Outback Challenge 2005

[The Fish]

Sorry I've taken so long to pass on the info but have been busy settling in mother and new baby daughter after coming home from the hospital today. .

You are forgiven..
Congrats on the new arrival Mr.. its an awesome feelin'..

Thanks Bogged. It certainly is an unbelievable feeling becoming a dad for the first time.

We have already booked her first birthday for Broken Hill and the OBC next year

[Pam W]

Great reports guys. Any info on the UK teams. We gathered that Neil redpath broke both propshafts on the prologue, Andy Hogg roled on the first night, and the 100" LRover broke a damper bu t have not got any news since then. We're are having some nice warm weather here in the UK it's reacher 55F!!

Hi Paul,

I got a couple of calls from Dave W (100") yesterday morning (Tues evening for them) as the group were passing through Broken Hill on way to the mud run. All 3 UK motors going OK. Nothing more specific re. the Ibexs but Dave has had a broken half-shaft, a few DNFs but no DNSs so far. Apparently his motor was plastered across the front of the Tuesday edition of the local newspaper!

That was over 24 hours ago, not heard anything since.
Sunny here in Yorkshire at the mo - maybe it will reach the dizzy heights of 56F today ?!!

Pic of Dave in prologue below

Cheers,
Pam (Mrs 100")

[XFACTOR]

Bree ring Clarky as he has just got back from the outback and may have some news.
Ronnie

[Wooders]

Got a message from Coops at 4:30pm - MaxB's navi.
"Stilll running, one DNF stage, happy with the times in other sections, Jeeping Running well. All good."

Then a message later tonight that they are having a few steering box problems and are in Silvercity confident that they'll fix it......
Come awn lads

[The Fish]

Have spoken to Hobzee but havn't heard from Jonesy as yet. Hobzee didn't have much news but what I did find out is below.

GROUP E

~ Hobzee said he had a good consistant day at Denien posting the fastest times in the day motorkhana SS and the Gunbarrel SS for his group. He said he pushed very hard on the night motorkhana but was still 5 secs slower than Birdy from the day before.

~ No one in his group drove the sand wall There is no V8's in his group.

~ Chunck and Peter are still driving consistantly.

~ Nick Mannell has had to return to B.H. for the 2nd time. This time to repair a broken shock mount.

~ Nathan and Wayne in a white GQ SWB, who had returned to the group after sourcing an alternator in B.H. yesterday, have there vehicle on a tray truck heading back B.H. after the swivel ball/knuckle broke from the housing They plan to repair and return to the group!!!! tha's the spirit

~ The hilux dual cab from South Africa had returned to B.H. for engine repairs!

OTHER NEWS

~ Alan Mai got a lot of water in places he shouldn't have during the night SS at the mud last night. Spent all of today making repairs and missed all of todays SS's at the mud.

~ Alan Moysey (sp) from Victoria in the White Pro Comp Range Rover is going well and only had the one DNF.

~ Hobzee said the mud is really starting to effect everyone's trucks with bonnets in the air at every spare minute

~ The cameraman caught Birddy's drive at the Prologue so we should all get to see it when the DVD comes out


Don't think i will hear from Hobzee again until Friday night but should still get the odd update from T. Trudi. She is hoping to get into B.H. tonight or tomorrow to post up some photos.

Will try Jonesy again and post up what I find out.

Cheers, Shane.

[RUFF]

IMO, OBC being an endurance event and such a huge event
being known by the world and having such a huge entry fee and all
theres no way in the world i'd be pulling out. seems a bit soft IMO
worst case senario i'd make my navi drive and navi for him

So if you were the Navie and had Tendon Damage in your Ankle as we now know was the problem would you be happy to continue?

[MissDrew]

Cut it off and make him run on a stump




































(joke)

[hollis.kristy]

Any news on Cass and Rohan...I think they're in car 44 group E, along with the Smiths. Last I heard was after Denian where they drove the sandwall, completed all other stages and were on their way to Poolamacca for Tuesday. Any info apprecaited....

Did the Kiwis make it over for the event this year

[GQ TROL]

Did the Kiwis make it over for the event this year

Kiwi's are only spectating this year.....looks like there may be a bunch of us over for next year though...fingers crossed.

[hollis.kristy]

Did the Kiwis make it over for the event this year

Kiwi's are only spectating this year.....looks like there may be a bunch of us over for next year though...fingers crossed.

Say "HI" to Sooty for us....it's Cass' better half here...
Hope I can get there this year

[GQ TROL]

Say "HI" to Sooty for us....it's Cass' better half here...
Hope I can get there this year

Ahhh yep, will do. We've all heard about ya's!!

Sooty is up there at the mo, but his updates are pretty average so far!

[Cinders]

Congratulation The Fish on the birth of your child, I was wondering if the Hobzee team is the same one Pro Com with Clint as Co-driver ? If so I would like to know how they are going. or if anyone knows how they are going I would be greatly appreciative.

