The “pretty blue car” …
Story: Bob de Bont
The road trip north started on Saturday morning at 5.30am, with breakfast in Echuca before heading on to Deniliquin for scrutineering by 9am.
As has become the standard, the Sunday motorkhana was preceded by an autocross. This time it was a round of the Deniliquin Autocross Series resulting in a larger field and more local drivers on their home track.
With only one MX-5 entered in the autocross, a number of comments about the pretty blue car were endured … however these were quickly dispelled once the times were posted; Bob achieving an excellent 12th outright and second in class against a number of specialist vehicles.
After a fun day it was off to the motel for a quick shower and dinner at the RSL.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny, so we dressed appropriately in shorts and tee shirt and prepared for the day with plenty of water and sunscreen.
With a total of 32 competitors for the round, Bob was joined by Mark Szutta (Red NB8A), his son Alex and Tony. In all there were three MX-5s representing six of the seven entries in Class B. Unfortunately only one nominated to represent our Club.
The surface was dry and dusty, but provided good, consistent traction throughout the day. The dust added another dimension to planning the test as it required some management to avoid covering other flags in dust and ruining fast times.
In all we ran seven tests over the day and Bob emerged from the dust with a very creditable seventh outright, first on handicap and first in Class. Mark earned a fourth in class and Alex a first in Juniors.
The Club Championship took a bit of a hit this round, dropping us to fourth overall.
