Last weekend saw the team compete at the 20th Annevirsary Hyden Humps. With Dave Cowan still being unable to race the team entered two vehicles. The AS/1 Buggy driven by Mal Yeardley with Mitch Cowan navigating and the Commodore, driven by Darren Russell and Chloe Russell navigating. With near perfect conditions at Smithy's Place after two days of rain we were looking forward to a great weekend of racing. With the prologue being a full lap of the track both cars were instructed to be a little conservative. Darren & Chloe finished the prologue well but Mal & Mitch in the Buggy limped home with only third and fourth gears left in the buggy. After several phone calls back to Perth, the spare Gearbox was delivered to Brookton which allowed Mal and Mitch to dash back from Hyden to pick it up. In the meantime Dave, Darren and Malcolm Russell removed the engine and gearbox from the buggy, ready for the new gearbox.
This meant the buggy missed the next Section, which was two 20 kilometre laps on the Saturday night. The team put the spotlights onto the front of the Commodore and Darren and Chloe headed off into the dark. They finished the Section 5th in Class and 22nd Outright, but more importantly with the car running well. After the night section Mal and Mitch arrived back with the gearbox. By 10.30pm the Buggy was back together and the Commodore had been inspected, with both vehicles ready for Sunday morning.
The Sunday morning session saw both cars complete the section but with minor problems along the way. The buggy damaged a tierod which required attention in the pits whilst the Commodore lost a rear brake caliper slowing him down on the last few laps. After some repairs the cars lined up for the last setion on Sunday afternoon. Luck was not with either car as Darren and Chloe managed to rip the left hand rear wheel off the Commodore after sliding into a rock and Mal and Mitch damaged a CV which also destroyed the clutch line.
So although neither car finished it turned out to be an enjoyable weekend. A special thanks to Sam and Tammy for driving to Brookton with the spare gearbox. Also thanks to all our sponsors for their support and Western Desert Racers for putting on the event.
It has been a tough year so far on the track for the team with the last event at Mogumber being no exception. The Gemini although ready did not compete as Dave was sick at the time. Once again the Commodore with Darren driving and his daughter Chloe navigating had problems with the rear swaybar and its mounting points. They managed to rip the mounting points away from the body this time and were out in the first section. Mal, driving the Buggy with his son Blake navigating managed to roll the car on the second lap bringing their race to a premature end. Both driver and navigator were fine after the incident. So basically no joy for Mogumber.
The Brookton King of the Hill event held over the first weekend in June was not a lot better. Both Mal in the Buggy and Darren in the Commodore managed to break rear trailing arms bringing their races to an end on day One. The little Gemini however completed the first section and was looking forward another run on Sunday morning. Once again luck was not on our side with the electrical coil failing completly on the second lap.
Some special thanks to our sponsors for their support over the past six months. Cliff at Chambers Welding has built a purpose built trailer for the Buggy which is greatly appreciated, Thank You. Also Alf at Rockingham Fleet Services who rebuit the Buggy motor after Hyden has to be thanked. The motor has been flawless over the last two events.
Thanks also to WAORRA for their efforts in running the last two events
So it is on with preparations underway for the upcoming Hyden Humps event.
With the first race of the year over it is time to provide an update on the Hyden 400 which was held over the Easter weekend. It was not a great weekend for the team with all three cars experiencing trouble. The 1650 buggy was the first to experience trouble with overheating problems during Saturdays run into the Hyden township. With Blake navigating for his dad, Mal Yeardley, the car finally came to a stop about 5 km from the finish line on the return to Smithy's place. The final verdict was a faulty waterpump, which saw the buggy pushed back onto the truck to end its weekend.
Both the Commodore and the Gemini completed the trip into Hyden and back, but not without trouble. Darren Russell driving the green Commodore managed to make contact with nearly every object between Smithy's place and Hyden. With Josh Hedges help as navigator he managed to clip a roo, hit a bush turkey, touch a tree, along with losing his rear bumper and one of his spotlights. By the finish line he had also lost his power steering with a leak in the steering rack. By comparision Dave and Alex Cowan in the Gemini had an almost uneventful run. All they managed to do was beach the car in the maze (thanks to the boys in the Bundera who towed us out, hope you are both alright after Sundays rollover) along with the car developing a slight misfire.
Sunday morning saw the Commodore and the Gemini line up at the start with high hopes of finishing. Alas this was not to happen. The Gemini broke the left hand front lower control arm half way through the second lap after having to change a flat tyre on lap one. The Commodore pulled out after lap 2 with the back of the car trying to part way with the body. In particular the sway bar mounts were cracking.
So the team is busy getting the cars ready for the upcoming Yealering race. The engine is out of the buggy getting preped by Alf at Rockingham Fleet Services. Darren is busy welding the Commodore back together. Rumors are he has removed those pesty bumper bars. Whilst the Gemini has already had the misfire problem sorted (carby needed a bit of attention) and repairs to the front end are also complete.
Thanks from the team to all our sponsors and also Western Desert Racers for putting on a great event.