Hyden 6 Hour Enduro

The 2011 ARB and Alpha Earthmoving Hyden Humps has been run and won and with that brings to the end the 2011 Western Australian Off Road Racing Championship. Coming into this event the Flat Out Off Road Racing Team knew that only a class win could seal the Production 4WD title, for the 2nd time for driver Jason Galea and the 3rd time for the team after Frank Galea won it in 2006. With a solid field of 30 entrants and 7 entered in Production 4wd this would be a tough ask, made somewhat easier with Tanya French and Zeb Casey withdrawing before the event. There was still a 5 strong field of Production 4wds that would take the green flag. I was confident of a good result, with some modifications made in the break between events proving to be a step in the right direction, such as the VMN Pivot Throttle Controller, revised brake package and some changes to the cooling system.

For prologue I had decided to drive the way that I had planned to race, conserving the gear whilst extracting as much pace and avoiding putting any strains on the car. I was relaxed and had a solid run, 1st in class and bout 18th outright with prologue showing that Greg Pickersgill and Chris Dawes would be our closest rivals in class.

After a quick check over the car by new navigator Markus Christie, and dedicated pit crew Frank and Justine Galea we would be ready for the start of a long tough 6 hours. The format would be 5 hours of competitive time, with 3 lots of 15 minute fuel stops and one of those to be extended with an extra 15 minute pit stop. As the time grew nearer to 2pm when the race was scheduled to start, I tried to keep hydrated and prepare using everything I had learnt at the AIS driver development camp earlier this year. Preparation and consistency would be key to a good run over this long event. As we set off I tried not to let red mist get to me and stick to the game plan. I was aiming for 4 clean laps, trying to pick off a few cars and possibly pull out a small gap from Greg who had started behind me. It wasn’t long into the section where a temp warning alarm came on, the issue not being the temperature, but that the alarm warning had been set to come on too low by approximately 5 degrees. So we pushed on, catching and passing a few buggies some of which took longer than we would have hoped to get out of our way, but still stuck to the plan of looking after the car and keeping tabs on where Greg was behind us.

After 4 laps we were in clean air, but not a clean cabin as Markus had succumbed to a small bout of car sickness at the beginning of the 4th lap. We pitted and refuelled and I took a much needed break to assess the game plan for the next set of 4 laps which we had scheduled, this should take us right close to sunset so that we wouldn’t be racing when the sun was at its worst. Greg had continued on for a 5th lap meaning that I could no longer watch where he was at, but would just run my own race and remain confident that we had the pace keep him at bay. We started the next 4 laps and managed to have a good clean run, without too much traffic and set some good times. After a trouble free we pitted for the second time and took a 15minute break which we would extend with a 15 minute pit stop. The crew got to work again ensuring that we were on schedule and pitting out at the exact moment that we were meant to be. The pit stop we checked what we could, found a cv boot had come off and some damage to the exhaust but other than this the car was as we had started the event.

We set off into the night with the aim of doing 3 more laps before our final stop. As we raced around the track and it grew darker we found that the LED light bar from 4WD Supplies was working to our advantage with great vision meaning that we could see every hole and bump as the track continued to deteriorate in certain areas. 3 more trouble free laps put us in a great position, particularly as we saw Greg parked on the side of the road with a flat tyre as we put him a lap down on us. At this stage he was still who I thought was our closest competitor meaning that we were leading the class by over 1 lap. Chris had also struck tyre problems and Wayne in the other Hilux had succumbed to issues being parked up in Frenchies Creek.

As we pitted for the final time for a quick splash we went out to complete our final lap. I watched as the Wards in 469 drove past a few minutes before we left the line after our pit and decided to have a bit of a crack at making sure I finished as close as possible to them as they had started a few cars in front of me, any time made up on road could lead to a possible jump up the leader board above them. After the final lap we greeted the chequered flag , I was ecstatic knowing that we had done the most laps of the Production 4wds meaning a class win and that mean I had won the WAORC Production 4wd title. I had no idea at this stage, but we had also sewn up 3rd outright after several cars had tied on 12 laps, with our time taken being the second quickest of those on 12 and Trav Robinson had won the event on 13 laps. This was an amazing result, better than anything that I could have expected and I felt it was some sort or a reward for all the hard work that Mum and Dad had put in throughout the year and as pit crew on the weekend. But it didn’t end there, also picking up best presented vehicle and fastest tin top lap!

I would like to say a massive thankyou to everyone who helped out during the year, Sarah Davies for a great job of navigating the first 3 races and Markus Christie for jumping in for the Enduro. FJG Engineering, Down South Motorsport, 4130 Clothing, Jason Galea Multimedia, Ian Diffen Tyre Factory, Gatorz Precision Built Eyewear, Monster Rides and VMN (Vehicle Modifications Network) Without the support of all these people, the other competitors, property owners, officials and everyone who puts on these great events we wouldn’t be able to achieve the things we have this season, so a massive thanks must go to everyone! I would also like to take the time to promote the IDiS message which the team has adopted in regards to drugs in sport and motorsport, for information see http://www.cams.com.au/en/Safety/Illicit_Drugs_in_Sport.aspx
Best of luck to all racing at the Gascoyne Dash and I will see you there
Cheers, Jason Galea