This is my report on STPR Pro-Rally I took part in last week.
It has NO BRITISH CAR CONTENT, but I thought people may be interested in
reading it experience. It is split up in to 3 sections.
STPR 1992
Late April of 1992, saw me making several trips to the local Subaru dealer
for an assortment of parts. Most were suspension parts, but also included
a couple of brake components. I had decided that the only way that I
was going to take part in the 1992 STPR Pro-rally was to have, a reliable
car that I could count on.
I started preparing the Subaru in early May, by first disassembling the
front suspension, replacing all associated bushes, ball-joints,
bearing, axles etc. Next came the rear suspension, which got similar treatment
over the course of the following days. Then the brakes, which were also
dissembled, and rebuilt with fresh parts. And so it went on until the end
of May, when I had decided that I had done enough work on the car that it
should stay together during the rally.
Two days before the rally, Rob Hill (my co-driver) and I
spent an evening tearing through the Pine Barrens, shaking the car down and
seeing if we could find any potential problems. We adjusted the lights, set
the Halda, and went through our check list, making sure that we had not
forgotten anything.
I loaded the car up Thursday morning and headed off to Wellsboro by lunch time.
I had arranged to meet Rob up by Pocono race track, but I was too early to
meet him, so I made the trip to Wellsboro by myself. Arrived in the late
evening, pitched the tent, had a snooze, followed by dinner.
Friday we had to get up early as we were both needed to attend the rally
school, in order to get our National licences. This lasted until 2:00 pm.
after which we went over to the Fairgrounds to get the car through tech
inspection. I hate tech, and I am always nervous, when the scruteneers start
crawling under the car, checking this and that. I always feel
that they will find something which will be impossible to fix on the day and
prevent me from taking part in an event. But for safety's sake, it is
the best thing. At about 9:00 pm, a party was given by the SCCA, for all the
competitors, workers and organizers, which lasted till midnight.
I did not get much sleep on Friday night, I was somewhat nervous, and I
kept wondering what the next day would bring. It had rained for the previous
36 hours, I was somewhat anxious as to the conditions of the roads. I kept
listening to the weather forecast every couple of hours trying to find out when
the rain would cease.
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