We race from Friday 28 February to Wednesday 5 March. Unfortunately we are only allowed to do parade laps around the circuit. I attach the story from last years event.
REPORT ON 2002 GRAND PRIX RALLY During February, Dominic Votano sponsored by CHU, Rotors and Drums Australia, Express Glass and Premier Strata drove his WRX STI in the Trading Post Grand Prix Rally. Which is a support event to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne. Here is the story. "The most enjoyable time I have ever spent with or without a partner" (but don't tell my wife) Starting in Shepparton on Friday and concluding in Melbourne on the Wednesday before the Grand Prix. Across over 1200 Kilometres of country roads and taking in 38 separate driving events all pushed into five days. Motorkhanas tested your skills around cones, trees, buildings and other stationary objects. High speed driving events such as Standing 1/8 mile (the fastest time from stop across 200 meters at a drag strip), Standing Quarter and flying 1km where my STI hit 234Km/h and yet 19 cars beat that with a $460,000 Porsche hitting 267 kilometres an hour. Circuits like Holden 's Lang Lang Proving Ground are rarely even seen let alone driven on. It is a 4+ Km banked circular track owned by GMH. It is possible on the top bank to set the cruise control at 220km/h and let go of the steering wheel. Though we were not game to try. We were also able to test our cars limits at Phillip Island, Winton and other racetracks across Victoria. The navigation was enjoyable but tricky. At 9 PM one evening we were give a cryptic route which would take us three hours through unknown roads. The instructions were "drive to a point 4 Kilometres north of a road junction 2 kilometres south of a town by crossing the same river 5 times." 200 kilometres of travelling using dozens of roads and yet only 24 words of instructions. The roads are simply some of the best you will drive on and on a par with those used in Targa Tasmania. The winding country lanes are speed limited to 110km/h but this speed is still more than most cars are able to achieve due to the tightness of corners and gradients of hills. The night navigation driving must have been a shock to the many farmers disturbed at the four hundred exhausts and kilometres of headlights weaving their way through their deserted lanes. The crowds from country Victoria really took to the event. In Maffra at 11.00 pm, many hundreds of townsfolk (none with two heads) lined both sides of a 400 metre street to watch the competitors. The cars even excited the other drivers. Ferrari F40, 550 Maranello 355 Berlinetta Challenge, Porsche GT2, GT3, RSR, 550 replica and even the bottom of the bucket $315,000 turbos. We competed against Commodores, GTHO, Clubmans, Lexus and against current racing greats. Neil and Rick Bates and past Bathurst winners Peter Brock, Storming Norman Beechey and Bob Holden. Perhaps the most exciting car was a Stage A Nissan GTR Station wagon sponsored by The Daily Planet (a brothel) this car had a young scantily clad PRO-fessional mascot who gave all men a 10% off discount card. I have got photos and the discount card if anyone is interested ! ! In small villages school children lined the streets to cheer on all competitors. In one such place Peter Brock rolled in first, followed in second place by Kieren Perkins as we rolled up third to this checkpoint.... a head pops in the window and asks "Are you famous?" Of course we were !!, Who else would be following in Kieran and Brocky's footsteps. The comradery is excellent and the entire event is a most enjoyable yet highly competitive challenge. Despite recording the 20th fastest top speed and the 10th fastest time across the dragstrip we proved that it takes more than a fast car to be competitive. So back for more driving lessons after a 65th place from 163 competitors on our first attempt. ----- Original Message ----- From: "nat P." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 12:01 PM Subject: Re: G P Get together > Great Dom!!!!! I'll see you there!! > What day are you guys racing? > Cheers NAT > > > --- Dominic Votano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Anyone at the Grand Prix can say hello to me and my > > entry in the GP rally. A white 2000 Subaru STI > > plated DAD 8 IT. > > > > Dominic Votano > > Premier Strata > > Ph 9630 7500 > > Fx 9630 1915 > > > --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- > > OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- > > Send (un)subscribe requests to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > No unauthorised redistribution of this email > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html > > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > http://greetings.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Greetings > - Send some online love this Valentine's Day. > > --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