I'm his (Clint) little sis

Kind Regards

Cinders

[Cinders]

[hollis.kristy]

[quote="hollis.kristy"]Any news on Cass and Rohan...I think they're in car 44 group E, along with the Smiths. Last I heard was after Denian where they drove the sandwall, completed all other stages and were on their way to Poolamacca for Tuesday. Any info apprecaited....



Ok...I just spoke to Cass and he assured me he was in group E and that Hobbzee wasn't in that group - so maybe some confusion as to which group people are in. Mike and Wayne are in their group. And (get this) he's only just realised that there's two days to go....dahh!! Some times I wonder??.....Cass might not actually know which group he's in - who knows;) !! Any how...all is well mechanically and doing well in stages - consistent. They seem to be enforcing penalties - which is good, as long as everyone is enforcing them??....Off to the mud tonight and tomorrow....then regrouping on Saturday for the final day of competing!!

[Pam W]

Update from Dave W in Group B, currently fuelling up at Broken Hill

7/8 of the group are still running.

Celia has retired (possible engine bearing failure?). Henry also retired.

Andy Hogg (Ibex) missed a day doing repairs (after damage on a winch wall?) but hopes to rejoin the group ASAP.

Dave W blew a brake hose but fixed OK to continue. Doing OK, a few dnfs. Choosing to dns some stages to look after the motor and have a better chance of finishing the event in 1 piece - not too bothered about placings!

Neil (Ibex) having some issues with power steering but still running OK.

Thats it !

Pam

[goodie]

YAY go Al and Shane.

yes they are from gippsland 4wd club

[johndiane]

Yeh!! Go Al n Shane!! Al is my cousin!! How is he going? does any1 know?? plz respond if u can!

Luv Alwaiz Lesley XoxoX


GO AL N SHANE!!! WOO HOO

[SuziDuzi]

I just spoke to Pete in Group C. He and Big Al have been in BH doing repairs on battery lead and broken shock mount and other things today but I think they managed to finish all the stages. He said they've been doing ok up till now.

Chunk and Pete are in their group and are doing really well. Hobzee, Mic and Mike, Kevin and Theo and father and son in GQ shorty are in this group and none have had any problems lately that he told me about.

Sean and Lawrie are doing really well, maybe in the top 5 and Norm and Kym are going well too. Norms car is apparently tied to the chasis with tie down straps and the motor is being held in with rope. Sounds like good fun

Bree

[PMT]

I HOPE AL & PETE GET GOING AGAIN. GOOD TO HEAR THEIR GOING WELL, ALSO GOOD TO HEAR LAURIE & SEAN ARE DOING WELL TOO. DID THEY SAY IF THEY'VE DONE THE MUD YET?.

BRUCE

PS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP SO LATE (LONELY?).

[T.Trudi]

I have been trying to post pictures but they wont go on is there a size max or some trick to it???

Help please.......

[The Fish]

I believe the photos need to be less than 200k. If you can't get them to work e-mail them to me and I will post them up tomorrow

[The Fish]

My apologies Kristy, Hobzee is in Group C not E sorry for the confusion.

Spoke to T. Trudi and Clay Mongan tonight and have a couple of updates but not many.

Group D

~ Roger Smith and Jonesy have returned after repairing the rear diff issue and still only managed to DNF 2 stages without missing any stages They have an oil leak from the hydro winch but still working ok.

~ Group D did a long winching stage out at Nundooka today which required a full winch plus extensions! Alan Cuthill and Shane cooked there winch motor on this stage near the end of the winch and had to be winched back down by a recovery vehicle.

~ This stage was quite extreme with a likely roll over if the winch rope/cable broke due to off-camber ledges.

~ Mani had the best time for the week until Birdy and joe managed to beat his time.

~ On another winching stage Birdy lost 12volts of power to his 24volt winch. Also the incab winch switch in Birdy's car failed. It was deemed too dangerous for the navvy to operate the winch switch at the front of the car even with a stick! After losing time pulling the dash apart to try to repair the switch Joe duct taped a piece of plasma rope to the other switch and ran it into the cab so Birdy could operate the winch. Even though they lost valuable time on the stage they still managed to avoid a DNF

Other News

~ Billy Lyne and Cracker have returned to B.H. to repair broken engine mounts but car still going well besides that.

~ Norn and Kym seem to be breaking a lot of things but are still going.


Hopefully T. Trudi can get those photos sorted so we can see some action.

Baby Audrey has finshed feeding and needs to be put to sleep so that's all from me

Cheers, Shane.

[The Fish]

Congratulation The Fish on the birth of your child, I was wondering if the Hobzee team is the same one Pro Com with Clint as Co-driver ? If so I would like to know how they are going. or if anyone knows how they are going I would be greatly appreciative.

I'm his (Clint) little sis

Kind Regards

Cinders

Thanks Cinders Have spoken to Hobzee a couple of times. Clint is having a good event in the navvy's seat and they are trying to be consistant without pushing the limits too much. They are recording good competitive times and had only had one breakage as of last night.

