Rally - "Audi A3 Unveiled" - Mon 21st & Tues 22nd March 2011

[Senad Subasic]

Lost control on SS1, don't really know how, killed some people...

SS2, and already hating the car. Damage early on, so I retired, because I didn't have the willpower to drive it for another 9km in that state...

Chirdonhead was finally okayish. I did hit a stone near the end, but still, a massive improvement over SS1 and 2.

Was looking forward to Harwood Forest, but then found a tree early on. In an "easy" corner, and I braked, and it was a tiny hit, and I lost the gearbox.

Fraizer Wells was fun! I prefer it to the original, LOL. Also, I enjoyed the FFB difference on snow and gravel, made me smile

Hualapai Nation was a disaster. 4 automatic call for helps in just the final sector. Also, an undriveable car for the last 2km. Couldn't keep it in a straight line.

 

[Warren Dawes]

And a shocker for me too Senad.
I just couldn't adapt to the handling of the Audi, it seemed very heavy and understeery to me, but when I tried to be more agressive in the turns, the tail let go with bad consequenses.

SS1 and SS2 were ok ish, but SS3 I went wide twice into the bush.
SS4 was a real disaster. Hit a spectator early, then crashed horribly into some timber, badly wrecking the car (and a CFH). Had the overheating message till the end and as the car was dying, I scrambled over the line.
The two Japan stages were pretty ugly, but I finished them without too much damage.
Frazier Wells was going ok until the last couple of turns, the understeer sent me wide into a tree head on. Managed to reverse out and finish.
To cap off a bad night, I rolled it on SS8, then took off the wrong way and took ages to find somewhere to turn around.

I guess the Audi and I aren't meant to be friends.

Thanks to Senad for joining me in the OC Session, and thanks for organising everything this week. :thanks:

 

[Corey Twyman]

...

Corey, nice chatting with you for a bit, sorry for leaving before you finished, just a bit frustrated and didn't want to be a nuisance.

np Troy. I manged to kill the car at least twice. Trying to forget this rally.

 

[James Hersey]

Not seeing the session 5 mins before start time, should I be able to yet?

 

[Senad Subasic]

Not seeing the session 5 mins before start time, should I be able to yet?

No, you'll be able to see and join it at 20:00GMT, and it will start at 20:15GMT

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

As usual a very short report from the SS for me.

SS1: 2.41. It felt Ok - no mistakes - but a bit too slow.

SS2: Now I realized that I haven't tested the car on asphalt. And the car was very bouncy on small bumps. Didn't feel comfortable at all. When I found out I was driving in over 200 km/h i was scared! 5.44.5

SS3: Felt very slow. Knocked down a sign and spun... but now I think I know how it feels to drive a Jensen Interceptor on rally-roads... this felt heavy, slow and lazy on turning! 3.37

SS4: Dry tyres felt wrong here... very wrong... or it might be the car 3.49

SS5: Last time this was in Rally club i won the stage... but that was with the RWD Escort and asphalt. Had 3 spins, and by looking at the clock when I spun and when I got going. I lost around 20 sec in totalt.

SS6: if it is any stages i hate more than AUS, it is JPN. Took it very very easy in the start to not drive off and down. Then I went off the track. And again i look at the clock - it was 10 sec from I left the road to I rejoined it. 3.15

SS7: Well well - some irritating photographers, and a very bright road. Ok - no mistakes. 2.05

SS8: Last time this was used I had 3 rolls and 2 CFH. Now I had just one spin. 4.10

All in all an OK rally for me. A bit lazy and somewhat boring car, but well. Overall average!

 

[Senad Subasic]

Rally results

Overall Rally Results


​

Congrats Ole, Mark and Nigel :trophy:


Stage wins:
Roy Magnes: 4 stage wins :star::star::star::star:
Ole Marius Myrvold: 2 stage wins :star::star:
Mark Johnston: 2 stage wins :star::star:


Thanks to everyone who joined, and to Warren for setting it up :thanks:

See you all next week, for the next round of the Rally Championship. :rally:

 

[Warren Dawes]

Congratulations Ole, that makes two in a row now, which is sure to get the aliens after your blood from now on.
Well done to Mark and Nigel for the podium, Nigel continues his march up the standings. :wink:

Roy dominated the Stage wins a bit, but you have to be consistent to win the Rallys, hey. :tongue:

Welcome to our two new drivers, Stuart and James, hope to see you in future Club Rallys with us. :welcome:

Looks like the Audi A3 proved tricky for many of us, very few had a clean rally (if any).

See you all in the Irish Countryside next week.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Oh well. That was unexpected. Also, if we remove SS7, I'm still faster than Roy, because of his bad SS2. Good for me at least!

Thanks to everyone involved!

 

[Ashok Revanna]

I am feeling terrible... First it was the damn internet connectivity, & now an injured shoulder. I will be only watching the rallies happening Sorry for my DNS!

 

[Warren Dawes]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Ashok, we'll miss you as we think about you racing with that ingeneous racing rig.

 

[Roy Magnes]

4 stage wins in all of this is not that bad. It seems like Ole Marius and I have swithched tactics for a while... This time he was the quiet, consistent one, and I was the one with max attack and retired stages :tongue:

I really liked the car, though, I seeme d to be able to put it exactly where I wanted it. Too bad that I was overdoing it a cuple of times...

 

[Senad Subasic]

I really liked the car, though, I seeme d to be able to put it exactly where I wanted it. Too bad that I was overdoing it a cuple of times...

Strange. I'm with Warren there, understeer when driving easy, snap oversteers when pushing it. Not very enjoyable.

 

[Roy Magnes]

You were on the wrong setup, then :wink: At least on the asphalt it felt very good and precise. Suited my driving style better than yours, propably

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Well, it was very pointy. It felt like it turned when I turned the wheel. But that was about it, after it had turned initially, it wasn't a friendly var. And it was way to low&stiff on SS2. At least with default setup.

 

[Warren Dawes]

You were on the wrong setup, then :wink: At least on the asphalt it felt very good and precise. Suited my driving style better than yours, propably

I didn't find it too bad on the Tarmac, it was the gravel that I had difficulty adjusting to. It was very understeery on Snow but that may be expected for most cars if you push too hard.
I only used default setup, probably with some setup adjustment it could be quite good.

For some reason the car just felt quite heavy to me, which I didn't expect for a car as small as the Audi A3.

 

[Roy Magnes]

In my head it kind of resembeled my old, trusty Lancer Evo 6,5 on gravel. Somewhat slow, but I was able to get around quite well when sliding into corners and sutch. I may be more of a Grp.A driver than a WRC driver :tongue: