yeah, this weekend there`s an autocross open day being held at Ipswitch west moreton car club track, it`s on champions way, willowbank, on the left, last driveway just before Qld Raceway,,, dam good little dirt circuit, heaps of fun, plenty of run off room so don`t be scared,,, i`m going t try to be there in jy Zombi, but i`ll be in Byron till then so it might be a mad rush home to make it in time

edit--> Oh i think it`s organised by the WRX club

Its always good fun out there. havent run since jan though

Yeah i think this one is a "twilight" meeting,,, so starts just before lunch, runs through till dusk & then a break till it`s dark & then fire back up in the dark,, I remember the good ol days we used to run lots of twilight meetings,,, sorts the men from the boys hey?

& i actually used to own the outright lap record (quite a number of times actually) on that willowbank autocross track... in my little green cooper "S" road mini,,, hee hee,,, usually beating all the 4x4 turbo rally cars, serious!!!...don`t ask me how tho, There was usually 9 or 10 of them there nearly every meeting,,, & heaps of guys kept looking over the brick to try & find the turbo & the 4 wheel drive system :-) obviously there was no 4 wheel drive system or turbo so they all thought i paid off the time keepers :-)

Same thing happened at Echo Valley,,, anyone ran there before??? What a wicked track that used to be hey? Dam i have some good storys about that place... Ahhhh the memories :-) Ha!!! & i still own the 0-1600cc touring car class lap record there too :-) I nearly forgot :-)

Dam i`m fast,,, just ask me :-)

Matt your dribbling on your keyboard again, there seems to be a short circuit and it is rambling.

I ran my early civic at Echo Valley years ago. the only thing that beat me in my class was another civic set up for rally. i had one off on control tower corner, lifted off the throttle a little too much and the tail got real light and started to loop around. I touched the brakes and tried to correct but became a passenger going side ways at about 70k's. Managed to stop it before hitting the bank though. i was running around there on A008's and one some of the corners the tyres were squeeling on the clay!! Just sucked if you had to run soon after they watered the track.

Wow the Valley - I literally grew up there as our house is only a 2 klm down the road and Dad was a life member of the club and club president for many years.. sure is sad to see it now. I used to run Dattos 1600 and a few Escort rally cars. Competed at Ipswich back in the mid eighties - ouch that hurt to type, I cant be that old.....

That is why I enjoy competing at the leyburn sprints - get to catch up with all the people from the old valley days.

Would love to see some photos of the old valley cars..

Cheers

Peter

Matty,,, it think you`re right :-)

Brenden, that would have been Ferris ar,,, er,,, um,,, forgot his last name, he ran a fully rally prepped civic (i think he still does actually) & not a bad peddler i might add,,, however he was a bit pissed at me because he actually took the 0-1600 touring car class record one meeting i wasn`t there,,, :-) just before i did it the following meeting :-) i`ll remember his name soon & type it up here so i don`t embarrass my self even more :-)

BrisDubber,,, good to here we have some old skool Echo valley-ers here,,, I`m sure your old man will know me... i totall loved that place & even classified it as my "home track", i first ran there back in 1975-ish (i was 12 yrs old) my first ever "official Hillclimb & came third place outright with Tom poots taking first & my dad taking 2nd :-) what a dam good track hey? & then Muntain man of motocross there too,,, what an awsome venue & it`s such a shame to see the car tracks have all gone now :-(

sorry Matty Berry, i`m dribbling again :-) I remember taking Roddy Gray around that track (Anti-clockwise) one sat arvo before a sunday meeting :-) we officially called it "track packing" & i`m pretty sure he shit his pants :-) It`s a VERY VERY FAST TRACK in that direction :-) That place was actually designed By Stan Mosseter to be raced anti-clockwise & any of the older guys (Including people like Pete Brock, Allan Butcher, Neil Bates & the like, all concidered it one of the best short circuit dirt tracks they`ve ever driven on.... oh yeah--> Edit-->"Unless" you were first up after the water truck :-)

Ah dam i really do miss that place :-(

Ferris Lee it was

anyways,,, there`s another Autocross on at Willowbank this weekend,,, 16th of Nov... It`s a round of the interclub challenge,,, i`lll be running my duel cab combi & a friend (Stewy) will be running his sports sedan mini (his first run in it) It`s a 1600cc A series engine with an Alloy Arden crossflow cyl head running twin 45mm webers & a 6 speed dog box etc etc etc, if it holds together & if he can keep it on the track it should be good to watch if anyone is interested

