN BIGGER CONGRATS to HANS & HEIDI from ROVER PARK for letting us come up and have such an insane event.

Oh, I suppose i should also thank my dad for spotting for me,thanks for holding me upright on some of those stages.You did bloody excellent concidering it was your 1st time out there.

Antt
just watched the vid. Top work mate,keep it up...

Sam
Just maybe as a suggestion,can we fine tune the scoring.I know this was the 1st round,but i just could'nt understand why someone could drive a stage and get 38 points and not finish and someone that does not even attempt the stage only get 40 points.
And aslo the spotter penilties,needs to be looked at....
Just my opinion.

But all in all it was a bloody great weekend,Can't wait for the next round.
NEW BUGGY HERE I COME....

Jamie

[1MadEngineer]

WOW! What a comp! this is the pinnacle of 4wd comps, bar none!!!!!
Sam you have provided us with the most amazing rockcrawling spectacular ever, congratulations.

For me, dave and adrian this has been a real test of our abilities, me and dave - a test on sleep depravation and adrian a test in right foot control , and it payed off. Congratulations to adrian in not only driving exceptionally well, but in the preparation of the Jeckyll II. Well done to Dave for driving the queen-mary around the courses and making it look easy, your controll never ceases to amaze me!!!! But especially to the both of you on working together to perfection, if the rear winch hadn't failed just prior to the start of competition, i am sure the scores would have been dramatically lower still. This pair was able to put the rig on exactly the right line every time - fail not. UNBELIEVEABLE

there were sooooo many stand out performances and excellant driving.
Sam and dave in both the hilux and the zuk, you guys work so well together and both vehicles were impressive on some of the most insane terrain. Tom and mick, you guys are going to be a real force in the future.
Guts and cheezy, what an effort to just jump in and literally drive the wheels off it, top stuff (Guts worked his scrawny but off to get cheezy right up there in the points top job!!) Tony and wes were outstanding they drove to perfection all weekend and were looking invinceable, just a pleasure to watch! Jamie and his dad were really doing well he has that hing so well sorted it drove many obstacles with pure ease, and well done to your dad , he must have a calming effect on you cus' he kept you on your wheels all weekend, he is the best spotter you have ever had! Mick and roger in the mog, how the hell do you do it, it is huge yet you just squeeze it thru those little cones, well done. Boof and pete are showing they will push us to the edge every event, you guys did a fantastic job and were in 2nd spot most of the event.

also a big thankyou to our cheer squad the "KYOGLE CHOCO'S " these yobo's turned out to be a good bunch of guys and even after giving us all heaps of crap, just stood in AWW once the rigs hit the courses ( even if it was AAAWWWWWWW!!!!! GO THE LUXY!!!!! )

To all involved, WELL DONE! i am sure everyone is looking forward to the next one!

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

Antt, great video dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! keep up the top work! you make it look better then being there!!!

Only downsider as a rover park virgin was having to listen to BJ dribble shit all night! as he drank like a girl!

first time at a PUOSU kinda event and not bad stuff, good t osee very minimal winching!!!

maybe can i suggest the following:
1. screen the gates for yobos!!! those guys were genetically different, so maybe dna proof of being a normal human being, before being allowed entry.
2. throw some tunes on through the stereo/pa system to enetertain the crowd between stages and during recovery. maybe the drivers can have their own theme tunes upon entry to each stage??????
3. maybe a more impartial judge. as it seemed from the outside that more local people were perhaps given the benefit of 50/50 decisions?
Even if it is all sweet and fair an impartial marshall might appear more equal.
4. top commentating by adrian, sensational work! much better then the toss pots we hear down here in NSW! but at times there was some calls of "he is a foot off that cone", which obviously aids the driver?

in general, TOP STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wish other events ran as smoothly!

[Surfection]

Awesome event, was certianly the hardest terrain that has been thrown out yet !! I was dissapointed at the amount of spectators, never seen so few people there over a weekend !! Even the food guys when we went down to get dinner begged us to go and find 50 new friends to bring down as they had shitloads of food but bugger all people. If people seriously didn't come because of the $80 weekend fee you guys missed out !!
As others have said Adrian you were a great commentator, by far the best i've ever heard at any offroad event i've been too, i thought jamie and sam copped it a bit but you get that, same would happen down here so it's all good.

As with all first run events there's gonna be things that need looking at, DRS has some good points above and i have a few more i'd like to add... Not to bitch but to try and help further a great event and world class series !!

1/ If a spotter hits a cone with a strap, a rock or themselves that cone should be counted as hit. I think the only time it shouldn't count when a cone moves etc is when the vehicle dislodges a rock that then hits/moves the cone.

2/ I don't think there should be any stacking allowed in the non timed periods of attaching a safety strap. If that is to be the case it needs to be announced clearly to all competitors and i think a time limit or say 2 minutes should be imposed. It takes 10 seconds to attach a safety strap, if a team wants to stack i think the clock should keep on ticking.

3/ I don't know if i remember quite correctly but in the rules regarding spotters touching vehicles i think it says the vehicle must be completly stationary. There was only one warning [that i saw] given out over the weekend but there should have been quite a few more. We don't want a repeat of what happened to Toyfamily on pirate.

4/ I think the time keeper should announce [over the PA] 5 minutes and 2 minutes to go, both for the competitors and the crowd.

5/ Any spotters wearing shorts so tight they need help to put on should be penalised !!

6/ Myself and others were told over the weekend that it's perfectly in the rules for the team to recieve outside advice on any part of their time on a course. What's the point of even having a spotter if you've got 50 of them in the crowd ? I think the rules should be changed so that a warning is given for the first time a team takes action from outside advice being given, and a 10+/- point penalty for the second time.


