Category Archives: Motorsport

Geocaching, Holidays, Motorsport, QOGM 2018

Coat of Arms time …

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It was a Australian Coat of Arms type of day with plenty of kangaroos and emus along the way with the living out numbering the roadkill for a change.
 
An easy day travelling from Cunnamulla to Charleville. It only seems like I was only here 2 months ago.  Great weather again with clear skies and 30C, so it was definitely a shorts, t-shirt and thongs day.
 
With only a 200 kilometre journey, I made it to the Cobb & Co Caravan Park around lunchtime. This was planned as I had some work to do on plans for the Adelaide Rally as well as doing some provision shopping.
 
Diesel @ Charleville $1.579
Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018

Final Race Day at the Valley …

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Third day in a row to see the sun rise at the Hidden Valley Raceway and the final day for this years Supercar event.
 
Surely the drivers have worked out the track and it will be a quiet day but no one told the Porsche’s.
 
In their first race, they only managed 1 race lap in a 18 lap race due to crashes and cleanups. We even had 2 crashes on the start line with one in the restart after the 1st start crash.
 
They did behave themselves for their last race of the day and managed to do the full 35 laps without incident.
 
The final race for the Supercars became interesting in the last 10 laps with debris on the main straight causing a safety car bringing the field together for a 5 lap sprint to the end. Erebus Racing with David Reynolds took the win.
 
To finish up the weekend, we had a total of 11 medical interventions with the medical crew working well as a team. I would be happy to work with them again next year.
 
A BBQ for the officials and the 2018 Darwin Supercars has come to a conclusion for another year.
 
Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018

Race Day 2 at the Valley …

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Another break of dawn start to the day at the Hidden Valley Raceway. 
 
Today we start to get serious with races in all categories including the big race for the day being the Supercars.
 
As usual the Porsche’s didn’t let us down with plenty of crashes but they managed to miss going off at turn 10.
 
The intervention count for today was four, now up to 6 for the weekend, 6 more than last year.
 
The whole medical team worked well and is was pleasing to be part of it.
 
To finish the day off today, we head to Stokes Hill Wharf for a meal and this year was no different.
 
I had some barramundi which tasted great and was plentiful, however the plate of oysters was disappointing.
 
Tomorrow is the final day of the Supercar races.
 
Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018

Race Day at the Valley …

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An early start this morning, getting the the Hidden Valley Raceway on day break. After sign on and the morning briefing, it was time to meet the new Chief Medical Officer, Di.
 
Once again I am running the Medical Channel in Race Control. Getting to know Di, you could tell we would get on and there were changes made from last year to integrate the two medical teams.
 
The first big change was that both teams met at 0630 each morning for breakfast. Another change was an integrated crew in each of the Intervention vehicles.
 
There was even a job before the racing started with a pit crew having chest pains. This year looks to be a bit busier than last year.
 
Last year there was no medical calls on or off track so it was already a lot busier.
 
Today was all practice and qualifying but the Porsche’s kept us a little busy with many going off at turn 10 and hitting the tyre wall. Two of these incidents required medical intervention.
 
Meeting rides finished off the day at the track and many of us headed into town to Parliament House for the annual Chief Ministers show.
 
There was a big crowd tonight but it soon cleared after the speeches, leaving plenty of food and drink for those that were left.
 
As usual, the firies were the last to leave but it still wasn’t that late. After all we still have racing tomorrow.
 
Geocaching, Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018

Mingle at Mindil again …

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An easy day today with no need for me to be at the track until later this afternoon for a Seniors Meeting. 
 
This left me time to do some maintenance on my Darwin geocaches, which showed signs of weathering or disappeared altogether after the cyclone back in March.
 
Down to the Hidden Valley Raceway to check out Race Control and all looked in order for tomorrow then up to the Seniors Meeting.
 
It was a quick one with me wasting no time to get down to Mindil Beach to catch up with 3 different groups.
 
I had missed the sunset but was sent plenty of photos  from my mates that were down there.
 
After catching up with the first 2 groups, Race Firies and the Blackwood Mob, it was time for my annual Geocaching Event, “Mingle at Mindil“.
 
I have held this event for the last 5 years and it is always interesting where the attendees come from. This years saw no locals attending but we had cachers from Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
 
There was still time to get something to eat at the Markets including a tropical smoothee.
 
Another good night out, tomorrow it is race time.
 
Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018

Sunset at the Ski Club …

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It was a travel day to Darwin but not after having one last soak in the thermal pool. I packed up the van and soaked for an hour before hitting the road.
 
No holdups except for the occasional roadworks and was at the gate of the Discovery Caravan Park just after 1400.
 
