Sunday 1:30pm, Red Range Road Spec point was our final stop for the day and probably the most entertaining. The WRC cars were pushing really hard downhill into a S bend which was follwed by a long left, so for the first time we could see the cars taking off into the distance.
The dust levels were insane, as were my depleting energy levels, nevertheless it was a weekend (well morning) to remember. Defiantly looking forward to round 2 in 2013.
Sunday – 12:30pm. Seeing the cars racing through the forests of Coffs Harbour is defiantly one of the best motorsports experiences that I have ever had.. I guess racing to some degree is the essence of all motorsport but I have to admit, driving along side Ken Block & Daniel Oliveira’s WRC cars early in the day, somehow seemed to rate higher..
As far as I can remember, I wanted to be a WRC driver. Due to lack of money and talent, that dream will never become a reality but seeing and hearing these cars beside me through the streets of Coffs Harbour kind gave me the slightest taste of what it would be like driving between stages.
Anyhow, on the way back to the second Plum Pudding Stage we got caught up with another bunch WRC cars making their way to the second Bucca stage. This time it was Mikko Hirvonen and Sébastien Loeb… I think my life is now complete.
Sunday – 12:00pm. Dammit!!! My Nissan Murano is no 4WD!!!!.
What I thought was a tinny bit of wet grass turned out to be the knife in the kidneys for my trusty Nissan. I was bogged directly outside the WRC service stage located at the old Coffs Harbour airport. Thankfully there were plenty of onlookers to push me out of my predicament so my embarrassment levels remained fairly stable.
First thing we noticed was I was not the only one with dramas. Evgeny Novikov (the flying Russian’s) WRC Ford Fiesta had come to grief in a big way during the Plum Pudding stage. Thankfully he and co driver Denis Giraudet were ok which is a testament to the build quality of these cars.
Sunday – 7:50am We were lost..
It turned out that the Bucca Spectator point was the wrong one and that the correct location was a few kilometres further north. The officials at Bucca point told us that if we were quick, we might make the next location at Plum Pudding to catch the WRC cars go through the next stage.
The problem was nobody knew how to get there.
While trying to work it out on our Iphones, Daniel Oliveira appeared in my revision mirror in his MINI World Rally Car.
Problem Solved, just follow the drivers to the next stage.
I have so many cool pics from the WRC event at Coffs Harbour on the weekend but it is going to take some time to sort.
So in mean time, here is some video footage shot by Wojski of a few WRC cars mid stage…
I have to say, driving beside WRC cars on the street was seriously cool.
Ken Block
Mikko Hirvonen
Sebastien Loeb
