Sunshine Coast Gymkhana
May 4-6, 2002

 Saturday:

Alex and I set off early to get the campsite set up before the first event.  Rik had arrived the night before, and was already well set up and waiting for the action to start. He had set up his tent opposite the campsite of Jason “Skippy” and Daryl “Fossil” Dahler from the Backyard Boys. Jason owns a highly modified Brumby, and his father owns an L Series wagon with a WRX engine under the bonnet. The rest of the Backyard Boys (BYB’s) who were competing on the weekend weren’t camping, but were waiting around. They were Brett “Haggis” Rogers (turbo 92 Liberty), Glenn “Sonny” Challen (black turbo RX) and Leon “Nutter” Pepene (white turbo RX – one of Dave Martin’s old cars). 

After the tent and obligatory tarp (for the club members who haven’t attended this event in previous years, it always rains) had been set up, it was almost time to head off to the gymkhana course to watch the first competitors. Shane and Libby turned up in Libby’s Brumby, as did Camo in his recently purchased Liberty, sporting new tyres that almost completely filled the tyre wells.

The gymkhana course for this year was modified a bit from the one used the year before. It still had the jump up at the end of the front straight, but there was a nasty looking dip into the creek before the track headed towards the back of the paddock. This year, the back of the track seemed a lot shorter, and the finish was in a better spot for the spectators, with a deep creek crossing immediately before it.

The track was almost bone dry, and the competitors appeared to be almost afraid to get up too much speed in the front straight in case they launched their cars too high on the jump. We saw a couple of competitors hit the first creek crossing a bit too fast and at the wrong angle, drowning their engines and getting bogged.

“Fossil” from the BYB’s managed the highest jump of the Subi owners, but his jump this year was tame compared to his effort of the year before. At least he was able to continue on and finish the event, which he wasn’t able to do last year after having broken a front strut on landing. The BYB’s believe in highly modifying their Subarus, more than our club members modify our vehicles. And during the competition they removed the mufflers – more for the throatier sound than for the extra horsepower. But with the whistling of the pop off valves during gear changes and the throaty exhaust note, the Subarus were by far the best sounding vehicles on the course all afternoon.

 Matthew and Vanessa Abbott arrived and set up their tent next to mine, and Greg and Jason Sinn and Wayne Martin also dropped in for the day’s entertainment.

The action soon moved to the extreme track. This track was highly modified from last year’s track, with a large mound of telegraph poles being the first obstacle. Diff locks were a handy accessory when attempting to jump up over the logs, otherwise speed and supple suspension were required. This obstacle led on to two more mounds, which tested the vehicles’ approach, ramp over, and departure angles. The last mound had a particularly nasty large concrete pipe at the exit, which caused a number of the smaller vehicles some grief, with rearranged front and rear bumpers. A three point turn followed, then a series of offset potholes, which tested the suspension travel to the limit. A sharp corner through a pothole was followed by a rock climb (until one of the larger, more powerful vehicles dislodged the two largest rocks). Then came a downhill slide along a concrete pipe that practically guaranteed sill damage if it wasn’t properly negotiated, followed by a drive through the slushiest part of the creek. Out of the creek, the vehicles then negotiated a steel pipe laid at a 45⁰ angle (a good test for the unlocked diffs), before diving into an incredibly deep water hole. Those that survived without stalling the motor made it out to the other side (some driving, others floating). The final obstacle was the mud hole. While not as deep as the water hole, traction was the major concern, and the seconds quickly ticked by as some of the vehicles fought for grip.

Most competing vehicles were modified, and it wasn’t surprising to see double diff locked lifted SWB Cruisers doing the best times. However, it was surprising to see a large number of Suzukis manage to complete the course. The drivers and co-drivers of the Zooks usually ended up with wet feet as the water hole swamped the vehicles with up to 12 inches of water in the cabins. Suzuki owners must be the keenest and surely the maddest 4WDrivers around. The extreme course was definitely not Subi friendly, and none of the Backyard Boys was prepared to have a go. Personally, I don’t blame them.

The gymkhana course had another workout later on in the afternoon, with a number of vehicles doing their second timed lap. The sun was now low in the sky, so it was time to head back to the campsite for dinner. Shane, Libby, Greg, Jason and Wayne said their good-byes and headed for a warm bed, and the rest of us settled in for the night. Camo managed to sleep inside the Liberty, and Vanessa went to bed reasonably early as well. So Matthew, Rik and I got ourselves comfortable and chatted for hours. I eventually left Matthew and Rik to continue on into the wee small hours, during which time Matthew had managed to get a bit wobbly. But Bundy Black will do that to a bloke.

