Laughlin Rally Report
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:57 am
Just found some time to do a report!
After Gorman I had some serious work to do,I replaced the bent struts with STI road stuts and higher rate springs.I bulit a rock crushing skid plate and fixed the bent oil pan.
To save some dosh on trailer rental I purchased a tow dolley(I can store it in the garage) and just had to disconect the rear driveshaft so I could tow the car.
The a car I had ready in time (a first!) with just a few things to sort out.Tuesday I planned to drive to Laughlin,Wenesday/Thursday do the recce and friday the start of the rally.
Anyway I could get the drive shaft nuts off,then when I did I had the wrong size dummy outter shafts! to cut a long story short I lost over four hours and ended up taking off the prop shaft at the diff end ,then making a bracket to keep it out of harms way.
I had a few more problems along the way ended up at Laughlin at 11:45 pm just in time to hit the bar with Rob and Mat from the other Legacy.
Wenesday and Thusday were unreal! the mud was so deep it was a blast ripping through the stuff in the Xtrerra v6 4x4 these cars are great for the deep stuff.
Recce done we did a bar recce and met up with the guys and Barrett from Oregon (another legacy)and drank a few beers to the wee hours.
Friday the weather was perfect and the first stage was a fast flowing gravel stage with many crests and drop offs and loads of tight turns.
First fast bend I found out to my horror that the car was so tail happy we near swapped ends! every bend was the same,so I backed off a bit but ended the stage with quite a good time.
Stage 2 was the reverse of 1 so I thought I would have to change my driving style and not lift off the gas so much on the bends.
This seemed to work and our pace was much quicker.So much so we got caught out on the notes siding wide with the rear end going over the edge but we just made it.
A few more bends later we were not so lucky! we came up fast to a blind left hander reading it as a L5 but it was more like a L4 tightens. Oh bad language! we went off the road heading for a very large rock.We're done for I thought,but we just missed the rock and landed in the bushes.The engine stalled.
I selected first,started the engine and picked a route out.4x4 saved the day as we scambled out and carried on.We even posted a better time!!
Luck must have been with us as we had no damage.Stage three was a new stage up a mountain so any mistakes meant a fast time down! anyway all went well.After regrouping we did the stage again.This stage was tight and twisty and was a blast to drive.
That was day one.Day two had must longer stage in parts of the Grand Canyon.The first stage really showed the power difference of our non-turbo as we dropped a few minutes on this 18 miler.Four stages had been canceled due to the mud.
The next stage had everything.Long straights,mud,tight bends,fast crests and lots of drop offs!
We seemed to doing well on this stage,those flat out crests were a heart stopper! but we had notes??
Anyway the next stage was a reverse and everything going well until the flatout crests.We were coming to a crest doing about 90 when Martin called straight flat out,I asked straight? yep he said.
I was not quite sure so I backed off and got the car lose on the crest,just as I saw it went tight right with a drop off into the trees! we made it and finished the stage only to find Rob at the finish with a blown tranny.
We found out later a guy in a Jeep was not so luky and came off on the same bend.The abulance was called to do a check up on the crew and after an all clear the rally carried on.The Guys were both OK but the Jeep had lost the front end.
This meant the last stage was going to run in the dark! we set up our spot lights and went for it,only to find they were only good for spotting low fliying aircraft!
This stage was painfully slow as we couldn't risk an off.We dropped a few minutes but finished.
The last day was four stages of a man made super special in front of spectators.The stage was a side by side stage.We were picked to run with a Ford Ranger 2wd with a 250bhp V8.I thought we are going to get wasted.5,4,3,2,1 go we had a good launch and I waited for the Ranger to come flying by,but no Ranger!.We killed them,finishing well ahead.Infact we did that for three stages to the delight of the crowd.
The last stage was very cut up and we got bogged down so they caught up and just pipped us at the finish.It was a great race as it was close.
Rally guys are great! these guys came over later and thanked us for a great race.
So there you have it,we finished forth in class and twenty second overal. Getting home gave me a few problems as I coulded get the car on the tow tolley,but a bunch of rally guys helped and I arrived home at 3:00am
The results gave us third in class for the CRS Championship,so we are well pleased.
Thanks to this site,sponsors,wifes,Martin ,Chad(service),Rob,Mat,Marko,Branden and the event team.
