Repco rally Australia 2009

[s class]

You locals need to get out and see this in NSW :

Link

[s class]

Good news :

Despite the earlier concerns which were discussed here : Link

The greenies have lost out and the rally will go ahead : Link

[OzBenzHead]

Unfortunately, the extreme tree-huggers won't take that decision lying down. Or, more correctly, they will -- by lying down in the middle of the road; by lighting "small smokey fires" along the roadside to impede vision and slow the driving (remembering that we'll be a week into our annual total fire ban period, of course!).

This rabble rants and rails against the rally (and most other motoring matters), yet seems happy to remain highly dependent, in its remote community lifestyle, on motorised transport bringing its necessities from afar.

The local letters to editor pages have been full of the huffing and puffing of these imbeciles for months, and we shan't see the end of them until well after the rally, I'm afraid. These are people who need to get a life.

As Friday the 4th is my birthday (the dreaded 60   ), I'm attending Speed on the Tweed at Murwillumbah over that weekend. Speed on Tweed will be the major rallying point for the Repco drivers after they've slaughtered all our wildlife with their "irresponsible" driving on our back roads.

My (generic) car club is attending as part of the static display of Classics.

Who knows, but with the idiotic behaviour threatened by some of the protestors, those fools who try to obstruct the rally's progress once it's running might end up being the road kill. That would be a great PR disaster for the rally organisers, but might unburden the planet of a few oxygen thieves.

[s class]

....... That would be a great PR disaster for the rally organisers, but might unburden the planet of a few oxygen thieves.

You have a way with words that makes for entertaining reading.  Back in the late 1980's (group B era) rallying had a series of fatal accidents, mainly affecting competitors, though some spectators were killed.  Since then, things have been fairly safe, and spectator crowd control has been drastically tightened.  However, rally stages are long, with a lot of access points, and its impossible to completely police them to stop idiots doing idiotic things.  So spectator injuries/fatalities are always on the cards.  Certainly, such events would cause a lot of scrutiny on rallying as a whole, and would probably have an outcome that would be unfortunate for motorsport fans. 

[OzBenzHead]

[...] You have a way with words that makes for entertaining reading.[...]

My nickname for decades was Old Acidmouth, then once I took to computers it became Old Acidmouse.

From ABC News Online, reports of some (not unexpected) stupidity from extreme green NIMBYs: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/04/2676817.htm (accompanied by a good photo of Jari Matti Latvala doing a dirt corner.

[s class]

These nimbys loose sight of how much revenue and tourism it brings to the region.  They may not be aware, but Rally Australia has a shakey future anyhow - the teams don't much like the event as its very costly to get there, and FIA now has a 'rotation' system where approx 20 potential events bid for the 12 or 14 available event slots each year.  The rough idea is that most events get a turn every second year, with some spare slots for 'new' events (ie non-traditional), such as China.  Clearly, when FIA considers the calendar each year, issues such as we are seeing here get taken into account. 

[OzBenzHead]

Rally, Sunday.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/06/2677848.htm

[OzBenzHead]

I didn't get to see any of the Rally live (I left too soon), but my Sunday morning started with a local car club outing -- which was a participating (display) visit to Speed on Tweed* (which we've done for time immemorial). Although I drove in as a club member entitled to "display" parking in the centre of the ring, as it were, it was on my condition that I must leave again by 11 a.m. I took an hour there to check out some nice machines, then left. No photos, unfortunately, as camera was locked in a stroppy (non-unlockable!) boot. :roll:

* Speed on Tweed is held in Murwillumbah. M'bah was the major rally point enroute from hinterland hills to coast.

Thence to Brisbane for a birthday luncheon 'party' (mine and a friend's) with friends, so missed all the car action.

Lots of "rally-looking" cars on the motorways homewards. Spectators in drag, or the real thing? Some looked too new and unscathed; some looked suitably ratty. I dunno. Just passed 'em anyhow (in The Skateboard -- '92 180E Povvo Pack W201). 

I do live in one of the world's Nicer Places, and that is enhanced by convenient close access to so many varied cultural events -- from top touring and international live music of all genres to world-class rallies to many lifestyle alternatives to a sane pace of life to abundant "cute" wildlife ... and of course, a few noisy, rabid, extreme tree-huggers. All involving a less-than-100 km round trip -- or a stroll to the city centre, three blocks. At worst, 200 km to BrisVegas. Never any shortage of organised (and the occasional disorganised LOL) car events to drive to, helping to keep our old Benzes alive.

At last count there were seven local car clubs here. Not bad for a hick town. (Note: As a dinky-di Lismoron, I'm entitled to say that; you may not be. LOL)

[s class]

That's a nice photo.

[OzBenzHead]

Latest ...

http://www.northernstar.com.au/story/2009/09/07/missile-shatters-rally-car/

[s class]

The greenies may not care, but expert post-rally surveys indicate great economic benefit to the regions that hosted the rally, and a near-zero ecological impact :

Ecological : Link

Economic : Link

[OzBenzHead]

Ryan: Thanks for those links.

Of course, to keep that 1000% business take increase in perspective one must have some context:

Kyogle (population 4,000; one of the two main towns on the route) has two cafes (one of which is occasionally closed down by the Health Dept for being a "salmonella palace"), one bakery, and two petrol stations. Its other businesses are a small supermarket, a clothing store (mostly filled with farmerswear), a hardware store, and three pubs. It is an economic backwater with one of the highest unemployment rates in the region, its major industry, timber milling, having undergone an extreme downturn over the past decade (thanks to the tree huggers, funnily enough). Its other industries, beef and dairy farming, are also on a downhill run (have been for years), so a 1000% trade increase isn't as much money as they'd like us to think.

Tourism is becoming the town's only promising industry, so it needs the likes of WRCs to make that viable.

None of that is to denigrate Kyogle as such -- it's a great little Border Ranges town in many respects -- but nothing short of a major and continuing miracle can salvage its economy.

As expected, no koalas were killed. That's hardly surprising: they sleep all day, high in their trees; no other endangered or threatened species were reported killed or injured. As for the snakes -- good riddance; the lizards -- shite happens, rally or not; the birds -- as for the lizards. The "mammal" -- what kind, I wonder -- big deal. Probably a bloody cat, all of which should be converted to road rugs as they don't naturally belong here and are far more destructive to native fauna than all the WRCs one can imagine.

Kyogle Link

Kyogle Link

Kyogle Link