Engel Winch Challenge Round 1

What an action packed weekend...

4 major rollovers (2 on Vic All Terrain stages), broken diffs, axles, CV's, very few panels survived unscathed. Major recoveries taking up to 3 hours, removing broken vehicles from stages.

If you have any ideas or comments regarding the event please forward them to me so I can pass them to the CCDA.

The stages were some of the hardest ever. The dust was choking, the sun hot and the wind, well enough said (we had everything except rain).

Special Thanks to: Julie, Rob, Kim, Darren, Rob, Adrian, Norm, Cameron, Scott & Katrina.

Thanks also to Cindy and Tory who helped out on Monday with the Start / Finish Line, Al Moysey who assisted with recovery, Alan Cuthill from Ontrack, Leon & Sandi Burns from Yarra Valley who helped as Track Marshals.

Well done to Jason in his new role.

Congratulations go to the Winners of the Event.

 Andrew Norman

ENGEL ROUND 1 YEA

 This event was another great outing for the club with lots of club members attending as competitors, officials, photographers and spectators. There was no real meeting point but by the time I arrived at Yea most of us had grouped together and when we arrived a central VATC Camp was set up where most members stayed and lots of after hours laughs were had.

 The weekend was packed with some exciting courses were teams were pushed to their limits providing some interesting viewing and as the club ran stages all weekend I’m sure some great action was seen by all.

 The presentations were held on site on the Monday arvo and then we were all free to leave, but not before one more stop to pick up the “not so happy” 80 Series that Adam was having issues with. Before too long it was hooked up “A-Frame” style behind Andrews 80 and we were on our way home.

 It was a great weekend for the club with everybody pitching in in some way!

 We should all be proud!
Jason Jones   

Round One of the Engel 4WD Challenge Series has been run & done at Yea, Victoria on the 9th – 11th of March. A great success, this challenge brought with it some extreme stages that varied from the fast and dusty up & down slopes to steep rocky inclines, challenging, slow going off camber tracks and some exciting hill climbs. Spectator viewing of the stages on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday were second to none with each day’s stages starting just metres from each other. Those who attended as spectators got what they came for with plenty of action, fast cars, lots of extreme winching and some incredible driver performance.

The Vic All Terrain 4WD Club had heaps of its members attending this challenge, either competing, marshalling, spectating or working (Media). The camping ground was huge, lucky as the VATC seemed to take up more space than any other site!!! With our caravans, camper trailers, swags & some sleeping in their cars, there was heaps of socialising going on in our camping area and it was great to get know our newer members and mix with those we haven’t had the pleasure of mixing with in ages. (Danni & Rob, it was great to catch up!)

The Friday night started off well with the evenings stages starting at approx 9pm. Three stages were tackled on the evening & the VATC got a chance to spectate as we were not marshalling on this evening. The tracks were fast, dusty, steep and challenging with carnage happening to some on the very fast tracks. The diggers were brought in to rescue one competitor who broke his front diff and needed assistance back to camp. The teams competing from the VATC did really well on the Friday night with some great times achieved. Friday night was fairly quite around the campsite with most heading to bed shortly after the evenings competing.

Saturday morning brought with it a yummy cooked breakfast before heading into the main street of Yea for the town parade. All of the competition cars attended the parade and the days debriefing was held in town. Locals came out to see the cars and check out what everyone was talking about! The main street was awash with 4WD’s whilst we all had a chance to refuel the cars and ourselves (gotta love cappuccinos) before heading back to the property to start the day’s action at around 11am.