See you out there soon!
After Gorman I had some serious work to do,I replaced the bent struts with STI road stuts and higher rate springs.I bulit a rock crushing skid plate and fixed the bent oil pan.
To save some dosh on trailer rental I purchased a tow dolley(I can store it in the garage) and just had to disconect the rear driveshaft so I could tow the car.
The a car I had ready in time (a first!) with just a few things to sort out.Tuesday I planned to drive to Laughlin,Wenesday/Thursday do the recce and friday the start of the rally.
Anyway I could get the drive shaft nuts off,then when I did I had the wrong size dummy outter shafts! to cut a long story short I lost over four hours and ended up taking off the prop shaft at the diff end ,then making a bracket to keep it out of harms way.
I had a few more problems along the way ended up at Laughlin at 11:45 pm just in time to hit the bar with Rob and Mat from the other Legacy.
Wenesday and Thusday were unreal! the mud was so deep it was a blast ripping through the stuff in the Xtrerra v6 4x4 these cars are great for the deep stuff.
Recce done we did a bar recce and met up with the guys and Barrett from Oregon (another legacy)and drank a few beers to the wee hours.
Friday the weather was perfect and the first stage was a fast flowing gravel stage with many crests and drop offs and loads of tight turns.
First fast bend I found out to my horror that the car was so tail happy we near swapped ends! every bend was the same,so I backed off a bit but ended the stage with quite a good time.
Stage 2 was the reverse of 1 so I thought I would have to change my driving style and not lift off the gas so much on the bends.
This seemed to work and our pace was much quicker.So much so we got caught out on the notes siding wide with the rear end going over the edge but we just made it.
A few more bends later we were not so lucky! we came up fast to a blind left hander reading it as a L5 but it was more like a L4 tightens. Oh bad language! we went off the road heading for a very large rock.We're done for I thought,but we just missed the rock and landed in the bushes.The engine stalled.
I selected first,started the engine and picked a route out.4x4 saved the day as we scambled out and carried on.We even posted a better time!!
Luck must have been with us as we had no damage.Stage three was a new stage up a mountain so any mistakes meant a fast time down! anyway all went well.After regrouping we did the stage again.This stage was tight and twisty and was a blast to drive.
That was day one.Day two had must longer stage in parts of the Grand Canyon.The first stage really showed the power difference of our non-turbo as we dropped a few minutes on this 18 miler.Four stages had been canceled due to the mud.
The next stage had everything.Long straights,mud,tight bends,fast crests and lots of drop offs!
We seemed to doing well on this stage,those flat out crests were a heart stopper! but we had notes??
Anyway the next stage was a reverse and everything going well until the flatout crests.We were coming to a crest doing about 90 when Martin called straight flat out,I asked straight? yep he said.
I was not quite sure so I backed off and got the car lose on the crest,just as I saw it went tight right with a drop off into the trees! we made it and finished the stage only to find Rob at the finish with a blown tranny.
We found out later a guy in a Jeep was not so luky and came off on the same bend.The abulance was called to do a check up on the crew and after an all clear the rally carried on.The Guys were both OK but the Jeep had lost the front end.
This meant the last stage was going to run in the dark! we set up our spot lights and went for it,only to find they were only good for spotting low fliying aircraft!
This stage was painfully slow as we couldn't risk an off.We dropped a few minutes but finished.
The last day was four stages of a man made super special in front of spectators.The stage was a side by side stage.We were picked to run with a Ford Ranger 2wd with a 250bhp V8.I thought we are going to get wasted.5,4,3,2,1 go we had a good launch and I waited for the Ranger to come flying by,but no Ranger!.We killed them,finishing well ahead.Infact we did that for three stages to the delight of the crowd.
The last stage was very cut up and we got bogged down so they caught up and just pipped us at the finish.It was a great race as it was close.
Rally guys are great! these guys came over later and thanked us for a great race.
So there you have it,we finished forth in class and twenty second overal. Getting home gave me a few problems as I coulded get the car on the tow tolley,but a bunch of rally guys helped and I arrived home at 3:00am
The results gave us third in class for the CRS Championship,so we are well pleased.
Thanks to this site,sponsors,wifes,Martin ,Chad(service),Rob,Mat,Marko,Branden and the event team.
See you out there soon!
