Molly's Blog - Coffs Coast Rally

I couldn’t think of a better rally to finish the year on. The last time I was at an Australian Championship round in Coffs Harbour I was six years old. This had been the location that I had watched mum and Neal take out three consecutive Australian titles, and now I was competing on the same roads. To take out the F16 title and watch Mum take her fourth Championship title was a fantastic way to finish off what has been a big year.

I have learnt a lot of lessons over the year, with some highs and some pretty big lows as well. However I think as a result, I have finished this year a more mature and confident driver. Throwing myself into the deep end over in the UK was the most fantastic experience I have had and it has given me a lot more self belief in what is actually possible if you put the hours in.

By the time Coffs Harbour came around I couldn’t wait to get back onto the gravel and as Samantha’s first ever gravel event, she couldn’t wait to give it a try! We arrived a day earlier than we usually would, which meant I could test earlier and have an extra day to spend on the car. We played around with some different spring rates which took me a while to warm to, but actually worked really well in the rally.

Thursday rained all day which made for a slippery recce day. One of the stages was actually re-routed as the clay surface was deemed too diabolical for the rally. The re-route was fantastic however, utilizing more of the fast and flowing famous Sherwood Road. There was a good mix of stages, uphill, some fast downhill (which I really enjoy), as well as some narrower stages providing a good challenge.

I tweaked my pace notes also, to something I was 100% happy with, which made recce flow really well.

Media Day brought much better weather and a drier surface, which was great to drive on. This was Sam’s first time calling the notes on gravel and she had a fantastic time. Notes on gravel have to come out a lot quicker and they are more technical, so for Sam to pick it up straight away was excellent. After the media day, we made a few changes with the car and then were all set for the rally.

We were lucky with the weather on Saturday morning and all the stages were fast, dry and awesome to drive. Towards lunchtime, however, some clouds started rolling in and for the last three stages we were hit by a decent amount of rain. One of the stages had a clay surface, which was very difficult to drive my car on. I have never seen spectators get up and run so quickly!! The last two were muddy, but not clay, so much more progressive to drive on.

We finished up first F16, which meant all we needed was a finish in Heat Two, to take out the F16 Cup for the year. Finishing eighth meant that Mum and Neal had taken out the Championship for 2008! After 13 years, to win a fourth title back in Coffs was incredible and there were lots of hugs and tears (mostly from my sister!!) around the service park that afternoon.

Heat Two was very similar to the first day. Dry and fast all morning, then extremely slippery after lunch. Driving down to the last two stages, the rain was so heavy you could hardly see in front of you. Given the rain on Saturday and the increased amount on the Sunday, the organizers made the decision to cancel the last two stages for safety. It was a strange way to win the F16 Cup, but nevertheless I am sure the organizers made the right decision.

Fantastic roads and experience in a few different conditions meant that this was another event in which there was a lot to take away from it. We also had two new crew members – Tobie and his father, Aaron, who did a fantastic job all weekend. Tobie is only 14 and impressed all of our crew so I am sure we will be asking him back!

With an ARC Championship and the F16 Cup win in the Taylor family, the celebrations went long into the night, finishing around 4am the next morning!!

Thank you again to Tobie and Aaron as well as Bill, Scruffy, Krystal, Jane, Samantha and Dad for not only your help in Coffs, but all year - it has been greatly appreciated. There have also been so many people throughout the year that have helped me and it all would not have been possible without them. Alan and Ben from Silverstone, Steve Bell from Ralliart, Dave Thompson from TSA, David Thompson from Motographics, Ben Stack from Japanese Motorsport, Tim Lynas from Lynas Valley Cars, Mick Ryan from Rallyschool, Disc Brakes Australia, Mark Thompson from Penrith Brake and Clutch, Chris from Motorsport Insurance Services – Thank you.

Now it’s full steam ahead to work on a bigger and better 2009!

Molly