Hopefully pushing for a top 20 or even a top 10 finsh if they can keep it together for the rest of the event.

Hope to hear from them tomorrow night as they are returning to the spectators camp and will have phone reception.

Cheers, Shane.

[teambirdyy]

~Spoke to Birdyy this morning, said they damaged an oil line yesterday afternoon (thurs) which ceased up Turbo. Replacement brought in and last we heard they were fixing it this morning in BH, and should be ready to go once again.

~Drafty says there's lots of damage everywhere, but teams trying there hardest to hang in there if possible.

~ Norm Walters from QLD damaged his engine mounts and body mounts. He drove a rocky stage yesterday with no power steering. - Possible steering box damage, not sure if they are still continuing.

~Wazza~

[dogrooter]

Thanks Fish for the update on Billy Lyne & Cracker. Heard from Cracker last night & they were hoping to have the engine mounts fixed to enable them to join camp & still compete in last nights mud run. Any news as the whether they managed that or not. Also how is Chris Hummer going? From Mrs "Cracker"

[KJ]

Can anyone tell me how the guys from Vic are doing ? Especially the "KJ's Offroad Centre" black GQ shorty??? One of the pics that was posted from the prologue had them winching over the boiler, but havent heard any info about them. Not sure what group they are in.

[hollis.kristy]

[quote="The Fish"]My apologies Kristy, Hobzee is in Group C not E sorry for the confusion.

No probs Shane...it's gotta be hard to keep up with everyone.
Your'e doing a great job with the postings Great info.

Hopefully this time tomorrow we can all be 'talking' to the competitors in person - they might be in range before final day... Definately sounds a lot tougher than last year...and no doubt some interesting stories to listen to when they get home!

Congrats on baby Audrey...say 'hi' to both "Trudis " for me!!

[toughnut]

i just heard a rumour that toughnut is pulling out cause his navi rolled his ankle

Well if this is the case then that is not the spirit at all. Can kiss anymore sponsorship deals goodbye if this is true.

If a Sponsor drops a team because someone was injured and could not complete an event then i would think they are not worth having as a sponsor. Accidents happen and cant be helped.

have a siezure on the submit button?


IMO, OBC being an endurance event and such a huge event
being known by the world and having such a huge entry fee and all
theres no way in the world i'd be pulling out. seems a bit soft IMO
worst case senario i'd make my navi drive and navi for him

Do you honestly think I hadn't considered doing this???? It's easy to sit at home behind you're computer making judgements on other people. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and get into it. My navi started to drive home on wednesday afternoon. Even then he could hardly drive his own car on a normal road let alone drive in competition. Think of the stages we had left and consider that he had done his right ankle and also consider the fact that my truck is worth around $70000. There are a lot of different reasons why I didn't continue in my vehicle. As for you linc I didn't realise how narrow minded you are about this. I've already spoken to my sponsors and they have no worries about continuing with their support. How can you cancel support after one set back. I jumped in with Max Baerlocher in his Jeep cause his navi did his back in. We went out to the mud and had a ball till his clutch packed it in. I came out looking like a new guinea mud man. A deal that I've been able to wrangle with Paul Vanderhorst is to run some of the media guys around the tracks on Saturday out at Eldee station round robin. This should also give my sponsors some very good exposure. So for all those that have commented on how I've gone about running my vehicle thanks for the support and the rest can put up or shut up.....

[HeathGQ]

Do you honestly think I hadn't considered doing this???? It's easy to sit at home behind you're computer making judgements on other people. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and get into it. My navi started to drive home on wednesday afternoon. Even then he could hardly drive his own car on a normal road let alone drive in competition. Think of the stages we had left and consider that he had done his right ankle and also consider the fact that my truck is worth around $70000. There are a lot of different reasons why I didn't continue in my vehicle. As for you linc I didn't realise how narrow minded you are about this. I've already spoken to my sponsors and they have no worries about continuing with their support. How can you cancel support after one set back. I jumped in with Max Baerlocher in his Jeep cause his navi did his back in. We went out to the mud and had a ball till his clutch packed it in. I came out looking like a new guinea mud man. A deal that I've been able to wrangle with Paul Vanderhorst is to run some of the media guys around the tracks on Saturday out at Eldee station round robin. This should also give my sponsors some very good exposure. So for all those that have commented on how I've gone about running my vehicle thanks for the support and the rest can put up or shut up.....

farkin top work. It sounds like it was a serious injury, so trying to do such a serious event would be stupid. A wise man once said 'you got to know when to fold em'.

It seems to me the comments were made prior to full story being told.

ANy more news then. Hows the Gold Coast teams going? Laurie and Sean, Big Al and Pete????

[Wooders]

[quote="toughnut"]I jumped in with Max Baerlocher in his Jeep cause his navi did his back in. We went out to the mud and had a ball till his clutch packed it in. I came out looking like a new guinea mud man. quote]

Did Max get his clutch sorted? How's he running?