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at 160 km/h plus, lost control and ploughed into a bank. Both drivers were OK, but had
suffered serious leg injuries. This was a bit of a wake-up call. Day 1 ended in Georgetown
with an “around the houses” stage that was good fun. A great crowd of people came to see
the cars parked up afterwards.
Day 2 took us out from Launceston and up into the north east corner of Tasmania. Stage 5
– The Sidling is notorious for the very twisty roads with sheer drop-offs on one side and
vertical rock faces on the other. We got through OK, albeit I kept my eyes clearly glued to
the road and not looking at any of the drop-offs on either side. The following stages were a
mixture of high forest roads and open farm roads. The day ended on the Rossarden stage
which is located in a disused old copper mine and a township that reminds you of the film
Deliverance
.
Day 3 starts and we are blessed with fabulous weather for the third day in a row. We had a
good run in the morning only to get to lunch at Sheffield to find the bolts that hold the
alternator together had vibrated loose, so the service crew were on a mission to find some
replacements. Alternator fixed, we headed into Stage 16 – Cethana which is 37.1 km long
and comprises hilly and twisty sections at beginning and end with some very fast sections in
the middle. We got through OK, although you certainly need to keep your wits about you
for over a half an hour at rally speed.
Stage 17 – Castra was next, just a short 7.6 km. About midway through the stage we crested
a hill with a sharp left turn and then downhill into a sharp right turn. As we entered the
downhill short section I notice someone standing on the bank waving their arms, I soon
found out what it was about as there was a Porsche lying in a ditch on the outside of the
corner. I knew we were not going to make it around the corner and we were understeering
almost straight at the Porsche, I decide the bush maybe a safer bet, however we launched
over the ditch, took out a tree and came to a sudden stop on a lower embankment about 3
metres below road level. My navigator
was OK and got straight out of the car,
I could move but had some severe
pain in my back. All I could do was
try to get comfortable while the
navigator tried to shift our car in case
someone suffered the same fate. Sure
enough a few cars later a Datsun 240Z
missed the corner and ploughed
straight into the rear of the Porsche.
Both cars were pretty badly damaged
but driver and navigators were
unhurt. (Just as a footnote. Castra is the stage that Eric Bana wrote off his immaculate
Falcon XBGT hardtop in 2007.)
After what seemed like an eternity, I was taken by ambulance to Burnie Hospital to get
scans and X-rays. The doctors informed me I had fractured my T12 vertebrae and would be
in a back brace for the next 6 to 12 weeks. Well this is where those mates I talked about
earlier came to the rescue. They said to not worry about a thing, they had arranged to get the
damaged car to Burnie and would be picking it up next day. They had arranged to get it on
to my trailer and then took it to Davenport so that I could pick it up and take it straight to
the ferry. Although that wasn’t going to be easy, as the return ferry booking was not until
April 20 which was still a week away and due to a backlog, my booking could not be
changed.
Ouch! Tree 1 Escort 0