As spring gave way to summer nature turned up the thermostat in a hurry. What were lush green crops during winter quickly turned a golden brown. It wasn’t long before large machines appeared in paddocks and quiet roads became busy with trucks scuttling to grain terminals. Harvest had begun. The farmers would soon know if the many hours and thousands of dollars invested would yield a dividend.
Harvest and the start of summer has a different significance for us. This is the time of year when rallying winds up, well at least on the track anyway. Warm temperatures are not the best time to be in a rally car. Sure inside the car can be hot, however its outside that’s more of a concern. Harvest brings “itchy trigger fingers” for shires and government departments. At a moment’s notice a total vehicle movement ban could be imposed. Fire is a big concern and rightly so.
The same is true if you’re in a forest area. A hot exhaust or spark could easily set the bush ablaze. Given how catastrophic bush fires can be, it’s not worth the risk. Not a situation you want when running a rally driving experience or motorsport event. So from sometime in December until early March rallying is on hiatus.
Looking Back over 2017
The summer break is the time to get rally cars ready to go for next season and look back over the year that’s been. During the year we shoot a tonne of video and take hundreds of photos. Often we’ve been so busy during the year we haven’t had time to reflect. Now is the time to have a look back at the big picture.
This year we held 17 rally driving experience weekends. We are very grateful for the superb weather we had on every single one of those days. We’re also very thankful and humbled by the large number of international visitors we had. Many flew to Perth specifically to do our rally driving experiences. Of course not forgetting WA locals we had many participants from all different walks of life.
Scout Motorsport
In May and August we ran Ventkhana and RallyVent respectively. Annual events for Venturer Scouts, everyone had a lot of fun putting on these motorsport weekends. The kids learnt a lot about cars and driving and had a great time racing.
Gravel Action Sprints
The biggest change for us during 2017 was the introduction our Gravel Action Sprints. Performance Racegear came on board sponsoring the first event. Comprising of five rounds, the rally sprints were all run on a new purpose built stage. Initially we started with around 5km of roads. By round four we’d managed to increase that to 8.5km. It allowed competitive distances of more than 26km. Three of the rally sprints were run during the daylight with the other two running in the dark.
2017 WA Rally Championship
This year we had a very up and down rally season. We entered all seven rounds of the WA state rally championship with as many as seven cars at some events. We didn’t have the best start to the season when in the first two rallies two cars had been written off and another two had been rolled. The season improved from that point on and we had better luck later in the season. The great news was an outright win for the team on the last rally of the year.
The People
The most amazing thing about 2017 was the people. Without our team, we wouldn’t have anything. From the competitors to our instructors, officials and service crew, we owe all of you a huge debt of gratitude. Early mornings, late nights, dust, mud, rain, hail or shine, you’ve been there. We’ve had a lot of laughs and the team work and our “rally family” has made it all worthwhile!
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