I might even lunch a gearbox in the Kombi while i`m there :-) so that should be pretty impressive too yeah ??? :-)

Edit for date & to say that Stews Mini Sports sedan won`t be there now,,, the 6 speed dog box is playing up jamming the shifting mech,,,

so it`s just little ol` me going,,,

who has a video camera & wants to come & video the gearbox explosion for me ??? :-) :-) :-) I`ll pick you up & drop you off home if you`re not too far out of the way...

ha ha Beetlejuice,,, It`s funny you should mention that car,,, my dad remembers that car very very well indeed,,, He was good friends with my dad back then & they both fought eachother tooth & nail but his beetle was just too dam quick for my dads little mini,,, he often speaks about that car when ever a race beetle conversation brews, you can see & feel his pain everytime he speaks of those race meetings :-)

So who`s comming out to Willowbank to video my gearbox explosion this sunday then??? common , someone must want too???

i don`t have a video camera except for my Down Hill Mountain bike helmet cam,,, maybe i should mount that on the car somewhere yeah? :-) maybe under the back of it pointing it at the gearbox :-)

ha ha Beetlejuice,,, It`s funny you should mention that car,,, my dad remembers that car very very well indeed,,, He was good friends with my dad back then & they both fought eachother tooth & nail but his beetle was just too dam quick for my dads little mini,,, he often speaks about that car when ever a race beetle conversation brews, you can see & feel his pain everytime he speaks of those race meetings :-)

You must remember; Ubergang in the FC, DeGairo in the Monaro? My Step father Robert Rogers who was a salesman at Annand and Thompson selling VW's way back then,was also friends with Barry Mann.
Other rev headguys you might know Kev Rogers Hot FB Holden, Gurski with his hot red bug.....What chance did I have?

I reckon we may have crossed paths at some stage!

Craig

hee hee,,, you must be an old fart Beetlejuice,,, my dad knows all those guys,,, i was about 6 years old running around the pits half naked "pretending" i was racing back in those days,,, my first hillclimb at Echo valley was when i was 12 years old (1975) after which we did a whole heap of racing including the curcuit there, but those days you talked about, & that Era, was well before my racing days,,, My dad`s getting on in years now but remembers them fondly, just wish we had video recorders back then, i was there when Peter Brock raced against people like Allan Butcher & my dad & Earl manton & Barry Harrison, Peter Read, Authur Joeseph the like,,, ahhhh,,, wish it was still open to cars, that was the best track ever!!!! Your dad will remember the old "Authur Pk" race track yeah? nearly a mile long (or it seemed that long anyways) :-)

I'dd come out mate , but sorry i'll be at Fraser again for a wedding then carving up some sand on Sunday showing my bloody 4wd mates what a real beach toy performs like .

GO THE BAJA BUS'S

Ahhh Henry Honda,,, now there`s another blast from the past,,, Bris Sport Car Club member for years & years & what a genuinely lovely gentleman,,, We raced in "PLENTY" of motorkhanas over the years & he was allways a true gentleman, never had a bad word to say & was allways pushing for the younger kids to get involved in the sport,,, Ahhh,,, memories of the good ol` days just keep flooding back ,,, Dam minis & Vee-dubs have allways had a friendly rivalry & the Honda civics just kept pinching away at the side,,, all this goes back even further to the introduction of the Towds in Autocross meets when i was a real little kid,,, dam this web site forum,,, it always seems to remind me how old i am now :-( Sorry Beetlejuice,,, you`re probly not "That" old :-)

& Andrew,,, thanks for that,,, rub it in why don`t you :-) ya bugga :-)
But,,, ar,,, er,,, um,,, i hear there was a little tree that ran out in front of your Zombi last time you visited the beach yeah??? :-) Nasty trees are allways trying to run out in front of baja Busses hey? :-)

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKsdgtK0Co

cool, it's very top heavy isn't it.

nah,,,, not really Pete,,, just a tad ,,, it has that farken massive 3mm steel checker plate floor all along the bottom of the dam thing so it`s pretty well grounded,,, it weighs 1760kgs so it`s stuck to the road pretty dam good :-)

The motorkhana this weekend will let me know just how top heavy it really is :-)

Just wish i had time to get the handbrake working well :-(
too dam busy fixing bloody customers minis,,, dam customers always get in the way of progress :-) & i don`t know who made up such a rubbish statement as "The customers always right",,, cause they`re never bloody right.