... News ... |
11 Feb 2006 Website News - New Video! See the Multimedia section for a short (but high res) video clip, from Matt's first try at the new Jack's Hill course, in the Tenagah Evo 1. Click Here for more. Plus also there's new online video from the 2005 Sotico Safari Rally, and Stirling Stages Rally. More... |
After the success of last season, a change of class brings Team Rally FX into a field of more highly modified cars and, running our car in "standard trim" (ie: the main modifications made so far are for crew comfort rather than performance) we find ourselves very much the 'under dog'. The opening stage showed that more than one competitor in the field were "a little rusty" as tyre tracks and stage times varied wildly. After our own wild ride over the that stage, we were delighted to find that 2nd fastest in class was a good omen, as things could only get better from that point onwards. Unfortunately, that was not born out by the next stage time and we were facing a big deficit and having play 'catch up' for the rest of the event. The next 3 stages were lighting fast with many long straights and ultra fast, flowing roads. With some rejuvenated determination, we went quicker through the stages, and came to the mid point service leading P2, having all but destroyed our tyres in the process! As the road conditions deteriorated over the next 4 stages, driving at speed required even higher levels of concentration again. With the added problem of thick dust, the closing night stages proved to be crucial to the overall competition. Team Rally FX were chasing Turbo 4wd cars and struggled through their dust to finish this tough event and net first in PRC-2 and 4th in F2 (2wd cars). |
Matt Green and Brian D'Arcy, won the 2002 WA State Rally Championship Class N1 at the final round of the WA Championship, the Stirling Stages Rally run by the The 2002 Stirling Stages Rally was held in the Harvey area, using some of the roads seen at Rally Australia. Awesome country, with fast, cresty roads, with twisty sections enough to keep all competitors on their toes...! |
Matt and Brian at the finish of the 2002 Forest Rally |
We at RallyFX had it up against us in the lead up to the event, having to repair the car after a
heavy rollover that happened 8 weeks ago.
We got the car back from the roll cage builder (many thanks to Guru Welding for building the cage!)
1 Week before the rally.
The FX was put back together by Matt and David Green in 3 days.
Not a bad effort for a small operation! We started the event, with the mindset to take it steady, only having to finish to wrap up the Group N1 championship. Our closest opposition had to win, and us not finish, for them to grab the title. It became more difficult during the rally, as I caught the flu on the Thursday before. But we managed to get though the tricky conditions, and win Class N1, finishing 6th in the F2 category, 10th outright Clubman, and 20th Outright State. The 2002 season for us was a great success, with 3 Class N1 wins and 2 seconds, from 5 starts. Thankyou to all who helped and supported me during the year. -Matt Green |
Matt Green and Brian D'Arcy, won Class N1, finished 2nd in the F2 category, and finished 11th outright. After 2 rounds of the 2002 WA Championship, we hold a sizable lead in the N1 Championship. This rally was one of high attrition, with the fast, sweeping, and undulating roads, taking it's toll as there were many cars that didn't make the finish. It became difficult in the mid section of the rally, when we were slowed by crews in front of us who went off, and some were partially blocking the road. Matt/Brian managed to get though the tricky conditions, and win N1 by over 16 minutes from Nigel Brown/Roger Budz, in their Daihatsu Charade. The next WARC rally is the Sotico Safari Rally on the 1st/2nd June. |
|
RallyFX team driver Matt Green, co-driven by Brian D'Arcy, held on to win Class N1 at the Respect Yourself Forest Rally, from Scott Clarke/Justin Doney, in their Hyundai Accent/Excel. The "Respect Yourself" Forest Rally is Round 2 of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC), and Round 1 of the WA Rally Championship (WARC), held in Busselton and Nannup, south of Perth. The Rally started on Matt's 23rd birthday on the streets of Busselton in an exciting bitumen super special stage. This stage was exciting for the fans, as the action was close, and the track was narrow and fast. RallyFX had a fantastic start to the event, setting blistering times, matching some of the turbo 4WD cars. They were also the only car to catch and pass the car in front. "We were able to maintain good speed in the tight corners, using the nimble handling of our Corolla FX to our advantage." commented Matt, "This is an awesome stage, I really enjoy driving on bitumen." |
Enlargement available in Photos page |
The real forest stages started on Saturday. The Corolla FX is not as powerful as the most of the
class N1 competition, but Matt & Brian managed to
finish the rough and rocky heat 1 in second place. Overnight rain changed the nature of the
roads on Sunday, and Matt and Brian took advantage of the faster conditions and were 21 seconds in front,
and with 3 stages to go, Scott/Doney experienced gearbox problems, allowing Matt/Brian to ease off slightly,
preserve the car, and win heat 2 by over 7 minutes from Nigel Brown/Roger Budz, in their
Daihatsu Charade, with Clarke/Doney 3rd.
Round 2 of the WARC is the Lewana Stages Rally in May. |