Willowglen 4x4 Challenge 2009
Fri 2nd, Sat 3rd, Sun 4th Oct 09
Comp Team:
Mark Lenstra & Richard Harrowell – CAR 241
Brett McCurley & Stephen Cramp – CAR 242
Glenn Russell & Max Serra – CAR 243
Charles Bottemanne & Anthony Haber – CAR 244
Rose Serra – Team Manager
Cheer Squad:
Sarah, Brad & Jordon
Steph & Aiden
Jenny & Cindy
Stef & Megan
Adrian, Nikki & kids
+ anyone else I have forgotten!
Fri 2nd
Arriving at Willowglen just after midday saw the Russell’s marking out and claiming our AT4 campsite for WG09. With camper trailers aplenty, the odd tent or three and even a caravan, it was going to be a busy 4 days.
Fortunately the rain and very cold temps held off for most of the afternoon and it wasn’t until early evening that the heavy drops started falling and pretty much didn’t stop till Monday morning – typical 4wd comp weather!
Sat 3rd
With our comp team all passing class verification with no dramas and the driver’s briefing attended, it was time to compete. The wet weather was not making it easy for anyone and with Charles the first of our team to drive a track, ended up with 0 points due to the very wet and slippery conditions. I didn’t fare much better and on the same track being only 14 odd vehicles behind Charles I only managed a total of 6 points. Fortunately, Glenn and Mark did much better with both of them gaining much higher scores.
As the rain kept falling and the temperature refused to climb above the single digit the heater in my truck was most welcome. As the day wore on our team faired ok on the remaining tracks, but with the conditions very poor and major recoveries on nearly every track, the waiting to drive went on and on. 3 hours was my record for waiting to drive Carnage Canyon!
AT4 vehicle damage was kept to a minimum, although both Glenn and I upheld our driving standards with me putting a huge dent into my RHS rear passenger door on my first track, then bending the inside of my front RHS rim which caused immediate air loss to the tyre after some wheels up on the Step ‘N Up track. Glenn managed to find one of his many loved trees and proceeded to drive straight into it, thus smashing his bulbar in to his RH headlight, indicator, guard, grill etc etc. Mark also managed have a drive train malfunction on the Hilux, but nothing that couldn’t be rectified quickly and efficiently by himself and Richie.
Back at camp after our day of damp performance, Charles & Glenn had smartly collected a huge amount of nice, dry firewood, which was immediately put to good use as we all sat around the fire between the downpours to defrost and dry out as best we could. With an early night for some (the smart one’s) and a later night for the others (silly, young kids), it was hoped that Sunday would bring blue skies and warmer weather.
Sun 4th
Unfortunately we were wrong. The cold, overcast weather greeted us once again on Sun morn but at least the rain was easing.
With Sunday’s tracks close to each other and close to camp, it was easier to get around for all of us. An early start for me being vehicle number 6 on the Rockin’ Rollin track was made worse by the fact that the little Rocky in front of me busted his suspension and ruptured his fuel tank witch spewed fuel all over the rocks I had to drive over. Down came the local RFS and proceeded to disperse the fuel by spraying a tanker load of water across the track. If it wasn’t slippery enough before, it certainly was going to be now!
I managed to get one third of the way along before a bloody big rock caught me up under my slider and chassis and spun me 90 degrees to the track where I ceased to proceed for 20 points. Glenn suffered front locker issues on the same track and bummed out with the same score as me, whilst Charles & Mark both had red hot goes and scored well into the 70 and 80 point mark.
The rest of the day went by slowly. Charles & Glenn both managed to knock over the same plastic conduit marker on All Shook Up and received 0 points for their efforts. Considering this was on the first log you drive your wheels over, understandably they were both very pissed off! Glenn also managed to snap off his combination switch that operates his windscreen wipers, so it was down to jamming a screwdriver into the hole and asking Brad to turn the wipers on and off when they drove home on the Monday.
Our team gained mixed results once again for Sundays tracks but it was Charles who bravely (stupidly?!) volunteered to drive the Mud event. Watching all the other trucks drive the simple U shaped course and make it to the end with no issues, we thought Charles would be fine. Wrong! At the final section just before the 100 point mark his truck, on full song, slipped off line, bogged down and came to a halt with the muddy water lapping at the sills. A quick yank out with the excavator saw him and Ant hurriedly make there way over to the RFS fire truck for a good hosing down and demudding of the GU.
With the weekend all but over and with no podium finishes for AT4, we all went back to camp for a few drinks and a feed. Fortunately most of us had opted to stay Sun night and pack up and go home on Mon. This turned out to be a good idea as Monday brought the blue sky, no rain and slightly warmer weather. Just another typical TLCC Willowglen. Thanks to all that came and offer support for all of us who competed. Thanks also to Rose for being Team Manager and tallying up all our scores and running orders etc.
Cheers, Brett.