You almost didn’t recognise the place as most of the trees were missing after the cyclone back in March.
 
Even though my site was on Shady Lane, there wasn’t much change left.
 
Tonight was the Officials BBQ at the Ski Club for the Darwin Supercars Race.
 
It was a good night for it, with temps in the mid 20’s, the beers cold, the BBQ hot and a great sunset to set it off.
 
With the Supercars Truck Parade on tonight rather than tomorrow, saw a lot of the officials disappear into the city to watch that.
 
That left the firies to drink the tab dry – challenge accepted and achieved.
 
Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018

That’s a lot of bikes and cars …

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Today was a bit if a rest and repair day. After a sleep in it was time to grab bits from Bunnings and Super Cheap Autos to fix a few things on the car and van after the trek up the Oodnadatta Track. 
 
Nothing major, just a few things including missing bolts and some electrical repairs.
 
With all the activity in town for the Finke Desert Race, I thought I should check out the Scrutiny night to see what the fuss was all about. After all, isn’t it just a little motorbike race in the centre of Australia.
 
How wrong I was. It took forever to get out to the start line with a huge line from half way out from town and moving at walking pace.
 
There were thousands out there, all to come and see the 600+ bikes and 100+ cars / buggies up close and the chance to get to see their favourite competitor.
 
I was suitably impressed by the organisation, talking with some of the officials, teams and competitors.
 
The only detractor for the night was the dust being thrown up by the car and people traffic. Not sure that could be fixed.
 
It was back to the van to wash out the dust. Tomorrow I will start the big haul up to Darwin.
 
Diesel in Alice Springs was $1.579 after a discount.
 
Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018, Rally

That’s it for this years Heartland Rally …

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Another cold start to the morning with ice on the car again.
 
There were a few withdrawals from yesterday but most Rally Cars started Day 2.
 
Today was not going to be a quiet day with 2 of the Advance cars breaking down and me having to fill in as 0A for one of the wind farm stages. It is not often you see a Holden Colorado with a BBQ on the roof be the lead car of a Rally.
 
I had just cleared the Wind Farm stage, when there was a rollover with injuries at one of the other stages. This was going to fill in most of the day.
 
It was not serious injuries that were the issue but due to them being spine related, the ambulance crew were not willing to cause further injury transporting out on the rough roads.
 
A Rescue Helicopter was dispatched from Adelaide, with part of my duties being air traffic controller assisting with the landing. 
 
The rest of the Rally was uneventful and following the podium presentations, it was off to the Burra Hotel for yet another BBQ.
 
Tomorrow I start my trek up to Darwin and since there has been no rain on the Oodnadatta Track, it looks like I will be headed that way.
4WDing, Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018, Rally

Lets go Rallying …

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First day for the Rally of the Heartland and wow was it cold. It must have gone below zero overnight as there was ice on the car. It was still only 1C when we got going at 0730.
 
The town was abuzz with the sounds of Rally cars and there first ones were away at 0800.
 
Provided all the cars behaved today, my Emergency Crews would have a quiet time and enjoy watching the cars perform.
All went well today with a couple of minor incidents but nothing that required attendance of the crews.
 
The BBQ Tea went off well but most of the crew were still full from the BBQ lunch they all attended at one of the Wind Farm stages 3 hours previous.
 
We finished off the night by standing by at one of the most remote locations of the rally for the night stages.
 
We set ourselves up with a campfire and watched the first run, occasionally getting covered in dust.
 
It was the dust that became the downfall as the second run was cancelled due to the dust not clearing between cars making visibility a safety issue.
4WDing, Geocaching, Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018, Rally

Looks like there is a Rally in town …

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There was no wondering if there was a Rally in town this weekend with the burble of Rally cars driving the street at the edge of the Caravan Park.
 
First thing on the agenda was a Geocaching Breakfast at the local cafe and given that we were a couple of hours away from Adelaide, it was a good turn out with 14 attending, the furthest from Mildura.
 
There was time to wander around town to pick up supplies for tomorrows BBQ I was putting together for the Emergency crews then it was reconnaissance time with the Emergency crews that were already here.
 
Even though I did all the paperwork for last years event, I never attended the Rally due to it clashing with the Darwin V8’s. This year was the first chance to check out the roads being used as our Stages rather than just lines on a map.
 
Some of the roads were familiar to me as I used to work at Burra 33 years ago as a Stock Agent for Elders Pastoral, however there were new roads on the ridges where the wind farms are located. These wind farms were not here when I was here in my former life. 
 
Back into town for another pub meal, this time at the Commercial Hotel with the Emergency Crews.