“We haven’t seen rain like this in Perth for many years” Was the comment we were greeted with on a spring Sunday morning. As our participants arrived and hurried from the car park to our Rally Experience HQ, light rain fell. Overnight the rain had been quite heavy at times and we knew the ground had copped a good soaking. The Sunday morning weather was a vast contrast from Friday and Saturday where the weather had been quite warm and the surface slightly dusty.
The question was: Who was going to have the most fun, the participants or the instructors?
During our safety briefing and theory lecture, we fielded questions about the rain and would it mean having to drive slowly? We all grinned at each other and then looked back at our participants “No Way!” was the answer. We know our rally cars and our venue well. The surface copes well with rain and rally tyres fitted to all the cars means the difference between wet and dry on our roads isn’t much.
During the morning, the weather seesawed between sunny breaks of blue sky and grey sky with light rain. Fortunately the wind was coming from the West and our HQ verandah provided shelter from the elements when a band of rain passed over.
Out driving in the rally cars, the participants were having a ball. 4WD power coupled with some slippy patches was making for good fun. Our forest rally tracks were providing big grins as each driver took turns drifting sideways round the corners. The rally cars up until that point were still relatively clean.
All that would change when everyone got out onto the rally stage! Lower down the hill where the rally stage runs through a series of switch backs, some puddles had formed with the rain. Hitting the puddles sideways at speed was the best way to ensure more big grins and a growing task of washing the rally cars!
By the end of the session, everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves (it was too close to pick who had the most fun). Now it was time to get the hose out and the hard work began.
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