Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6

[-alex]

Go rallying, less bullshit, more drinking!

Oh so true, Targa Bar went off on Sunday night.

[little decks]

Pretty surprised by all this.
I've been to a couple of the Vic club days with my Dad as he has been running in Steven Cook's car and it seemed like a much friendlier environment then this shows.

I watched the in car videos that you have posted in the thread and you drive really quite well... after watching them its not surprise that you could manage quite a good time.

You would have to be pretty confident that you can still do at least close to the same time after your car is legal... In motorsport thats usually the best response. I remember a similar situation in Karts when i was 8 years old... it was a club level meeting and i won all 3 heats, so one of the fathers of another kid protested the length of my exhaust pipe, it turned out it was 13mm too long (the manual didnt specify the point it was to be measured from) i was DQed from the heats and had to start the final from the back.... so we made the exhaust well and truly legal and as there was only 15 karts in the field i took the lead on the last carner of the 2nd lap and won the race by a quarter of a lap, i was that dríven by emotion... needless to say they regretted protesting, no one was beating me in that final after that happened

That was one of the most satisfied feelings i have ever felt.... good luck with it mate

[fattima]

One point that has not been raised Ben, and that is..........
Why haven't the scutineers picked up the problems with your car at the start of each and every event you have entered? Are they doing their job properley? Are they competently trained to know what they are looking for? Makes you wonder!

Scrutineers at the club events are there to make sure cars meet safety requirements and are safe to go on the track. I doubt the majority of scrutineers at AROCA events would know the MX5 club classes and have no need to.

[bensale]

Okay, thought I would do a final little wrap up post after having left this thread alone for a while so it could settle down a bit...

In summation and as I have said a few times already I accept the disqualification and that my car was illegal... I do still question the way my fellow club members went about protesting me and the need to dyno the car... I do feel that some of what has happened isn't really in the spirit of club motor sport and that there is a better way that all of this could have all happened... That being said I will certainly continue running with the MX-5 club in there events with AROCA as the way they are run is amazing to say the least. I believe they are the best club level Motorsport events in the country.

Rob Downes and the other people involved in this process did what they were required to do under the rules of the club in light of the protests. At the end of the day I don't have any issue with the way they went about what happened as they were at all stages open and transparent with me in letting me know what was happening, as was I.

I hope that from this comes some stability in the rules and an understanding within the club that from now we will impose the same scrutiny that my car was subjected to in this process to all club competitors... One of the main issues I see is that while I was excluded for 3 minor infringements people running cars which also quite likely infringe the rules are overlooked... That I was excluded and others are allowed to continue in the same specification until the end of the season for me is not an ideal solution or 100% right.

One point I would like to reiterate in response to the comments about my integrity and honesty is that all modifications I have ever made to my car have been posted in this thread for everyone to look at... I also pointed out modifications that would not have been found when the car was inspected. I am amazed that in total 3 nameless users have joined forums to discuss the topics, two of them (one here and one on AROCA) just to attack my integrity from a faceless username. I would love to post my copy of what was said on the AROCA forum but I think it's best to leave it... It was moderated from there forum for a good reason...

I would like to thank everyone who gave there support to me either here and in person, and also everyone who joined in the discussion. I think some interesting things have been said and there is a bit to think about... I guess it was good to see a bit of life in this forum too..!

You would have to be pretty confident that you can still do at least close to the same time after your car is legal... In motorsport thats usually the best response. I remember a similar situation in Karts when i was 8 years old... it was a club level meeting and i won all 3 heats, so one of the fathers of another kid protested the length of my exhaust pipe, it turned out it was 13mm too long (the manual didnt specify the point it was to be measured from) i was DQed from the heats and had to start the final from the back.... so we made the exhaust well and truly legal and as there was only 15 karts in the field i took the lead on the last carner of the 2nd lap and won the race by a quarter of a lap, i was that dríven by emotion... needless to say they regretted protesting, no one was beating me in that final after that happened

Great story, really awesome ending that one =) I guess the plan is to go out and try to do similar. When i go the update on the Targa Tas adventure when I get the chance you'll see that I need to follow up a few issues with the car before hand... But at least i have until June 12th...

Thanks again, Ben

[lee]

Now that that little saga is over, can we go back to admiring the work you've put into your car?

[RedMX]

Now that that little saga is over, can we go back to admiring the work you've put into your car?

