Wow...what can we say but a simple word...THANKS. Sam, Adrian, Tony, Tom, Rod and anyone else that helped to make our trip possible...THANKS!
I could just cut and paste my story from Pirate but that wouldn't do any justice...you blokes already know what happened and I'd rather just tell you the important stuff.
First, I think many of the teams underestimated themselves. I heard many teams ready to pack it in after seeing the courses on Friday, thinking there was no way they could complete them. I just kept smiling as I knew you'd find yourselves second guessing the obstacle as you strted in and then finding yourself over the hard part before you knew it. Though quite a few of the teams didn't complete many of the courses, you can see that they still were able to complete the hard part and just didn't have enough time to get through the technical stuff after. That is a sign that your teams are ready for the bigger stuff and it won't be long before you're looking at those courses through the same eyes we were. I also see a few comments that the spotters were not all up to the task but I'll put in the biggest defense that if you haven't seen these types of courses done again and again, it makes it tougher to spot than drive as much of the pressure is on you. Advice to all of the spotters is to focus a little, no a TON more time on figuring out how you will stack each obstacle. I walked every course and looked for each rock making mental notes of the shape/size/location of what would do the trick. If I needed something I couldn't find in the immediate course area, I'd walk the brush until I found what I needed, then before starting the course, asked the crowd in that area to be ready to make room for me hauling ass to and from where it is. Also a spotter error that I saw over and over was watching the rig from too close. Back up and stand BEHIND the crawler on climbs and you can see where the problems are. If the front jumps left on the climb, look at the left rear tire...I bet there's a hole there that needs to be filled. Watch each crawler before you looking for the reason they are failing or succeeding and try to figure out what will get your crawler through. Finally, look for the not-so-obvious areas to have the crawler leave the direct line of the course to re-enter on a better angle. If you saw us on A-1 near the end on Saturday, we crawled straight over the second rock where everyone turned, went out into that huge field, did a 180 front burn turn and came back on the exact line we wanted to without getting any backup points or risking a roll trying to turn to drop off into that huge hole. It cost us a couple hundred meters but when moving fast, that took less time than trying to turn around on that rock. These ideas are obviously new to you as your courses are not normally that wide open, but I'm sure you'll find them if you just start looking. A good spotter is far more than just a person that moves rocks and pulls on a rope. I promise that even with the couple of negative comments I heard here, the spotters in OZ are doing just fine. We have the exact same issues here and it's clear that when there's a communication issue, it's not always the spotter's fault. The most consistant team on the planet (Jason Paulie and Travis Wadeson) don't use ropes and rocks to do so well, they use strategy and communication that is unmatched.
One warning to the spotters...your pulling on the rope from the direction the crawlers were full throttle while stuck on the A-1 bonus was reckless...that was you life about to end. Quit being reckless and stupid...it's just not worth your life and you stood a chance of losing it...you can argue and say you were enough off to the side, but I PROMISE you were not...full throttle with the wheels turning left to right, you never know when a buggy will hook up and head off sideways taking you with it.
On to the people:
Gonads, NEVER FAWKING CHANGE!
Daisy, you're the shit.
Adrian (is that how it's spelled?), it just wasn't your weekend to win...all the Americans saw that you easilly could have, keep up the great work.
The two new portal buggies, kickass jobs on your designs...I look forward to seeing a couple of wins outta each of you once you get the bugs worked out.
Tony, aka Todd (sorry) - I said it over and over, there's a reason you're pulling off so much cool stuff. Your a patient and smart driver.
Shit, I'm embarrassed but I forgot the names of the guys in the purple and orange buggy running next to us. Why are you competing there??? You should be here! Your crawling technique that weekend was as good as any in the US. You're in a big and heavy rig and that is a big disadvantage to you, yet you crawled stuff so damn well that I couldn't help but want to watch every run you made...Nice work!
The orange Sami (kindof) on the Fawkin HUGE tires running next to us on day one also did an amazing job of holding their own. I was bummed not to see them kicking ass on Sunday as watching them told me there was some real talent waiting in the wings...nice wheelin guys!
