9th December - RFC Day 5
Dawn or just before. The sound of COMP trucks being prepared for battle wakens up. I prepare the poison and breakfast the usual same stuff and our OZZIE friends drop in for a quick snack before heading off to the briefing. Exhausted we do not attend and go down later. After breakfast its tools out and FIX XJ Cherokee JEEP time. I'm just watching as I do not own a JEEP so "I do not understand". First the story of what happened. On the way in Karels XJ JEEP (2.5 liter under powered PETROL donk) the front locker appears to have punched 2 holes in the DIFF. THe next question is did they leave it engaged and drove a long way on it?. The front universal JOINT also snapped and needs to be removed along with the driveshaft and repaired. KAREL asks me if I want some SPAM for a snack. Wah you have PORK/HAM in the jungle I ask! Yes why not? FMD,#$#$$#$%%$% Crikey you do not bring animals from the jungle back in to eat them its a Chinese superstition thing and it will bring bad luck. The chinese guys are like me BAD KARMA man thats why your JEEP broke. KAREL does not believe it. I do I have seen it happen worse before. We leave them to the JEEP repairs. It's 4k back to the competition area. We go (GREEN Peter) and I and we PURR down in the DEATHSTAR and we assigned to SS16 but not before I see MMM in action winching on SS14. I get to SS16 and wow I have a customer immediately out friend 143 he is up to the top of his 36" sneakers bueried in the silt in the river. THe PTO Marshal's truck cannot move it. WOW they are Marshal's in BROWN shirts I do not believe this no wonder they are having a hard time with crowd control. To the DEATHSTAR its no issue double line pull on the 8274 and out it pops after a very long hard PULL. To much GAS and not enough slow driving got 143 a DNF in a really driveable SS. Such is the problem with a 1JZ powered TOY.
THe SS (SS16) is easy? Dash down the stoney river bank. Cross the water and up the nice 1.5m slope miss the little tree, round the big tree and into the river cross it for 30 meters up the bank on the other side and hug the bank back into the water (miss the 2 meter hole only 1.25 car widths out) and return the same way you came. SOme truck elect to run 60+ meters of cable out from the 2nd bank crossing back to the first and winch in for 60 meters. Haha the easiest SS's generate the most fun. One of the Philippines wagons hilarious he has a loud hailer no two way with his guy the winch wench runs out and he just rattles over the hailer a 2-3 minute tirade in Tagalo at the winchy we are all in fits he is unrelenting in his tirade of instructions. I have never seen anything like this before. After several cars I elect to take video from the opposite bank wow the first car 122 is fast up and down. The return he is real slow then hits the bank in front of me and gases it 3 times and wow I have a rollover all on video.
After a couple of seconds we realise its RESCUE time and I have to drop the camera and put it back on its sneakers 7minutes after the U tyurn its back on its sneakers and I tow it out of the combat zone and return.
The fastest buggy makes a mess deciding instead to winch into the same tree 4 times (video supplied) its 2.0 SR20 NISSAN engine screaming.
Soon is the Thai/USA truck (139) and I am just watching when I sense Rods going to roll as he hits the little tree kicking the back over the bank up comes the camera no focus nothing I just snap off shots (6.5 a second). Rod and Aun come down hard 1.5 meters into the water. Instant DNF as far as we Marshals are concerned. Rods worried as Aun was removing his belt when they rolled as Aun was about to jump out (The pics later confirm Aun was beltless). AUn is OK with a cut hand and the DNF - water has been ingested in the diesel. DEATHSTAR is busy again and soon rights the stricken HILUX. Later inspection reveals the radiator/cab moved as all the hoses are tight. I tow them out of the SS and return as we are retuning they tell me another is stuck.its Rods support truck (140) and its up to the windows in water. A front pull with the 8274 fails. We elect to pull it out backwards wow the DEATHSTAR still cannot move it even with a double line pull and the amount of water in the HILUX is not helping. Bill appears with the 7m Monster and we twin double line pull the Hilux backwards.
After 45+ minutes the HILUX is finally extracted and we exit the SS towing Rods seconds truck out he is shocked to see the state of it and he has his ORange HILUX up and running. That was the last truck on the SS our day is done so what elese to do . Remove the YELLOW marshall shirt grab a tinnie and jump into the DEEP now clean river outside HQ and relate the chaos. SS14 1 rollover and 2 vehicles drowned. SS16 2 rollovers and 2 other recoveries - wow a good day. Soon its time to head the 4k back to our camp.
Just before camp at the landslide is the sight of Karel's XJ JEEP parked up with a danger triangle just before it. I guess the JEEP could not climb anymore in 2WD. At camp I find nothing has changed nothing is unpacked and no dinner preparations in place :(. We decide to have Sphagetti Bolonaise with pasta and tuna patties. However the recipee for the patties is over with Peter and he is in the Russian camp. I wander over - bad news a vodka shot is plopped in front of me! In Russina tradition DRINK! Dam I have a shot and quietly ask for the receippe before I escape. Peters is not coming back he speaks a little Russian and I guess he will be very drunk when he escapes the Russian hospitality.
At camp C122 is moving out the mekanik has come back and packed everything up and they are going down to the SS16 area to finish work on 122 they have changed the oiul 5 tiems already and still its a coffee colour.
The potatoes are cooked, the onions chopped, the bolonaise sauce and the penne prepared. Well it was delicious and yes we never saw Peter until after midnite and we also feed truck 150 those Ozzies again and gave them one of their bottles of wine also stored in the DEATHSTARs fridge? Is there anything this truck cannot do? Desert was delicious - cold Carlsberg Cans and plenty of them as the days events are replayed into the night. Meanwhile Karel Snr and Junior sleep crying over the lost and lonely JEEP parked down the track. The only problem we have is GREENs battery's have gone flat the fridge has destroyed it.
The Picstorial follows
Team Sri Lanka Mekaniks working at an improvised VICE and hack sawing something up. Note the multi tasking and the toothbrush in the mouth at the same time.
Dawn outside our camp at CAMP 2 looking up the valley into the bright sun - damn where is that rain? This is the rainforest no the sunforest. The mekanik for 122 is pulling out the winch cable (more later on this vehicle).
Damn now the broken one is removed we have to reel in 60 meters of new cable.
Our little jungle hilton at CAMP 2.
A pensive 122 Mekanik little did he know what was going to happen later.
Never work on a JEEP in the jungle a lot of people want to watch. Gee what happened Karel?
Ah Ho showing Karel what he should remove. Undo this bolt and the whole thing will disolve so leave that bolt alone.
Ah Ho handing JEEP tools to Karel
The broken JEEP universal joint.
An interesting visitor
Damn this one wants to know what time SS16 starts.
Then its the action this is a scene from SS13 with the Russian Hilux in action.
Then its MMM in car 150 note the ROCKS he is pushing in the NISSAN DOZER.
And after pushing the rocks all over the SS what better to do on the exit than a underbelly wash and wash the crowd also.
Then a quick pic at SS15 before I get assigned to SS16. Note ALEX the winch wench running away from the NIssan up the hill.
