SUBARU BRUMA - THE BRONKHORSTSPRUIT AFFAIR
author: Leon Botha
On Saturday 5th June no less than 43 teams will compete for the top honours in various classes during the 2010 Subaru Bruma Rally.
I am supposed to add "Belfast" in the name but it feels like saying I live in Johannesburg Pretoria?
When we eventually could go into the stages to finalise the Route Notes, there were still some stretches with long grass that will hopefully be cut before the event.
This of course made it very difficult to do proper notes as we had to guess where the road would be in more than one place - which in turn makes a difficult job scary and to crown it all and in many cases when I do open my mouth and say something about this type of thing, I tend to add a few more names to the list of enemies?
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It is expensive without any help from outside!
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Rallying is an expensive sport?
Yes!
But, it need not be made more expensive because we choose routes wherever it is 'convenient' to find them.
Most of us know that it is difficult to find useable stages - please don't get me wrong - I am not saying that Saturday's stages are not useable, they can and will be great if the grass is not too long and drivers can at least see what they are going to hit or rather miss and if their cars do not blow engines because of blocked radiators.
All I am saying is that the signs are there that the sport will be growing again, so lets keep that up by doing our utmost to make it enjoyable.
We need to realise that no matter what a rally car cost, whether it is R3.5m or R10K - it is the best the owner is willing to do for the sport and it is his or her right to have a reasonable chance to get to the end of the event.
I often wonder what some people think happens when you go out there to do the Route Notes? One mishap on the Route Note vehicle and "puffffff..." goes the money dragon! That is probably the aim of some -" please God let no one by accident make a cent out of the sport - please make us all suffer!"
So lets hold thumbs that the grass will be cut before Saturday and that we will have a great event?
Stage One will be repeated as Stage 4 and is 7.94km long. It will serve as a wake up call to most, as you will immediately get a combination of what can be expected for the rest of the day.
Then you will tackle Stage 2 which is repeated as 5 and that is 9.03kms long. On this stage teams will get the opportunity to 'fine tune' the notes a bit more to their liking and then use the car/driver related calls on their second run.
I often get younger competitors asking me about the "art of fine tuning the notes" and how to do it?
You may think it is funny, but the most important thing before you make any change to the Notes to suit your driving style and car setup, is to be sure that you are actually at the right place on the Notes.
I have heard of a bit of an "off" because a certain crew 'disagreed' with one call - changed it and pranged on the second run because they were actually one corner out!
The idea is to either add on information on the first run that will help you on the second run or even for the next time you do the rally or the specific stage again or to take some information you do not need, out. This obviously on condition that the stage stays the same - which unfortunately does not happen often. Few people do consider the fact that a second run over the same stage will differ substantially from the first one, if the conditions are not perfect. Perfect nmeaning - solid road, no rain, no mud and water, no grass etc.
If you feel that a corner is too slow according to the call - do not simply change a 5 to a 3 - rather add a "+" or a "-" to indicate a quicker corner or a slower one if need be. Your call will then next time be "Right 5 minus" or "plus" as the case may be or you can even call it 'easy' or 'fast' or 'slow'. Just make sure that both mean the same thing - in other words if a plus means faster or tighter!
If you take the wrong line into the corner - add an instruction 'go wide' or "cut more" or if you were too slow (please let that be the case at first) over a jump or other hazard, then add "easy" or take away a danger rating etc.
If you took a "one" rated call out because you ignore them and you by accident (if you will pardon the pun) took out a 'marker' that was supposed to slow you down for the next instruction or could have served as a 'braking point' - simply admit the error of your ways, repent and put it back in place. They are mostly there for a purpose and not simply for shine!
Always remember that I do not try to make you the slowest driver in the world, the idea is to get you to the finish as fast and safely as possible.
Due to the amount of Route Noting I have to do per year, it is unfortunately not possible to "test" every call as the car will never last (not that it does anyway) and the landlords will probably shoot us - but I do have more than one year's experience behind the wheel of a number of rather potent rally cars and I did win at least two small cups in my life - and I am fortunate to be able to drive rally cars more now, than when I participated in the sport - which may be the reason why I got the job?
What I am trying to say is that it will pay you to rather trust my calls, drive within your ability, take the necessary care and get to the end in one piece. I prefer you swearing at me for "costing" you a second or even two than you walk around trying to convince the world that, "that 6 was actually a 7" and that caused the accident. Don't tell them that you actually did not approach the corner on the right line, which changed an 'easy 5' into a 'difficult 8', or that you were still in the air when you overtook the corner, or that the problem occured due to the fact that you ignored the "!Jump" before it or that your navigator was looking for the pen under your feet that irritated you a bit!
Stage 3 is repeated as Stage 6 and as the longest of the lot it will keep you occupied for a while. It is 23.32kms long and holds some long straights, but also long sandy sections that will frustrate the hell out of you and your team mate.
In one or two places I actually though the Outback cut out or something - only to be jerked out of the daze when I managed to steer it into traction again. "Nice, straight and easy" is the answer or 300kw on the wheels will also do the trick!
There are a few tricky spots on the event and almost everyone of them has to do with water.
So, where I warn you about water or mud and water - take the necessary care. Do not hit the water over the dam wall, flat out - you may just aquaplane and land where you did not intend to, and another aspect is that the wall is so narrow that you will probably block the road for everyone else if you get undone!
Some competitors who will try to pass you will probably take a bit of your car's bodywork with when they have a helmet on their heads - so better safe than sorry?
We will do a final run over the stages either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning early and hand you the Route Notes with the final changes from 07h30 onwards on Saturday morning.
Final changes will depend on how well we get through the stages. Please make sure that you are registered on the SMS system in order to receive any important information regarding changes even after your first run through!
If you still have not booked your notes or registered for the SMS service, please phone Alanie Botha on 082 562 8289 or send an urgent email to
alanie@rallystar.co.zaalanie@rallystar.co.za>to try and organise a set.
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