Saturday brought with it 3 stages. The first was a steep hill climb which most cars struggled to get traction on the dusty surface and so brought with it a quick winch for most. Congratulations to John & Joe for coming 3rd on this stage. Another stage was a fast track up around rocks and trees but was cancelled due to long recovery times of vehicles. The last stage on the Saturday was marshalled by the VATC and was the highlight stage of the day. This track was a fast start through trees and a gully before attempting the steep rock incline. Nearly all vehicles winched this stage with ground anchors being utilised. The track was steep and nasty with the top of the stage having a dangerous off camber u turn. John & Joe did really well in this stage coming 5th whilst Adam & Shane ran into some trouble when the vehicles sump oil ran into the engine on the steep rocks which led to the accelerator being locked on. A scary feeling (for them or for me?) before the car was deliberately stalled and a winch recovery was made. They completed the stage (in 13th position – well done guys) but found that some pretty serious damage had been done so they returned to camp for some repairs in the make shift garage to avoid the dust. The day concluded by 4pm before most headed off to the river for a quick dip before dinner and others took the opportunity for a catnap.

Saturday night’s dinner was followed by a slideshow provided by Holeshot Images in the camping area. This brought heaps of the campers up to our area where we all mingled and talked and plenty of fun was had! A late night was had but so too was heaps of fun.

Sunday morning brought with it some hectic repairs as the competitors worked on their cars to get them ready to go. The stages for Sunday were fast and rocky and the co-drivers were getting a good work out for the weekend.

The first stage on this day was a fast course with no winching needed. Another stage was a repeat of the first, only in reverse. Another stage was a fast take off into a deep river bed (no water) before heading through the trees and up to an incredibly steep rock incline of about 10 metres. This was a massive stage that proved very difficult and the co-drivers really got a work out. So too did those spectating as the hills were steep and rocky and to get a good view it was a steep climb to the top. (I didn’t do so well viewing this stage and Cam was called {screamed at???} to rescue me! Thanks Cam, and no, heights are not really my thing!) This was the VATC’s stage of the day and the marshals were kept busy as competitors attempted, in a most spectacular fashion, to navigate their way around the track / rocks. John & Joe did really well on this stage and John most definitely needs to be congratulated on his attempts to complete the stage. After his vehicle broke he managed to race down the steep incline, grab his crew’s car, drive back to camp, get the parts needed, drive back to the stages, race up the hill and had almost completed fixing the car before reaching the DNF time. An awesome attempt John… if only there were just a few minutes more!
Two other stages were held on the Sunday, both of which were fast tracks that needed little winching but were pretty serious off camber tracks that gave the co-drivers navigational skills a good work out.

Sunday night’s camping area brought with it more of a slide show with the day’s highlights, a hot roast dinner and early bed time after most had again visited the river to cool off.

Monday morning was an early start with three stages being held in the quarry gully. The VATC marshalled the first two stages which started and raced side by side, giving spectators some fantastic viewing. Thrown into the deep end after having completed out recent marshal training, Cindy & I worked the start / finish along side our more experienced marshals and had a blast! The tracks were fast and winching was required as the ground anchors got a good work out. So too did the vehicles, with some making it onto their sides and roofs.

The third stage of the day was to be a long, up hill stage that required a lot of winching using ground anchors and had some pretty serious off camber areas. After the first vehicle’s long recovery time and the second vehicle to take off rolled 5 times (no body hurt although sure to be some panel damage), the stage was cancelled and we all returned to camp to pack up and gather ready for the weekends presentation. Nathan Berry & Dane Berry won the Trophy Class whilst Peter Mihaloff & Shiloh Hoel took out the Challenge Class first place and overall position. They should be congratulated on their efforts as the weekend was a completely thrilling, hard, challenging event.

After presentation, we finally loaded the cars and headed off into Yea where a short break was had as we loaded Adam’s car ready to be towed home by Andrew & Julie. It is fantastic that so many members of our club were there to assist us in fixing, towing, aiding and being so helpful as we towed the car home ready to be worked on yet again. A huge thank you to Andrew & Julie for towing the car so far past their home, to Joe for allowing us to leave the car at his house and returning the car the following week to our home with Paul’s assistance, to John who worked his butt off to get the car there in the first place and to Shane who put up with us all the way! It really made for an eventful, fun & somewhat tiring weekend away.

I should also finish up by mentioning how many people from the VATC went away. With so many of us there as marshal’s, competitors, spectators, media, event organisers and more, we really left an impact on the sport and we should all be congratulated on our efforts. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did!

Tory.