Agreed

[bensale]

Now that that little saga is over, can we go back to admiring the work you've put into your car?

Agreed

Thanks guys =)

Sure, the car has done 2700km in the last week or so around Tasmania and then down GOR... There are a few small issues with the car after that which I will need to fix as well as getting the car dyno'd and another diff change which I will try and document the process of with photos a little more thoroughly incase anyone wants to change one in the future... It drove through some pretty epic flooding in Tasmania and suffered a bit of paint damage as a result... Not sure if I can get insurance onside to cover it.. If not I'm thinking I may have a go at re spraying the front of the car myself in the next couple of months... Will write up some of the adventures in Tasmania tomorrow!

[emexv]

Awsome stuff Ben. I've seen some of your photos. Look forward to the write up and having a chat about the trip. Has got me itching to head over to the island myself.

[lee]

Are you sure a paint job isn't going to constitute a performance increase?

Sorry, couldn't help myself

[RedMX]

Are you sure a paint job isn't going to constitute a performance increase?

Sorry, couldn't help myself

He needs to paint is Classic Red, because we all know Red Na's go fast

[gobsmax]

^ agreed

[CheyneX5]

Painting the car red, the only way to break the 2min barrier at Philip Island!

[91 Malibu]

Are you sure a paint job isn't going to constitute a performance increase?

Sorry, couldn't help myself

I get the feeling you will cop a bit of this now when ever you do anything to your car

[bensale]

Lol! I guess I do have to expect that..! Perhaps missing paint could constitute a weight saving..? I spoke to Allianz (my insurance company) today, should have a better idea if I can claim the damage or not tomorrow. You say red goes faster hey..? =P I'm also getting the car dyno'd on May the 2nd, Gerald from Mammi Motors in Sommerville kindly offering the use of his dyno =) Thanks mate..!

So, Targa Tasmania..! I traveled over on the boat with the car on the Friday night, a word of advice for anyone who is going on that boat... Book a cabin..! The 'ocean view recliner' I got was pretty horrible and not conducive to anything which could be regarded as sleep...

April 9th...

I got off the boat and set off adventuring! I took my first random turn off the main road and basically straight away stumbled onto a great road... It seems that Tasmanians are incapable of building a road without corners! It was amazing, 15 minutes away from the boat and I was driving on a road us 'mainlanders' would happily drive hours to reach. As I would find out in the coming days though these roads were really nothing compared to what some of the rest of the state has to offer... The car felt lovely on the roads, it was the first time I've dríven it on an interesting road as opposed to the track with the Z1 star specs fitted and it was a lot of fun..!



I headed via some awesome roads to watch my first Targa Stage, Gunns Plains. I managed to find a spot where I wasn't stuck and was able to watch the field as well as get back to Ulverstone to see the cars at lunch. Targa is a pretty interesting spectator sport... You sit waiting for ages for something to happen... I think I spent about an hour and half waiting with around 40 locals on the outside of the corner I went to... Then it started and from then on was a rapid fire showcase of some amazing cars... Highlights were seeing Victorian MX-5 club and forum members Chris and Owen Boak in there Citroen Xsara Kit Car replica and of course Alex Hailstone co-driving the MX-5 racing NC. It's a given that I took my camera with me, here are a few of the 1000+ photos I took over the two days I watched Targa.




There were also a fair few other MX-5's competing and the Peugeot 306 maxi was a personal favourite of mine..!





From there it was off to the lunch stop in Ulverstone, another good chance to have a look at some of the cars and say hi to everyone. My grandparents used to live in Ulverstone so I also briefly visited their old neighbours. I then chased the field across to Strahan, although I had to divert around the Targa roads and find alternative routes... My ability to do this was greatly helped by the local police who were blocking off the Targa roads... Although as it transpires they owed me anyway as I will be contributing to there coffers thanks to the two speeding fines I got in the mail from this day for speeding offences... 118 in a 110 zone... A little annoying...

It started raining this afternoon making some of the driving interesting, although you have to feel for the competitors who had to deal with the weather running tyres which wouldn't have been new... At least with it raining I didn't feel quite as bad having to have the hardtop on due to me not having a functioning soft top at the moment... The car also ticked over to 260,000 kms and I stopped to take this photo of the car in a pretty interesting location.



