09:13:05

Good Morning Mtn Trials Fans.... My Name is Claire and I will be updating commentaries throughout the event. The weather is sunny and the air is crisp. The cars are just lining up for the start. We are on time and on schedule. Stay posted......

10:02:44

CLAIRE: Well we are off! Mountain Trials 2003 has begun. Scott Trinder in the Subaru has started stage 1 on time. There were a couple of sketchy moments at the start - car #4 - Maciej Ogrocki in the Subaru Impreza cutting it fine finding the start line, and Andrew Tilston in the Audi making it to the start with only 7 seconds to spare!!

10:10:31

CLAIRE: We have just had news back, Scott Trinder car # 1 in the 98 Subaru Impreza is having problems with his brakes. This is certainly not a good thing seeing as Stage 1 is the by far the most treacherous in the rally! Stay tuned.......

10:40:12

CLAIRE: With Stage 1 over, all cars made it through. Car #15 Norm LeBlank in the Subaru WRX caught Car #14 Budd Stanley in the MR2 during the stage.
Car #8, Mark Durley was passed by Joe Battrick (11) in the 04 Subaru WRX.
Tony Reynolds in the Mini Cooper (13) has a flat on the back right hand side and it appears that the wheel assembly is starting to come apart!
Car # 7, Bob Trinder in the Toyota Corolla otherwise known as "squeaker" - may have some sort of problem with his brakes.

10:40:50

CLAIRE: Stage 2 - Comstock South, started on time at 10.18.

10:41:33

CLAIRE: Derek Bottles in the 85 VW Golf developed a coolant leak but managed to finish Stage 2.

11:10:46

CLAIRE: SS2, all cars have finished the stage. Car 13, Tony's Mini Cooper is not looking to healthy, with a broken right rear suspension. Back at the serviced park, this are just "hopping" we have our resident child on a pogo stick. But seriously.... Car 00 - the opening car... has suffered some damage at the hands of Darren! As stated by Darren "... when I missed the hairpin.." and was backing up to get back onto the road.... he lost his front RHS mudguard.. talk about rough! So if anyone spots a bit of mudguard out there please get in touch with Darren car 00. The only other drama on SS2 on heresay is that someone overtook another car after the flying finish in the control area... not a particularly safe move.. but I am sure we will hear some about this later. Other than that the pits are pretty quiet, waiting for the end of SS3 and waiting to see the state of the cars as they come in for their first service.

12:16:00

CLAIRE: After SS3, all cars made it to service - a good result. Car #1, Scott Trinder was going well, Scott cut into a couple of corners sending dirt all over the top of the car! At service Scott was changing brake pads from standard stock, to some used racing brakes - he was having problems with stopping at one stage nearly going towards the spectator area. Scott reckoned the conditions were great.

12:18:24

CLAIRE: The rally debut of Ross Foster's Mitsubishi Evo VIII is going well, he is head of the field after the 1st three stages. His left hand rear bumper has suffered a little though, but nothing major.

12:20:54

Car #3, Peter Hill in the 73 Corolla is having fun with his co-driver Dave Sharp having to yell directions at him - their intercom has failed. "We made it" were his first words on arriving back at service.

12:22:47

The Ogrocki's in car #4, the Subaru Impreza, are having fun as always and are managing to pick up the pace. The only problem so far was when Danuta lost her voice in SS1, but she recovered with some water luckily for them both.

12:24:45

Car # 7, Bob Trinder in the only other corolla in the field was having trouble with his hand brake locking on, he normally drives his Subaru with a fly off hand brake. And yes they are still squeaking.

12:32:57

Car #17, Derik Nelson in the 93 Honda Civic said it was "not too bad so far". He described conditions as slippery at the beginning, but they were running well.

12:33:30

Car #8, Noah's only comment was that they were going good!

12:36:36

Derek Bottles in the VW Golf (Car #10)had a radiator leak which he thought he could fix at service. He had also managed to "touch" a rock wall, and even managed to try it again second time around!

12:40:10

Car #11, Joe Battrick is doing pretty well coming, 3rd overall after SS3,however he still managed to catch a bank with the rear left bumper.

12:57:17

The most trouble experienced by all the drivers was Tony's Mini cooper, you name it, it went wrong! He came into service having problems with his powersteering, his radiator was near over heating, his battery light had come on, not to mention that his right rear wheel was poking out at a very strange angle... But he made it to service! And he made it out again with 30 sec to spare and with pretty much everything back and working well. Full credit to the Total Autosport crew!

13:40:53

KEN: Car 14 has retired.... smoke from engine.....

14:27:58

CLAIRE: So its nearing the end of the 2nd service...
The new EVO VIII, struck problems in this leg of the rally, sometime during their travels a rock struck the front intercooler pipe, causing a leak. They managed to fix the leak but lost boost following this. They lost some time while they repaired it and it slowed them down during the rest of the stages. They were confident they would repair it during the 45 min service.
Car # 1, Trinder is concentrating on winning the championship, rather than striving for a podium finish. They want to stay in front of Car #4, to be in the running for the West Canadian overclass.

14:29:18

CLAIRE: Car 7, Bob Trinder had problems with his front right fender falling over during a stage, but managed to wire it up between stages... so no majors there.

14:31:20

Peter Hill's Toyota Corolla was experiencing some "mysterious ailments", sounds like they might be driver related!!! They had a flat on SS5, but managed to finish the stage and change the tyre between stages.
Maciej and Danuta Ogrocki, just wished that the event was longer, they want some more stages!