I'm bummed I didn't get to see much more, but for me, I was damn busy keeping track of myself and the courses we were facing. The Aussie teams were definitly the highlight for us and all of your friendship and fun made our trip perfect. The win was just the icing on an already perfect cake and we owe all of the fans, volunteers, judges, recovery, officials, teams, Howard Pearl, and especially Sam and Lil Rich a HUGE thanks for our most memorable weekend of wheeling ever!
Finally, a big thanks goes out to the people that supported our team and the other teams as well.
Pro Comp Tires - It's clear who had the advantage this weekend. If anyone has the idea that they are not an amazing tire, than you've just sold out to marketing and opinions of people who don't know shit about tires. Pro Comp took us seriously when designing the X-Terrains and they are AWESOME tires.
Pro Comp Wheels - Obviously, the two most blingin rigs out there were boosted by the look and performance of the rims. We use their rims in all of our beadlocks because they have a better safety bead area than most other rims.
Staun inner beadlocks - With the Pro Comp tires, I can't say that we needed them as the beads on the pro comps are like no other. They are a far tighter tolerance and design than anything else out there. Still, the Stauns gave us extra confidence that if the unexpected were to happen, we'd have a solution. That's the first time we've ever run them, but we wouldn't hesitate to use them again...for anyone with a tire other than a Pro Comp, I'd highly recommend it!
Sway A Way - Their air shocks give you a big advantage over the other brands that are so highly marketed...don't give in to the hype of marketing. The Sway A Ways have a larger piston allowing lower pressures and a far better spring rate curve. They also use a large return spring that actually counters the top-end unloading that rolls so many rigs. These two features make the Sway A Way FAR more predictable and the added finish work on the shock that stays nice looking for years is just an added bonus.
PolyPerformance - We get all of our suspension components from them, including heims, links, tabs, as well as our custom drive flanges. I know you guys have suppliers over there for that stuff but realise we were running the PolyPerformance high strength birfields in the front end over there. Considering we are used to running CTM Jack's 300m 35 spline axles and joints, we should have been crushing the birfields...we were not. If you're ready to upgrade, look for the PolyPerformance one's first. If you knew Dave (PIG) and Drew (goat1), you'd understand why I say this. They are both Cal Poly Tech grads that know their shit when it comes to engineering far better than most. Drew designs for more suspension companies (on a contract basis) than you could ever imagine and has a ton to do with the success of many well known desert race teams. Dave is simply the shit when it comes to hands-on design and tuning. There is a reason we go to them when we need something done right.
RP Films and
www.haulinorcrawlin.com - Obviously, they put us on film in the coolest flics in our sport. We appreciate them so much for promoting our sport in a way that is appealing to EVERYONE!
Pirate4x4.com -
gotta love that fawking place!
Outerlimits4x4.com - Same thing...great forum with a ton of great people on-board.
All of the media attending the event...keep coming, it's only going to get better and you'll only grow your readership and advertisers if you continue to devote time and pages to RockCrawling. We ppreciate you being there and look forward to seeing the articles you come up with. Can't wait to see how it all looks 16 months from now!
I know it's way down here at the bottom but sometimes you save the biggie for last...I'll thank Mickey Thompson for coming through with a title sponsorship of WE Rock Australia. Looking at SkyJacker and GoodYear here in the US, they were the first to jump on as title sponsors of events and they couldn't have made a better decision as it put them on top of the pile of known brands in the offroad world. It's a two way street - We need you, you need us...thanks for recognising that and I hope you are able to step it up for 2006 as it's clear how well the sport is going to do...with a marquee as known as you are, it'll be an opportunity that is worth investing in! Thanks for being there.
). I love it when the crowd appriciates what i have just put the buggy threw. Make sure at the next event you (and the lads) come over and say Hi, i would love to have a few drinks with ya's. Make sure you do, often people say they will come up and say hi but they never do, i may be busy but i can always find time to chill out and have a few beers in the arvo.
Now that one would have been a real test. But would have been hell cool to watch!
what about the score keepers and Lil Rich help us look at an all new level for next year.
BRING IT ON! 
run over