JJH goes to Targa High Country 2010

[JJH]

Just like Oldie, my application has been accepted for this new tarmac rally event.
Full competitor list is not available just yet, but should be on the web site soon.
Go here to check out the event: http://www.targahighcountry.com.au/
:beer

[Vulpes]

Good luck with the event. Post pictures !!!!

[OLD FART]

Good luck Jeff I'm sure you will give it your best shot :beer

[enthuzed]

This event's Mt Buller runs will make the Lake Mountain ones seem like a piece of piss Jeff...looks fun. Nov 5-7 I'm not scheduled to compete at this stage (but we've had postponements) so would you have interest in me being part of your support crew?

[JJH]

Well, fun time is nearly here and I've finally finished preparations on the car; just need to give it a spit & polish before scrutiny and we'll be ready to go.
It's been a bit of a haul to get to this stage but the car is in pretty good shape, while driver & nav could do with a little more practice I'm sure we'll get into the swing of it pretty quickly.
Competition starts at 5:00pm on Friday with the prologue in Mansfield, then there's 2 full days in & around Mansfield/Mt Buller.
I'll try and get some pics up after we go through scrutiny, and maybe some from Friday.

To quote Benjamin Franklin:
"Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."

So, full steam ahead & let's not have biblical flooding this weekend rofl
:beer

[enthuzed]

Hope you & Deano have a fun & trouble free event. Whilst I can't really be there in person I'll be there in spirit... And available over the telephone if needed...

[OLD FART]

Good luck Jeff go hard and fast and don't upset any greenies by knocking the bark off any trees LOL

[enthuzed]

Jeff sent me a text this morning (Sun), car is going well on their second day of fun. Here is a pic sent to me yesterday by a car club mate who is also competing up there:



Link should work now

[JJH]

Well, our run of good luck & completed events came to a stop; perhaps it was my over confident msg to Frank that put the mocker on us :roll:
Anyway, we started experiencing severe misfire during stage 2 on day 2, but was intermittent to start with.
Stage 3 got worse & worse and by the end of that stage we were struggling big time.
We then limped to the start of stage 4 but only made it to the road closure point before we came to a halt. After much shrugging of shoulders & poking around under the bonnet, and some valuable input from Bill Lakstins (thanks Bill) it was finally diagnosed as a fault in the electrical supply to one of the coils.
We then limped back to the lunch area and spent the next 2 hours trying to figure out where the fault was; turned out to be a break in the ignitor wiring right at the connector. With assistance from the Ralliart crew we were able to cobble together a quick fix and rejoined the line - making the cut-off by a bees dick.
Down side to that was that we were then stuck right in the middle of the fastest group of cars in the competition. On the next stage I spent more time looking in my mirrors making sure I didn't hold any of those guys up, rather than looking forwards.
We seemed to still have some episodes of missing but got through the stage OK, a little frazzled, but OK. Then after topping up with fuel the damn car wouldn't restart & that as they say was that.
We were then able to get it fired again, and were able to get ourselves back home.
THC is an awesome event with some unbelievable fast sections, and the climb up Buller is a test of patience, endurance, skill & car.
So, next year we'll see if we can get ourselves all the way to the end.
:beer

[enthuzed]

Annoying issue that only shows up on competition, that sucks. I feel you, having driven all the way to Bendigo, Deniliquin, Winton only to have the car play up immediately or very shortly after competition commenced. Not fun!
Oh, we should catch up soon too Jeff.

[JJH]

Found a couple of pics on the interweb:
This looks like the Tolmie stage; awesomely quick, lots of this, :D, at the end.

This is the Powers Lookout stage (the reverse of Tolmie); we got off notes on this one, so there was a bit of this, :x, at the end.

Car was running like a dream at this point in time, and I was starting to get my eye in too.
:beer

[Johnyturbo]

Awsome action shots of the starion in action Jeff,

sorry to hear about the reliabuitly problems, how are you going sorting them out have you had any luck? did you end up running with your new MPI setup for this race?

[JJH]

sorry to hear about the reliabuitly problems, how are you going sorting them out have you had any luck? did you end up running with your new MPI setup for this race?

Yes, we did find, and solve, the problem; a wiring issue in one, tiny, connector to the ignitor. All good now.
Ran the MPI setup and makes the car so much nicer to drive. We are still in the very early days of the MPI & new computer so we are hoping for a bit more out of it as we move forward.
:beer