After having a great battle with Ferris, on the opening stages of the Rally of Queensland, the Lada Racing team of Andrew and Tony suffered a minor setback, which would turn into a major catastrophe.

At the end of SS6, Andrew could smell Avgas, and asked the stage controller if someone had spilt any. The stage controller replied no, so Andrew and Tony left, due for the next stage. Just to be sure, Andrew checked the rear vision mirror as he pulled away. There was a large puddle where the Samara had just been parked. They pulled the car over to the side of the road, only to find a huge gash in the fuel tank. Luckily some people were camping near the side of the road. Andrew managed to get some soap off them, and fill the hole with it. This stopped the leak, and luckily they were able to do the next 2 stages.

When they got to service, they didn't have enough time to repair the hole, so the fuel filter was changed, more fuel added. The guys were sent on their merry way again, still with a punctured tank, to do SS9, the 2.36km Hella Lights Hill Climb. Andrew managed to steer the car through the stage with a time of 1.59, giving Lada Racing an average speed of 71 km/h over the stage. This put Andrew and Tony, in front of the likes of Ian Menzies in the Ford Falcon, and Ashlea James in the Proton Satria GL, over this stage.

When returning to the final service of the day, the tank was drained, and all the soap removed. Or so it was thought. The tank was patched up, car checked over thoroughly and then put away for the night, ready for the restart in the morning.

Apart from the hole in the tank, all in all, it was a good day, with a good result. 34 overall, and 3rd in PRC1, less than a minute behind Ferris Lee.

DAY 2

The drive to Imbil the following morning was clear and uneventful. The car appeared to be running fantastically. SS10 was completed without any problems. SS11, the car seemed to hesitate in a few corners, but nothing was thought of it. It again seemed to have a few problems in the SS12, but nothing to really be worried about. At service, as a precautionary measure, the fuel filter was changed again, but all appeared fine. The car was running like a dream, and they had also taken time off Ferris Lee.

The fourth stage of the day, SS13, was a starting to create some concern for the Lada Racing team. They were leading Ferris Lee in the Honda Civic by 10 seconds. The car was starting to hesitate more often than not, which was beginning to create a lot of concern. They got clear of SS13, and headed for SS14.

Halfway through SS14, the car would only run on full throttle or nothing at all. With a locked diff, this can make driving almost impossible, because the car tries to spear off in a random direction. Andrew slowed down to see if the car would pick up or if they'd have to stop. They managed to limp the car out of the stage, expecting the car behind them to catch them.

Because there is no servicing cars between stages, SS15 had to be negotiated before they could get the car to service. In service the carburetor was dismantled and cleaned. It was found that there was soap in the jets. This was cleaned out, and a new fuel filter installed. The team was then sent on the transport to the final stage of the day, SS16, 1.44km Pelican Waters, in Calloundra.

On the drive to Calloundra, Andrew found that on acceleration the car would spear off into the other lane, and on deceleration, it would return rather violently to its own lane. This made driving very hazadarous and tiresome for Andrew. About 20kms from Calloundra, the car ground to a halt, and wouldn't restart. The course car managed to tow them back to Calloundra, but unfortunately, they couldn't get the car running again. Soap had completely blocked the carby, and it was the end of the event for Lada Racing.

An unfortunate finish to what would have been a good result overall for Lada Racing. It is disappointing to be robbed of a finish, with just 1.44km of competitive section to go. But a fuel tank guard is on the order books. The next event Lada Racing is looking forward to, is the next round of the QRC. It is on the 15th of July, and is the Cooloola Classic.

Lada Racing would like to say a huge thank you to Margaret Parker, Kevin Gee, Nick Gee Kingsley Smith and Jody New. Your help was greatly appreciated, and we couldn't have run the event if these people weren't present. Margaret's food at all service points were also a high point of the rally.

Lada Racing will definitely be back again next year to run this event! Thanks to all the organisers who made this event possible. Next year, the Sydney based team of Byron Langslow, hopes to be competing in this event.

Photos of the team in action