Westland Rally 2002 from Rocky's Co-Driver's Seat

Well, firstly a bit of background – after co-driving for Deane Buist last year at Nelson, I approached him about sitting beside him for the 2002 Mainland Series, and believe it or not, he agreed (with a little financial incentive).

So, it’s off to Greymouth in the new HUGE Transit van – with all the gear now rolling around in the back. On the trailer is the new bodied Corolla looking all resplendent in bright red. Deane and Bert had had a late night on Thursday trying to sort the continuing oil-pressure problem, which they believed they had fixed.

Through scrutineering with no problems and all in bed (not together) by 10pm - it’s an early start in the morning.

Down to the start for a 6.30am kick-off, and tour out to the first special stage which is the longest of the rally at around 30kms. A good run through - Deane being sensibly cautious with the ‘new’ car. No problem with the oil pressure. Jeff Judd leads from Brian Stokes. We are about 8th fastest – after using tyres that were too hard.

On to stage 2 and this has been shortened to miss out the long straights - where the Corolla shat itself last year. Another good run, with Deane feeling more confident with the car - the softer compound tyres were providing better traction. Again we are about 8th quickest.

Stage 3 - Lady Lake – what a superb piece of road – with a fantastic surface. You could run over this road all day and it would still stay the same. Another good clean run – our top speed being 182 kph (as recorded on the Stack dash).

Stage 4 – Mitchells – and another great traditional Coast road (round Lake Brunner), with a few tight ones to keep you honest. I gather John Giltrap had one of those ‘straight-aheads’ and Gary Adcock also had a good look at the lake. We are about 6th fastest for the stage. Juddy still leads the rally. Brent ‘Berty’ Buist cooks the BDA after setting 3rd fastest time.

After a service in Kumara, it’s on to Old Christchurch Road – Stage 5. A tight up-hill start that opens out to a fast finish – our top speed being a little less than Stokes’ supposed 210kph. Again, no dramas with a 7th for the stage.

A loooooong lunch break at Hoki-poki – to allow timing crews to move and it’s off to the wee Adairs Rd stage. This stage starts with a lovely roller-coaster type 6km road with a hairpin turn onto another 6km boulder track i.e. it’s a little bit rough. We hurtle along the straights with Deane doing his utmost to keep it ‘on the island’ to be 5th fastest. Juddy retains the lead from Brian.

Onto stage 7 – the infamous Lake Kaniere and what must be one of the best rally stages in the South Island. Deane is getting more and more confident with the new car as the day goes on and he attacks this one. We come across Jeff Judd stuck off the road amongst some pungas that he had relocated. Deane has the Corolla ‘dancing’ through the tighter sections to post the 2nd fastest time – only 3 seconds behind Stokes (who apparently has to drive over one of the  pungas from Mr Judd’s excursion).

 With Deane getting more courageous (and flying over blind brows), I am concentrating more and more on my routebook! (Get the picture). I think I only had one instruction, but I vividly remember concentrating very hard on an instruction that was 8 kms away! The faster he went – the more I kept my nose in the routebook. With Judd now out, Stokes leads (by a minute) from Hugh Owen, who is another minute ahead of Tracy Mann.

Stage 8 is back to Adairs Rd and a repeat of what is now the ‘rougher’ bit. All I can remember this time through was it being so rough, that the dash was bouncing up and down so far that you couldn’t read anything on it – I swear it was moving 6 inches! We set 3rd fastest time.

Stage 9 – a reverse run through Old Christchurch Road. The top 4 positions are essentially decided with a minute between each place. The stage finishes with the twisty downhill section and by now Deane is completely at ease with the car. We sail down the hill – in typical front-wheel-drive fashion – with the spectators clapping in awe. Again, a 3rd fastest – 4 seconds behind the stage winner. Our sources told us that we lost those 4 seconds between the start and the first corner.

Stokes wins, from Owen, Mann and then Deane Buist. There is still the minute gap between each place. A bloody good rally with a great result.

Other points to mention:

• It was good to see 40 entries – an increase of 10 from 2001.
• The service times were very generous – but better that way than the other.
• Did I learn anything from sitting with Deane? Yes – I’ll never be that good a driver in my lifetime – and it’s a shame more people don’t get to experience what I did.
• Half the field were using Silverstone Tyres – including 7 of the top 9 finishers.
• We raised $300 for Roger McKernan – thanks to all those who contributed. Special thanks to Trudi for her help.
• Bert helped prepare 8 of the cars – some 20% of the field.
• The BIGGEST moment of the rally – travelling over (near Arthurs Pass) when the huge truck and trailer unit in front of us stopped, and Smithy (driving Juddys truck with the car on the back) who was behind us, nearly didn’t (stop). That was close!

Roll on Otago – and we’ll see you all there.

Rocky Hudson.