Mogumber
240
Team Race Report
The Mogumber 240 has been run and won and we had mixed results for the
team. With the LS2 6.0L V8 80 series set to take on the Extreme 4wd
class and the Pootrol up against a strong field of 6 Production class
including some guy with a new Jeep. We ran a solid prologue in very
slippery conditions and ended up with 1st in class with the
Patrol. The 80 series was also met with the treacherous conditions and
would line up 4th in class.
Section 1 was started with conditions still muddy and trying and it
wasn’t long before trouble would strike. About 6km’s into the first lap
the Patrol would be out with front end issues. After coming over a small
crest a nasty dip would kick the car up and off line with the slippery
conditions pulling the car into the tree. The impact was quite harsh and
the damage caused meant the Pootrol would be out of action for the rest
of the weekend. As Lee and I sat near the car (being laughed at by
sheep) we found that there were no cars around for the second lap and a
marshal informed us that the section had been red flagged after an
accident where driver and navigator were taken to hospital. We got a
lift back to camp and then with a couple of extra helpers went back out
to figure out how to get the patrol from an awkward position onto a
trailer when it had no steering. After about an hour we had success and
headed back to camp with no more racing scheduled for the day. The 80
series had a good fast run passing a few cars up until the red flag
which stopped the race.
The next morning I was to jump in and navigate for dad in the 80 series.
We set off and after only a few km’s we found the Nissan Patrol of
“Banger” Van Geest and Danny Smith on its side. We attached the snatch
strap to the car and pulled him back onto his wheels and unfortunately
resulting in the car rolling off down the hill! Luckily the snatch strap
stopped the car from moving any further. With this incident blocking the
track the rest of the field had banked up behind this resulting in most
of the field all resuming racing at the same time. After a few quick
laps we had moved past a few cars and had a nice run catching up to
Trevor Spencer and brave relief navi Jeremy Lia, the LS2 was purring
along nicely until a flat tyre stopped us. We changed this,
unfortunately the spare we had on board was borrowed from Brett Young,
so no wheel spin allowed, so the last lap and a half would be taken at
an eased pace. By this stage the track had gotten pretty rough and with
more exposed rocks we didn’t want to risk another flat. We finished the
6th and final lap and ended up with an excellent result of 1st
in Extreme 4wd and to top it off also the fastest tin top lap.
Overall a great result for the 80 series, a not so great for the Pootrol
but we will be back and hopefully I can refrain from tree hugging in the
future. A big thanks must go out to Ian Diffen Tyre Factory in Joondalup
for helping out with getting the Pro Comp Extreme Mud Terrains and rims
(need more now) for the Patrol. Thanks to Lee Coupe for jumping into
navigate again and also my apologies for getting the tree right on his
side. Also thanks to Raw 4x4, FJG Engineering and The 4WD Shop and last
but not least my parents for putting up with me and helping me get to
the start line, maybe next time I’ll be able to get to the finish line
as well.
See you all at Hyden (with or without the Patrol)
Jason Galea #766