Sunday:

No surprise. We awoke to the sound of rain. And the rain didn’t let up for a number of hours. The curse of the May Day long weekend had arrived a day later than usual. At least it meant that the cars would have a few more problems negotiating the gymkhana course than they had the day before. After a late, casual breakfast, we wandered up for the day’s entertainment. Rejoining us for the day were Greg and Jason Sinn, and (Daihatsu) Peter Brown came along for the day as well.

The events run today included the gymkhana course, the extreme course, the power pursuit and the gatekeeper. The gymkhana and extreme courses were both quite a bit tougher than the day before due to the slippery conditions caused by the rain. We saw a couple of vehicles, including a supercharged Pajero, run tyres off their rims from sliding into a mud bank too hard on the gymkhana course.

The power pursuit was a highlight. In this knockout event, two vehicles drove two laps of an oval, starting on opposite sides of the oval, with the winner progressing on to the next round. The vehicles that could swing around the sharp bottom corner and then get the power down fast for the back straight had the advantage. Rik and I got comfortable just at the entrance to the bottom corner, and I looked at the terrain and said, “someone’s going to roll over here for sure!” We watched round after round, with some going close to tipping on their sides, but no-one going all the way. Until eventually a trayback Hilux obliged and performed a soft roll right in front of us. Some of the cars went close to a tree on the exit of the bottom corner, and a few even decided to form their own route around the other side of the tree. It seemed as if the organisers tried to match up the vehicles as closely as possible, so the first rounds included a couple of Subi vs. Subi contests. Brett in the turbo Liberty was the only contestant to shower us with mud every lap – only one other car was able to flick the mud out towards us and he managed it only once. But Brett did it every time. And he kept winning every time, making it through to the final.  The final was a closely contested event until “CLUNK!”, something blew up in Brett’s engine and the car billowed smoke from under the bonnet. It was an unfortunate end to the action, and the Liberty required towing home. Next year maybe.

After that, we went back to watch the gymkhana, and this year they had a surprise for the spectators.  One of the event sponsors decided on the day to put up an extra $500 prize for the best jump in a jump-off at the front straight jump. There were a few pretenders, a number of contenders, but there was no doubt about the top three. Third place went to the supercharged Pajero, which flew both high and far. Then along came a V8 SWB 45 Cruiser. It flew so high that when it landed, the bonnet flew up into the windscreen, the driver’s door flew open, and (we learnt later) the engine mounts broke. Even more spectacular than the Pajero’s jump, moving it into 1^st place. But the final jump was to be performed by a bloke called Simmo, in his Range Rover. Simmo had the event announcer as his passenger, and it was the first time all weekend that the announcer was lost for words as they traveled up to the jump. The car hit the jump at a bit of an angle, skewing it slightly sideways as it flew high into the air. And it landed at about a 45° angle to the track, breaking the CV joint and suspension on the RH front, leaving the wheel laying flat under the vehicle. The assembled crowd were the judges, and the judges’ decision was very, very close. But the SWB Cruiser won the prize. And the prize probably would have gone half way to paying for his damage. Pity ‘bout the damage to Simmo’s car – there was no 2^nd prize.

That was the end of the second day’s action, so we went back to camp to find that Matthew and Vanessa had packed up and left. Camo, Greg and Jason Sinn and Peter Brown went home as well, leaving Rik, Wayne, Alex and me. We had a quiet night around the campfire, swapping Subi yarns with the BYB’s. We also watched Jason do a typical BYB repair on a bent radius rod, heating it up in the campfire then hammering it into shape for the trip home. Wayne eventually left for home at about midnight.

The final day dawned as had the day before – with four hours of rain. Every part of the paddock was now slush. Mark Ottway arrived with Rick Dean in Mark’s RX Turbo L Series sedan. There were only two events on the day’s agenda – the finals of the extreme and gymkhana courses. To be honest, there was actually a third event – getting out of the place through the slush. The 4WD’s didn’t have too many problems. But a few people had brought in their 2WD cars on the Friday or Saturday when it was dry, and needed a tow to get back out.  Alex decided that he’d seen enough of 4WDs over the weekend, and wanted to emulate what they could do with his toy cars, so he and I stayed around the campsite rather than going up to see the action. It was all over fairly quickly, with only the top ten cars competing in each event for the final shootout.  So that was it – now that the sun had come out and dried out the camping gear enough to put it away, we packed up and headed for home.

Thanks Rik for organising another fun weekend. Just one small favour – next time make sure it doesn’t rain, OK!

Greg Bryant SC480