Raw Motorsport

Another Targa has been completed. Thanks goes to Paul Girt (my navigator). Apart from the 5th last corner on the last stage that nearly ended our targa, this event was great. Thanks mate.

Also thanks specifically to the boys from Porsche Centre Melbourne. These guys look after a number of Porsche Centre Melbourne customers in Targa. I enjoy the time I get to spend with these Guys.

Thanks Pete (the car technician), Brett, Karl, Bryan, Steve and Matt. Had lots of fun guys and enjoyed travelling up from Hobart to Devenport on Monday.

The Dial before you dig cars did ok. Rex won classic outright again, so the result for the team was a good one.

Finally thanks to my wife, she is still the official owner of the car. I keep threatening to change that, but its better to have the boss feel like she is involved. She has to give me permission every year to use the car, so she feels like she has some control over proceedings.

I am happy, she is happy.

Overnight at Strahan and the biggest day is yet to unfold. We have intermediate conditions and we push on through Strahan, Queenstown and onto Arrowsmith. There is carnage all around and concentration and focus are required for this day. No real issues as our day unfolds and we once again finish our 5th Targa together.

The party is on at wrest point, and we settle into a relaxed state … but wait. at 9:00pm Sunday night the timing issue we had been penalised for in Strahan had not been resolved. A quick discussion with the CRO’s (Competitor Relations Officer) leads us on an emotional roller coaster ride. Results have  nearly gone final, and the txt message they had sent us at midday saying the issue had been resolved was quickly eroding to nothing.

“Lodge a compaint with Clerk of course” was the only option at this late stage. $200 needed to be lodge along with the protest. If the protest was upheld we get the result and the money back. This was going to be a good night, or a lousy night. To lose places on a technicality was hard to take…. 1/2 hour later I was rung by control and our protest was upheld. Money back for the bar and we were once again happy chappies.  12th outright in classic was not as good as I was hoping, but it is still a good result. Certainly against comparative cars we did ok.

Next year Paul and I have the opportunity for our Platinum Plate. Sixth year, so I think we are going for this … still need sign off from the bosses (Cleo and Michelle) and maybe we can get a leave pass for one more round. 6 would be great, but we will take a breathe and decide where we sit in a month or so.

2009 over. Car is great, driver and navigator intact. Ready 2010.

we are safely in strahan with a very difficult day behind us. We had a spin in hellyer gorge and lost some time, so thats not a great way to advance thru the field. It rained all the way down the west coast. Looking forward to finishing tomorrow. Car is fine so we will see how we went later.