Update!

Ok, my sincere apologies for the lack of updates. However, as Pikes Peak gets closer again we'll be bringing the regular updates from our adventures leading up to and including all the happening from Pikes Peak 2012.

In the meanwhile, now for some updates of late.

First we need to wind the clock back a bit. December 2011 to be precise.

We got talked into entering the last round of the Australian Tarmac Rally Championship at Lake Mountain in Victoria.

We packed the car up, loaded the Isuzu truck and towed ole' faithful evo down to Victoria for the event.

Car was minimally prepped, but with the same old tyres that have been on the car for, oh, about 1.5 years!

Anyways, got there and got into a sweet little house rental we inherited from a fellow racer than cancelled their entry due to confliction of events. When we got there we got a new house with a nice kitchen, bedrooms, and fireplace and stereo. We were met by a sweet little parrot that showed up and greeted us, no doubt expecting some goodies in return.

A few recce runs to check our old notes and we're good to go.

It started pretty average with the intense rain that never seemed to end, but within a short burst of time we found ourselves running 3rd overall. However a spin costs us heaps and dropped us to 5th. Despite the rain, we made some minor suspension changes and set fastest times on the stages.

Back to the really nice place we rented for the weekend, Cath redid her notes, our sponsor, Marc Hammond from iautosport.com was outside washing the cars, and I was on kitchen duty making some spicey bolognaise with Placido Domingo on the stereo. Wine was corked, the evening was being settled into just fine.

Sunday rolled in and Cath did her calculations and found that if we can work our way ahead by the end of the day by 21 seconds we stood a chance of a good podium.

Well, it all came together quickly and following the doctrine of 80% speed and 100% accuracy we got our 21 seconds on the FIRST stage, pulling us ahead and immediatley to the front.

Nicely, we held that position for the rest of the day, fighting to keep the car on the road in the wet slippy conditions which saw many people have offs and spins.

At one point we went across the finish line in the pouring rain and tapped the brakes which sent the car sideways, this was about 200+kph. Not something you want to happen much.  Below is a video of the fight back run.

The last three runs were done in drying conditions but with a damp road however. But we still ran fastest stage times all day, and on the last run with the last half of the stage dry, we crossed the last stage foot down maxed out in 5th gear at 7000+ rpm, almost top speed, through the trees on a narrow road. Sweet, if not a bit scary at times when you see the road run out of room.