Rally of Canberra 2007

Jenna Kelley and Langdon Patrick combined to bring their Subaru Impreza STi home to a respectable fifth N4 and 18th outright in the 2007 Capital Rally of Canberra.  In what turned out to be a tumultuous lead up to the event, Langdon destroyed the front crown wheel (and subsequently a large part of the gearbox), at the official launch of the event.  With the assistance of Michael Thompson of Motorsportparts.com.au, a hasty rebuild followed, and the car was ready in time for the rally.

The rally itself was not without issues, either.  On the first stage of the event – Bluetts - the crew had the unfortunate situation of a faulty intercom, which meant Jenna had to yell at Langdon for the 10km!  Placing 15th on the stage, Jenna and Langdon were overjoyed with their start to the rally.

Saturday morning saw the crew set a time of 8:10 on the Mineshaft, 2.5 seconds per km up on Langdon’s best run through the Mineshaft last year.  The pair were subsequently awarded the Bob Garnet Memorial Trophy for their effort!  

Setting consistent top 15 times throughout Heat One, Jenna and Langdon were very pleased with their progress.  On the last stage of the night – Pipeline - the crew broke a driveshaft, losing about one and a half minutes.  The Qwrx Motorsports service crew did all they could, and had the car ready to commence Heat Two at the end of the 20min service on Sunday morning.   

To add to their troubles, the Subaru crew lost another minute on the first stage with a flat tyre about two thirds of the way into Oakey Creek, but were able to drive out of the stage.  With the balance of the day’s stages run in Kowen Forest, Jenna and Langdon backed off a little, aware of the rough stages ahead, with a view to bringing the car home for a much needed finish.

Jenna and Langdon would like to thank the Qwrx Motorsports team, including their star service crew, Michael Thompson for his ongoing support and the short-notice assistance with the gearbox, and most importantly, the officials, volunteers and organisers.

Bega Valley Rally

With Brenton Kaitler’s car still out of action after the big crash in the East Gippsland Stages, Jenna Kelley combined forces with Bill Sullivan at the Bega Valley Rally to place 23rd outright in the Daihatsu Charade de Tomaso, in a full field of 75. They missed out on the P2 win by a mere three seconds, due to a broken alternator bracket on SS7,  however despite these issues, they managed to finish the event.

The team started off well, despite problems with the Terratrip which was short-circuiting for four stages before it was fixed.  Bill drove extremely well, each stage, moving the team up on the scoreboard and beating some of the more powerful 4WD cars over the super fast shire stages.  A thirty second lead in the Victorian 2WD class and a three minute lead in the P2 class, was gradually eroded over the final three stages.  Bill was frustrated that he couldn’t push the Daihatsu faster, as he was concerned the car would fail with the alternator playing up and not being able to use the driving lights.

SS8, Snake Track was a favourite of the team, with its tight and twisty roads.

A huge thank you to Greg, Kevin, Ian and Langdon for their work under pressure in the service park.

In car footage will soon be available on You-Tube.

Jenna and Bill will  compete again at the next VRC Round, the George Derrick on July 21 in Erica and Hayfield.  


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