Team Kirrihill Wines looking to settle "unfinished business" at the 2011 asp Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally
SARC regular Sandy Nott is looking forward to a solid result in the 2011 ASP Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally after mechanical dramas ruined his chances on the 2010 event. A faulty gear linkage on the Myponga stage on Saturday morning halted their progress and although repairs were made, too much time was lost to score a decent result. They completed the Sunday leg in father and co-driver Charlie’s TVR rather than risk further gear issues without a proper investigation.
2011 sees Sandy back and competing in all 3 days including round 1 of the SA Rally Championship which will be run on the Saturday stages of the event.
Sandy will have a new co-driver for the AHTR with regular co-driver and father Charlie stepping aside to assist Sandy’s brother Henry as he begins his rally undertakings. Classic Section regular co-driver David Langfield will be calling the notes from the left hand seat of a 4WD turbo-charged car for the first time on tarmac stages. Ironically, he too has “unfinished business” with similar misfortune on the 2010 event when Reg Marratt’s Ford Mk 1 Escort suffered terminal electrical problems and they were forced to withdraw just prior to the start.
Despite only being in the sport for 3 years Sandy has had some impressive results finishing 3rd outright in the SA Rally Championship series in 2009 & 2010 as well as 1st in the State Autocross series.
David made his debut as a co-driver in 2004 and won the SARC Classic Section Championship with Reg in a Mk 1 Escort in 2008. The pair finished 2nd outright in the AHTR Classic Section in 2009 and had competed together ever since the event began as a 10 km sub-event of the 2006 asp Kuitpo Forest Rally where they were 1st Classic Car home and 4th outright.
Sandy will once again campaign the dark blue Mitsubishi Evo 4 with the distinctive Kirrihill Wines signage which has become a regular sight on the SA rally scene in recent years.
A number of improvements have been made to the car in the off season by Mitsubishi Evo specialist Steve Knight Racing, including changing from 98 octane unleaded fuel to E85 ethanol.
“The increase in both power and torque from the E85, plus some improvements to better balance the car should make it more driveable and hopefully translate to faster stage times,” explained Sandy.
“Recce has gone well and the stages this year look great. The organisers are to be congratulated on putting together some of the best stages in tarmac rallying.”
The team would like to thank the following businesses for their continuing support – Kirrihill Wines, Steve Knight Racing, Bridgestone Victor Harbor, McIlroy Auto Group – Victor Harbor Mitsubishi, FPAG, Spitwater and Hart Signs.
We would also like to say a big “Thank You” to all the hard working volunteer officials and organisers who make this event possible.
The 2011 Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally will be presenting 28 stages over 3 days, delivering almost 190 competitive kilometres. Friday will start with the prologue at Collingrove, followed by 6 stages that will head towards Penny’s Hill Winery at McLaren Vale through the magnificent Adelaide Hills. Saturday’s 12 stages will be run just south of McLaren Vale down to Victor Harbor, South Australia’s holiday capital and the events service park location for the day. Another 10 stages on Sunday will take place north west of McLaren Vale, travelling through the picturesque towns of Meadows, Macclesfield (location of the Sunday service park) and Strathalbyn before returning to McLaren Vale in the late afternoon to complete the event at Penny’s Hill Winery.
The 2011 Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally has been scheduled for the 27th through to the 29th of May.
For more details on IMS Ambulance Services please visit www.imssa.com.au
For more details on the 2011 Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally please visit www.ahtr.com.au
For more details on Variety SA please visit www.variety.org.au/sa
Or phone Andrew Admiraal on 0403 116 400, email [email protected]
