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Brisport October 2018 KCF Month …..get your entries in…. What’s in this month’s edition? • Another great read – we hope! • How about sending us a story or two! Brisport October 2018 PRESIDENTS REPORT OCTOBER 2018 Another major month has just passed for BSCC in the seemingly heavily loaded back end of the year. Just the way the cookie has crumbled this year what with weather, other events that both did happen or where meant to happen and availability of people. Which is not to say there is not still much more to come, so a big finish beckons. September of course saw the running of the biggest event in the BSCC and perhaps Queensland Rallying Calendar with the running of the SR Automotive Manumbar Rally. It was a major test of crews and cars covering the year’s longest competitive distance across some of the great roads available in South East Queensland. It was a pretty full on day starting early and finishing as the sun faded over another terrific day of hot competition. A full report follows in the magazine but I must make a special thanks to Simon and Margot Knowles, Brad Hurford (plus Kelli, Rachel & Chloe), Margaret MacKay and the extensive team who continue to put this event together. It was interesting to hear of the developing mystique around this event, drawing as it does on some of the more senior competitors and officials’ fond memories of the Gallangowan event days. But also to realise that it is ever changing and evolving with the support of the local community and lots and lots of hard work to unearth and bring on new roads and challenges. The only obvious downer, without wishing to detract and any way from the fine outcome of the event, was the troubling lack of entry numbers. Not that this event has been any worse off than many others this year. It is something that Queensland Rallying is going to have to confront around about now, before the whole thing becomes unviable. But regardless and in some ways in spite of this, full marks and my greatest appreciation to Simon and Margot and all the team for persevering and continuing to invest the time and their own financial resources to ensure rallying happens. Because when it does, it is bloody good fun. But don’t for a minute think that the end it nigh, for 2018 or for Rallying in our neck of the woods. We still have plenty of action and interesting things to come. Firstly, on October 10 we have the last club night for 2018. Wayne Daniels at Roo Systems has graciously opened his facility to us once again to host a night on ‘How to build a cost effective but competitive rally car’. It has been a highlight of the last couple of years to see some giant killing performances in relatively low cost, and simple to own and maintain cars. We are grateful to long term competitor and former QRC champion, Tristan Carrigan and ‘young guns’, the Wilson brothers for bringing along their 2WD cars to put up on a hoist and allow others to go over them, and discuss how they did it. This should be an invaluable night for those wanting to get into, return to, or continue to rally within their Brisport October 2018 resources. See elsewhere for details in this edition. As always with these nights, please be courteous and let us know by RSVP so we can cater for all. New board member, long term competitor and rally car builder, Dominic Corkeron has stepped into host the night, so any questions give him a call. We are also looking eagerly forward to the last of the KCF short course series for 2018. Round 3 will be at Imbil on October 27. Clerk of Course Paul Woodward has put together another sure to be great event on the fast and challenging Imbil roads. Competition is tight for the both the honours on the day and for the 2018 KCF Short Course Challenge. Somewhere in this magazine you will find the progress scores. 4WD and FWD and RWD are both tight with any number of people in with a shot at driver and co-driver prizes for the best performance across all three events for 2018. Suggest you get your entry in for a last decent crack for the year and if you can’t we always need officials. Plus, the Imbil community can use your support so spectators also welcome. Once that is done then down to the final event for the year, the BSCC Christmas Party. Rally Cars and Christmas. After a wash out in 2017, we will give the Willowbank format another workout. Turn up on the day for some fellowship with fellow Rally enthusiasts, enjoy a wood-fired pizza lunch. Then of course if you wish, bring your car along for some laps and some fun. A great chance to tap into others knowledge and experience and get a plan for 2019. So, while 2018 has been good so far and there are still some thrills to come, we are also now focusing on 2019. Firstly, everyone should at all times remember that everyone and I mean everyone involved in the club is doing this in their spare time and paying their own way. While ‘someone’ should do lots of things, we do the best we can with the time we have. I think it also fair to say 2018 has been a good year with lots of quality competition, and many highlights. Such as the weather letting us actually do events. But quality don’t pay the bills and we must be frank and say that competitor numbers are a worry. Careful students would also notice that the club has been devoting considerable time and effort to skills development activities, and the encouragement of new and returning competitors. We had the successful club nights with Ed Ordinski et al bringing basic driving and co-driving skills to life. We also have a club night coming up this month to discuss cost effective and competitive rally cars. All this aimed at getting people to rethink what tools you need to actually go out and have some fun. Case in point being Brayden and Blake Wilson in the All Jap Mirage, who I believe (provisionally) took out 2WD this year in a relatively simple car with a few nice bits. We have all thrilled to the small resurgence in Hyundai Excel racing this year, where a pretty average car had been made that much better with the addition of a limited slip diff and a better diff ratio. Plus some above average talent helps, but we can only do so much. Brisport October 2018 So in the first ‘golden age’ of rallying, you bought a Datsun or similar and did what everybody else did and went rallying. Then in the second ‘golden era’ the manufacturers did the thinking for you and kept producing the latest Evo-Rex to aspire to and the trickle down of cars has kept us going to this day. But with the newest Evo now 10 years old, and they do take some dedication (and money) to keep competitive. So, what comes next? Lateral thinking time, and fortunately Tristan is starting to think for us. His provocative article elsewhere in this magazine is well worth a read and a ponder over a beer. So please enjoy and have a think. We want more cars out there. Not only need we concern ourselves with competitor numbers, the other pillars of rallying need equal consideration. • Officials – We need more and a dare I say younger demographic • Community and Sponsors – throughout 2019 this is a key area we need to address. • Organisers – the oft forgotten glue that holds it together. We need to develop more. Anyway, to finish on some happy news, the club managed after wide deliberation to replace most of our old TAG finish clocks, that had done years of service. They finally cried enough. Anyone who used the new ones at Manumbar seemed impressed. Interesting after 30 years no one seemed to have improved on that technology but equally TAG had not been asleep. The new ones are significantly better to use than the old are. We’d appreciate if you look after them please. We need them to last a while, so we can move on to other key equipment issues like communications. Sounds like a 2019 project. Peter Flynn [email protected] 0423 204849 Brisport October 2018 Brisport October 2018 It was a faultless drive by Ian Menzies and Robert McGowan to win the SR Automotive Manumbar Rally crowning them 2018 P3 Solutions Queensland Rally Champions. Finally having a car that was running at full pace after being plagued with fuel injection problems in previous rounds, Menzies and McGowan won seven of the nine stages in their Bespoke Engineering Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9. The team used their 20+ years’ experience of competing in the area to their full advantage. In thanking the organisers, the Brisbane Sporting Car Club, Menzies expressed appreciation towards the large effort they took to find some new and very challenging roads for this years' event. The SR Automotive Rally was the fourth and final round of the P3 Solutions Queensland Rally Championship. The event started in the township of Nanango, utilising new roads and forestry areas, then moving to Manumbar for the traditionally fast and long stages loved by event regulars. Totalling 150 km of competitive stages, many competitors enjoyed the longer than usual blind rally format.

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