14:33:47

CLAIRE: The Ford Focus (8) is doing alright, but they are experiencing gearbox problems. They are having problems trying to keep the car in gear, they described this as " a bit scarey" especially when they were using the power to stay on the road.

14:35:06

CLAIRE: Car 10 managed to fall off the road and get right back on again. Whereas car 9 the VW Golf, had a near accident when they went straight but the road turned to the right.

14:38:06

CLAIRE: Andrew Tilston in only his 5th rally ever, is really starting to have some fun driving on gravel. His first 4 rallies were all on ice / snow, he reckons the ride is a little rougher! He wished that he could repeat SS1, as he has significantly improved his original time over this particular stretch of road.

14:41:16

Tony Reynolds in the Mini Cooper is hanging in there.... just! When he came into service his exact words when asked how he was doing were.." the drive shaft works, the engine runs and the co-driver can still read..!" So its not all bad. Even so, though the crew had to replace another control arm on the left rear of the car at this service!

14:43:29

Car 11 Joe Battrick, they were stuck in 3rd gear for a period during the last stage, luckily enough after they got some air, they were then able to change gear again.

14:46:28

CLAIRE: Norm in Car 15 commented about how quiet the car was when he got some air in the 5th stage! Chad in the 81 Toyota Celica had to replace a spark plug wire at the end of SS4, and managed to take out a significant section of his exhaust, however he managed to drag it all the way back to service, where the crew did some patch up work to send him back out onto the next stage.

15:57:41

CLAIRE: All cars have completed SS7, Peter Hill in his 73 Toyota Corolla has reportedly been passed by 3 cars in this stage.

16:02:41

CLAIRE: Earlier today I was speaking to Scott Martin, co-driver for Budd Stanley. He wanted you to know that he was the only participant in the rally from Manitoba, he said to say hello to his wife Kath. "Hi Kath". Unfortunately these retired prior to the second service.

17:25:45

CLAIRE: oooh its getting exciting!! Car 7, Bob Trinder, he described it as "going a little bit too fast" into the corner. They got a bit wide, into the soft, and sucked into a boulderfield. Bob's Toyota didn't fare to well against the rocks and he pretty much totalled his front wheel. The other casualty was Car 9, Noah Third in the VW Golf. He had a bit of an "off" right near the spectator area, but everyone is ok.

17:28:14

CLAIRE: Scott Trinder was looking a little rattled when he arrived at service after SS8. He had lost 1st and 2md gears and was not looking forward to SS9 without them. All they could do was change the transmission fluid in service, so it'll be interesting to see how they get on with the mostly uphill final stage.

17:29:04

CLAIRE: Ross Foster in the EVO VIII was not doing too badly, though he was down a little on boost. He described the roads as "smooth and grippy" the best he's ever seen them here.

17:35:26

CLAIRE: Cows! at least 5 of them in the last kilometre of SS8. Made it quite an interesting finish for some of the competitors, far from an ideal situation obviously. You will be pleased to know that all cows and cars are safe. The most exciting story came from Car 15, Norm LeBlank who reckoned they spliced between 2 cows with only a foot to spare on each side of the car. Apparently the cows didn't bat an eyelid, I guess they were used to the cars speeding past by then. It sounds like the cows slowed down a few of the competitors.

17:37:53

CLAIRE: Other news following SS8, Car 10 was looking a little sorry when it arrived at service. The front suspension came unattached leaving Derek with "large and imprecise steering". He was a little disappointed as results were close in their class.

17:39:45

CLAIRE: Car 3, Peter Hill's Toyota Corolla was described as running on 1.5 cylinders, but he was still going, speculation was that the cam shaft had jumped a tooth. He headed back out for the final stage after service.

17:42:37

CLAIRE: Tony, Tony, Tony... be nice to your Mini!! Well the mini is still going - Car 13, Tony Reynolds 02 Mini Cooper......just. Nine kilometres into SS9 he broke ANOTHER control arm on the left rear of the car. He again made it back to service and with some quick work by the crew was back out on the road again within time, with his left rear wheel pointing in the right direction.

17:47:29

CLAIRE: Some quotes for the day...
1) " Daddy, why did they crash?" a kid talking to his father after Car 9 (Noah Third)had an "off" by the spectator area.
2) Overheard - "Otherwise the cars running great". Tony Reynolds speaking to his crew at the third service where the crew were replacing the third control arm of the day.
3) "I think they need to strengthen that part", someone watching the crew replace the control arm for the third time on the mini. You think?!

17:48:55

CLAIRE: Car 3, Peter Hill who was having trouble when he arrived at service (running on 1.5 cylinders) has unfortunately dropped out, he didn't make it to the start of SS9. So we are down to 13 cars. Not far to go now.

18:36:02

CLAIRE: Well we made it, ok well 13 cars did anyway.
Provisional overall results:
1) Car #2 - Ross Foster/ Dave Kean in their Mitsubishi EVO VIII
2) Car #1 - Scott Trinder / Bill Westhead - 98 Subaru RS - not bad going without 1st or 2nd gear for the entire final stage.
3) Car #17 - Derik Nelson / Lea Flagg - 93 Honda Civic

18:37:37

CLAIRE: Ok in case you were wondering! The mini made it!! And it had 4 wheels all going in the right direction! Well done to Tony Reynolds and Sean McPhee in their 02 Mini Cooper - Car #13. Your perserverence paid off.

18:45:01

CLAIRE: Ok well thats it for this rally, hope you enjoyed my ramblings. And safe driving. Claire ps. Hi Mum and dad in New Zealand and "go the All Blacks!"