I managed to get to Strahan before the cars and waited around for a bit, it's a lovely town..! Once Alex arrived we went to our hotel and to my astonishment in the foyer I spotted a true legend of rally, Walter Röhrl... Can't complain when you're staying at the same hotel as a two time world rally champion..! It was funny driving around the town in the MX-5, to my astonishment it actually turned a lot of heads, I had a policeman try and direct me onto a Targa stage despite me making it quite clear that wasn't where I was heading and the interview person tried to wave me in for an interview no less than 4 times..! Quite funny!

Anyway, thats enough for today, the next day was about 100x more epic..!

[bensale]

April 10th...

Today was the last day of the rally, Strahan to Hobart over some epic roads..! It was an early start, I had to leave the hotel at about 6am in order to cover the first four Targa stages before the roads were closed. My first problem was that the Petrol station in Strahan was closed... As were the two in Queenstown... I thought I would have just enough to get to the petrol station between the Mt Arrowsmith and Tarraleah stages and continued driving.

The weather was a bit wet... Disappointing as the roads were epic..! The 99 bends out of Queenstown in particular were amazing, the drop off huge and the views phenomenal! It was still a lot of fun driving that road and the Strahan stage as well which was still a lot of fun to drive..! Again the car felt great to drive on these roads and the Dunlop's offered more than enough grip despite the slippery conditions.





It was about halfway through Mt Arrowsmith that I realised how dire my fuel situation was and went into ultra fuel saving mode... I calculated that if I averaged 8L per 100km which is normal for me I would make it with a bit to spare... As it was I managed 8.2L per 100km and ran out of fuel exactly 1km before the petrol station coasting to a stop below.



Luckily one of the service crew cars pulled over and gave me a lift the the petrol station, lent me a jerrycan and then drove me back up to my car! Such amazing generosity and I am very, very grateful as it would have been a muddy walk to get down to the servo... Due to the delay it meant that I couldn't get through the Tarraleah stage before it was closed. A couple of the guys from a variety of service crews recommend cutting through the stage via a dodgy dirt road... It worked quite well actually =)




I was able to get to the end of the stage and a local policeman advised me of a route which would get me into a spectator point on the stage... There weren't many people there but those who were were really interesting to talk to. First was the service crew for the Tesla's running at Targa, it was pretty interesting talking to those guys about such a fascinating car and how they were running them through the event. Also there was the former Tasmanian contributor to Auto Action magazine who had some fun stories...

Best of all was after about half an hour none other than Mazda Australia's Motor Sport head Alan Horsley turned up there to watch some of the rally... We spent about an hour talking about everything from the Bathurst RX-7's, the MX-5 SP through to the current Targa cars they are running, the RX-8 SP's and the showroom class 3 MPS. Interesting guy and I gained a lot of respect for him based on him actually taking the time to stand around talking to me for so long! That being said the stickers he promised me are yet to turn up... =P

Anyway this spot also turned out to be a great point for photos, the cars flying up a long straight then slowing for a 3 left... I am very happy with some of the shots I got.

Alex and Andrew, by now 3rd in class..!


Chris and Owen


And some assorted shots





Once all the cars went through here it was a matter of making my way back to Hobart. It was an interesting drive with some nice scenery. One of the highlights was catching up to and overtaking the White's Lamborghini... I guess not many people could say they've done that..! Best not be mention that it was on a touring stage, they were doing 10km under the speed limit and they waved me through though...



It was fun trailing the field along these roads, again my car was mistaken for a targa car by some people... Having children wave at you and cheer as you drive by it quite an interesting thing! It's great to see how much the whole state gets into the spirit of the rally... Really makes you think about where the people who complained about the rally "scaring the goats" and blocking access to their farms for all of a few hours on the Murcury newspaper's website come from...

So back to Hobart at the Wrest Point casino for the finish..! Alex finished third in the showroom class so there was much celebration and the obligatory spraying of champagne on the podium =) Looked like so much fun..! Had an interesting realisation though... Victory tastes terrible... Or at least the champagne they were spraying did... =P The rest of the night was great, off to 'Targa Bar' as mentioned earlier in my thread =P It was fun, Alex introduced me to a heap of cool people and I went up and introduced myself and then Alex to Tony Quinn (rally winner) and Brendan Reeves (4th outright in the 3 MPS and racing in the WRC academy this year) and chatted for a while with both. Great end to a great day..!