The 15/17 Register - My R15 Story so far.....

1973 Renault 15 TS "Covert" Ebony Phase III The 1996 GP Rally.......

This was the first go at the Duttons Melbourne F1 Grand Prix Rally, this rally was to be one of my biggest nightmares, constant brake downs, problems, and then finally a blown engine, I was to learn a lot from this experience, Preparation was the key word.
Working up until the morning of the rally getting the car ready, 14 to 1 compression, bit's not tested, having not even driven the car, the next GP Rally would be a totally different affair. You learn from those hard mistakes.

This was the start of the 1996 Duttons Grand Prix Rally, all the cars lined up for the mid morning start. At this stage we had not got much sleep.

Here is John Hardy's A110 that has competed in nearly all the Grand Prix Rallies held. One year he had his 17TS running, which went quite well.

For those who know, I was wearing my Hellfire T-Shirt, this went down like a Lead balloon, noone got the idea of it, well they just wondered.

This is at the start line of the Grand Prix Rally, things were about to happen, well some eventful days of driving and repairs.

On our first day we would lose the gears, due to the hurried job of installing the 5 speed linkage, we had these great lockable bonnet locks, they started to fail, to name a few problems.

Also because of the extremely close guard clearances and the large A310 wheels, we had the file out filing the guards, to stop the scraping sounds.

Calder Drag Racing Strip, this was an interesting place going up against a full race MGB V8, well I did'nt beat him, but it was good. There are other drag racing events through the Grand Prix Rally.

The R15 does not do that good at these events, not because it's front wheel drive, you just need bigger capacity, CC's is the name of the game, in our case 2 litre action is required.

But the R15 goes well against the Hillman Hunters, Mini Coopers, Cortina's, Porsche 924's, Alfa 1600's etc, it give's them a run for their money

Calder Raceway, in the Grand Prix Rally is one of many race event's, where twistly tracks are the name of the game, this is where the R15 makes it's gound up, where it many lack in power, the handling ready shows.

In the picture behind an MR2 was chasing me, it never caught me, Calder it quite tight and twisty thus I have time to gain loss ground from the straights, the R15 likes Calder.

Point Cook RAAF airforce base, during the rally there are quite a few Motorkanas, you either like them or hate them, I hate them. This is where my father, Navigator drive these events, he likes them, but you NEED a quick steering rack.

I have the standard unit in the R15 and it's not quick enough, so that will be one of the future additions. If you've ever driven an A110, like I have, you'll know the difference, they feel like a big Go-Kart, and that make a difference in these events.

In the rally also is a few Hillclimbs, depending on the climb, the Renault does alright, but again the lack of CC's comes into play, but handling is perfect.

I like these event's personally, I sometime try to do a local hillclimb here in Victoria called Rob Roy, it's fun and quite easy for Front wheel drive cars, the curse of the Alpine hangs over their heads with quite a few Alpines suffering from the "swing" factor.

Of course during every GP rally, we have to keep the cars clean, this was at a hotel in Albury, you can see the R15 here next to John Hardy's A110. His participation in every GP Rally has done much for Renault's image, people here may dismiss the cars but when you see him driving this little blue car, people are mesmerized by it.

You also may have asked, why the stripes, they follow the idea off the Megane Maxi concept car with it's strips and Renault Sport Stickers.

We did not finish the 1996 GP rally due to a blown head gasket on the last event of the last day. This was done at the Ford Proving ground speed oval track at 157 kmp/h, the engine just said, no more.

The drive around the Grand Prix track on Saturday was 2 days later. So we striped the engine down, reduced the 14 to 1 Av gas only engine to a lower compression. Rebuilt the engine, and that the car running around the track a day later.

Now I was to rebuild the car again with all the hard lessons I had learnt from this my 1st GP Rally.

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	`1973 Renault 15 TS "Covert" Ebony Phase III The 1996 GP Rally.......`
This was the first go at the Duttons Melbourne F1 Grand Prix Rally, this rally was to be one of my biggest nightmares, constant brake downs, problems, and then finally a blown engine, I was to learn a lot from this experience, Preparation was the key word. Working up until the morning of the rally getting the car ready, 14 to 1 compression, bit's not tested, having not even driven the car, the next GP Rally would be a totally different affair. You learn from those hard mistakes.
	This was the start of the 1996 Duttons Grand Prix Rally, all the cars lined up for the mid morning start. At this stage we had not got much sleep. Here is John Hardy's A110 that has competed in nearly all the Grand Prix Rallies held. One year he had his 17TS running, which went quite well. For those who know, I was wearing my Hellfire T-Shirt, this went down like a Lead balloon, noone got the idea of it, well they just wondered.
This is at the start line of the Grand Prix Rally, things were about to happen, well some eventful days of driving and repairs. On our first day we would lose the gears, due to the hurried job of installing the 5 speed linkage, we had these great lockable bonnet locks, they started to fail, to name a few problems. Also because of the extremely close guard clearances and the large A310 wheels, we had the file out filing the guards, to stop the scraping sounds.
	Calder Drag Racing Strip, this was an interesting place going up against a full race MGB V8, well I did'nt beat him, but it was good. There are other drag racing events through the Grand Prix Rally. The R15 does not do that good at these events, not because it's front wheel drive, you just need bigger capacity, CC's is the name of the game, in our case 2 litre action is required. But the R15 goes well against the Hillman Hunters, Mini Coopers, Cortina's, Porsche 924's, Alfa 1600's etc, it give's them a run for their money
Calder Raceway, in the Grand Prix Rally is one of many race event's, where twistly tracks are the name of the game, this is where the R15 makes it's gound up, where it many lack in power, the handling ready shows. In the picture behind an MR2 was chasing me, it never caught me, Calder it quite tight and twisty thus I have time to gain loss ground from the straights, the R15 likes Calder.
	Point Cook RAAF airforce base, during the rally there are quite a few Motorkanas, you either like them or hate them, I hate them. This is where my father, Navigator drive these events, he likes them, but you NEED a quick steering rack. I have the standard unit in the R15 and it's not quick enough, so that will be one of the future additions. If you've ever driven an A110, like I have, you'll know the difference, they feel like a big Go-Kart, and that make a difference in these events.
In the rally also is a few Hillclimbs, depending on the climb, the Renault does alright, but again the lack of CC's comes into play, but handling is perfect. I like these event's personally, I sometime try to do a local hillclimb here in Victoria called Rob Roy, it's fun and quite easy for Front wheel drive cars, the curse of the Alpine hangs over their heads with quite a few Alpines suffering from the "swing" factor.
	Of course during every GP rally, we have to keep the cars clean, this was at a hotel in Albury, you can see the R15 here next to John Hardy's A110. His participation in every GP Rally has done much for Renault's image, people here may dismiss the cars but when you see him driving this little blue car, people are mesmerized by it. You also may have asked, why the stripes, they follow the idea off the Megane Maxi concept car with it's strips and Renault Sport Stickers.
We did not finish the 1996 GP rally due to a blown head gasket on the last event of the last day. This was done at the Ford Proving ground speed oval track at 157 kmp/h, the engine just said, no more. The drive around the Grand Prix track on Saturday was 2 days later. So we striped the engine down, reduced the 14 to 1 Av gas only engine to a lower compression. Rebuilt the engine, and that the car running around the track a day later. Now I was to rebuild the car again with all the hard lessons I had learnt from this my 1st GP Rally.