2009 TOUGH DOG TOPERI CHALLENGE
Fri 27th, Sat 28th & Sun 29th Nov 09
Comp Team:
Charles & Brett – Car 35A
Shane & Scuba – Car 35B
Cheering Squad:
Jenny
Cindy
Kat & Luke
Adrian
Stevie
Glenn & Brad
Scuba, Kat, Luke, Charles, Jen, Stevie, Cindy & I arrived at Toperi Park just after midday, set up camp, got Charles’ truck scrutineered then sat back, relaxed and waited for Adrian & Shane to turn up. Then, with Shane’s truck scrutineered and our campsite set up, a lazy afternoon and evening was had sitting around drinking and eating.
After the driver’s briefing on Sat morning and catching up with Glenn and Brad who had just arrived, it was over to Stage 1 where we joined the line up of trucks in front of us and settled in for a long wait. It wasn’t till late afternoon that we got to drive Stage 1 and after checking hubs were locked, winch cables were unspooled, and shackles and straps in place, we were ready to go! A passing comment from Shane just moments before we were about to start went something like…”hey Scuba, should we check that this truck of mine is in 4wd...nah stuff it, don’t worry about it, it’ll be right”. A comment that soon came back to bite us.
With Shane the lead truck in our team of two, he headed onto the course and down into the first obstacle which was a murky, muddy, watery bog hole that required you to drive a 90 degree left hand turn up a steep embankment and out to continue the track. It was a straight forward obstacle which should have posed no problem to either of our team, which is why Scuba and I, half way up the track rock packing around some large logs, failed to notice Shane was stuck!
A mad dash back down the hill had us find Shane trying to drive out of the bog hole in 2wd!! He had no front drive!! So with Shane now up to 2 attempts at this section, Scuba yelled at Shane to slam the transfer lever down and drive in reverse. This took three attempts before the lever finally engaged and Shane could drive forwards in 4wd and up and out. Unfortunately, we had now lost precious time.
The rest of the track was driven really well by both guys and it was only me who had the embarrassing slip and heavy fall onto my arse at the “conveyer from hell” as I rushed to grab the winch rope from the front of Charles’ truck. Was definitely something for the crowd to laugh at! With both trucks becoming slightly stuck on the last few sections of track we used up our remaining seconds and unfortunately were timed out as Charles attempted to drive the final log.
The remainder of the afternoon and early evening had us waiting to drive Stage 2 and watching the clock as the strict 7pm cut off time for competition drew nearer. After a few lengthy recoveries, they called it with 3 teams in front of us, so now we had to be back at Stage 2 first thing Sun morn to drive it.
An early start on Sun morn had us lined up and ready to compete. After checking this time that Shane had 4wd we worked out our lines and strategies and awaited our turn. A fantastic drive by the guys and some great guidance and winch skills by us navi’s (have to talk it up after my fall!), had us complete the track and both bonus lines for a maximum 150 points. We were pumped!
Back at camp we assessed Shane’s bent steering arm, again, so it was then my truck that was nominated to donate a steering arm for Shane’s truck. Being an aftermarket arm, it had a lot less chance of bending – although it was going on Shane’s truck and Shane was driving!
Stage 3 was going to be a lot more difficult. With a big fan of very large logs and one enormous log and deep hole to negotiate, tyre placement, track building and winching were the keys to completing this track. We made it through the wombat holes with no real issues apart from not being able to drive the mid track bonus line as our muddy tyres were too slippery to get any grip on the large log but it was the fan of very large logs where we ran into trouble. Shane managed to get hung up right in the middle of the fan and instead of using the closer winch point, a small break down in communication between all of us had Scuba and I run Shane’s winch rope right down to the 100 point marker. Looked fine until Shane spooled in and tension was put on the cable and we realised we had just taken out 3 track posts and bunting which cost us heaps in points. However, Shane managed to free himself and drag himself through the remainder of the track to the end.
In the mean time I had got Charles stuck on his tierod and steering arm and with no grip on the logs we had to winch him off the stump. That was done without a drama and with only seconds remaining on our track completion time of 9 minutes, two attempts was all we allowed ourselves to get Charles’ front left up onto one of the last big logs before we had called it “time” to give Shane as much time as he could to now go and attempt Stage 4. We scored a minus 22 on that Stage, not our best effort!
With Charles now joining the navi crew of Scuba & I, the three of us ran as Shane drove on Stage 4 with approx 2min 30sec to complete the Stage. Scuba guided as Charles & I rock packed, getting well ahead of Shane and track building the final hill as best we could. Unfortunately Shane’s front left tyre lost considerable air over the first top section on track and as has drove down the drop-off ledge mid track, he landed on his front left, torn the tyre off the rim, got some serious air under his truck (to the joy of the crowd) and landed 45 degrees across the track between a tree and the dirt wall. A few back and fills with guidance from Scuba had him down into the gully that crossed the middle of the figure of eight track but with Shane needing to turn a sharp, off camber right to attempt the final section of track, his tyre off the bead, and with the only 30 seconds left on the clock we called it a day and stopped at about the 50 point marker.
A quick pack up back at camp and with no real chance at a decent placing, we headed off home. Thank you to everyone who came, cheered us along, helped out with minor repairs and made the weekend very enjoyable.
Brett.