Good work to everyone involved, thanks to Sam and all the Haultech guys for putting in the hours, Hans and Heidi for their beautiful property and the competitors for the great show.

Jeremy

[83 lux]

nice work boys and girls
but there was way way to many ppl on the coarse
and am i little lost on the outside help rule
whats the go with that

ANYWAY

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

Scotty, you were wandering around on the 2nd track day 2.

but in general TOP STUFF!

i may have been a little nasty above, sleep....need sleeep!

[1MadEngineer]

it is very hard to penalise someone for acting on outside information, mainly because if the driver and spotter decided earlier in the run that on a certain ledge if they couldnt crawl it on the first attempt they would backup and punch it , and they crowd yells " drive it" , then it wouldnt be fair to penalise them. and yes i know, but specific directions were given, but you cant have one rule for one thing and not for others. As a spotter i communicate only between dave and me, most of the time i am so focussed i dont even notice anyone is cheering.

[v8zuki]

what a top event CONGRATS TO EVERY ONE INVOLVED there are so many
its hard to know where to start
i only have one grievence to air....
the teams are made up of 1 driver 1 spotter not 1 driver &3spoters
who helped every one
we came to watch teams drive on their own abilities
not someone elses
dont get me wrong as i like it how every one helps each other out
with parts ,repairs ,advice &so on
but when the flag drops the bull stops including outside assistance
while on the course ,there should be penilties for anyteam
acting on any outside help
the people who make up the teams are some of the best driver
spotter combos around so i dont think its fair that we watch
10 different drivers &1 spotter because some people want to see how
there favourite team can handle it
im not trying to pick on any one but when this event hits the world stage
we will all look like we dont know what to do
you dont see v8 supercars telling each other how to drive a paticular
track so it should be the same with rockcrawling!!
every team should have the same chance to drive each course how they see it on there own abilities!!
sorry about the raving
rant over

[antt]

just another suggestion. would it be possible to run two tracks at the same time, or have one ready to go if there is another car stuck. cause as the tracks get harder, buggys are gonna get stuck in more difficult spots, taking longer to recover, and thus loosing crowd interest. if another car can run straight after a car gets stuck, it keeps the crowd involved

[HOBO BOB]

Congratulations to Sam & helpers that organised & ran the event.
I had an excellent weekend and learnt alot form experience from the entire event.
I must thank my (knuckle head son) Jamie for giving me the opportunity to compete with him in such an adrenalin pumping event.
I would also really like to thank GREG & DAVE,SAM & DAVE for there outstanding support they gave me in my first attempt at spotting.
Congratulations to everyone that was involved in the weekend and look forward to seeing what round 2 has install for us.
Great drive ADRIAN and Great work as the commentator.

GRANDPA OF ROCK CRAWlING

BOB

[HOBO BOB]

what a top event CONGRATS TO EVERY ONE INVOLVED there are so many
its hard to know where to start
i only have one grievence to air....
the teams are made up of 1 driver 1 spotter not 1 driver &3spoters
who helped every one
we came to watch teams drive on their own abilities
not someone elses
dont get me wrong as i like it how every one helps each other out
with parts ,repairs ,advice &so on
but when the flag drops the bull stops including outside assistance
while on the course ,there should be penilties for anyteam
acting on any outside help
the people who make up the teams are some of the best driver
spotter combos around so i dont think its fair that we watch
10 different drivers &1 spotter because some people want to see how
there favourite team can handle it
im not trying to pick on any one but when this event hits the world stage
we will all look like we dont know what to do
you dont see v8 supercars telling each other how to drive a paticular
track so it should be the same with rockcrawling!!
every team should have the same chance to drive each course how they see it on there own abilities!!
sorry about the raving
rant over

V8zuki

Your point is well taken,but there is always 2 sides to every story,You will never be able to stop outside assistance and advice being voiced.It is upto the driver to listen to his spotter.
As a (L PLATE) spotter for my son jamie,I found it very encouraging and sprotsman like to have assistance from fellow competitors and people much more experienced than myself to guide me in my learning process.
Everyone has to start somewhere,I mat have a couple of grey hairs but this disapline of motorsport is a whole new port folio to me.
And i hope the support i received through out the event will be given back to any new competitor i can help in future events,None of us know it all,and we all need to keep learning.
They even have the same thing go on in the US rock crawling comps.
I don't want to come accross as being nasty,But after all we are all there to have FUN and support the events..

BOB

[Strange Rover]

Congratulations to everybody involved with this weekend. I guess Im sort of relieved of how well everything turned out in the end. I have supprised myself just how much time and money it has taked me to make this event happen but I think this event provided a really good start to the series.

Keep the comments and suggestions comming guys - eveything helps.

Sam

[Strange Rover]

wots with all the guys walking round on the course?

i just watched antt's video, and saw what seemed to be about half a dozen guys in their fluoro shirts taking footage or something.

i understand that everyone wants to get up close for that killer shot or whatever, but jeez.

bit hard to get a good shot when half the local council is in your way.

The biggest difference with this event was the media at the event. Basically between 4WD TV, Offroad Productions (video crew) and Offroad Images (4x4 Australia magazine) and the WE Rock guys we probably had too many people on the course. At future events where we will be running more than one stage at a time it will thin them out a little. The media coverage we will get is probably the most important thing we need to make this sport grow so it really just a balancing act on how much free rein we let the media guys have. ATM Im basically just letting them do whatever they want to get the best shots possible. If it looks like its going to be an issue with the spectators then I can look at doing something about them.

Sam