Congratulations to Bryan and Rudi and thanks to all donors and supporters!
Back in September RBYC hosted the inaugural RBYC Car Show in support of club member Bryan Drummond and his friend Rudi Ota who had entered the Spring Box Rally raising funds for the Cancer Council. The Shitbox Rally is an opportunity to drive cars worth just $1,500 across Australia via some of its most formidable roads in support of cancer research.
Well, they made it! After 7 days and thousands of kilometres the Bright Old Sparks completed the distance with stories to tell. They raised $25,656 for the Cancer Council and received recognition for raising more than $25k and 11th out of 228 starters. The proceeds from the RBYC Christmas Pudding sales represented the final donations to the Bright Old Sparks. The Spring rally stands at $2,495,412, while the total raised since the Shitbox events started 15 years ago exceeds $60million!
Some stats for the round trip Melbourne/Alice Springs/rally route to Gold Coast/ Brisbane/Melbourne.
- Total of 8,177km, using 618L fuel, for a creditable 13.2km/L
- 12 cars did not finish, and their drivers got an award medal for failing! Many other cars were successfully triaged, as was Sparky for a damaged fuel line.
- 52 medical first aids were treated. Two with broken ribs were sent to Bourke hospital but continued with the rally. They came a cropper trying the “cow drum ride” at one of the stops.
Here are some of the highlights and a selection of photographs.
Day 1 – A relatively easy day to start with (compared to what was coming up later). The trip was 484km with 211km on unsealed roads. A few were rough and corrugated, but Sparky went ok. Their Buddy Group consisted of 7 cars and all made it. The countryside was isolated with its own beauty.
Day 2 – The “triage area” started to get quite busy as everyone drove on into the night, with some vehicles needing to stop due to overheating. The final 209km of the 710 total was unsealed and in the dark, and Sparky bottomed out a few times.
Day 3 – 518km with 403km unsealed. All travelled OK and helped each other when things went wrong. Everyone camped at the Copley caravan park and there was a long breakfast queue at the Copley community hall in the cold morning before heading off again.
Day 4 – The group passed through a part of the Flinders Ranges and a lot of barren land in South Australia to get to Silverton. It was 586km with 276 unsealed, rough and windy but very scenic with blue sky and mild. An early stop at the Parachilna pub was a pleasant 1hr stop.
Thereafter the troubles started. Three flat tyres were easily dealt with. A punctured fuel tank took an hour to sort out. One of the buddy group fortunately had the right jbweld bog to seal it. He ran out of fuel later and had to use one of his 20L jerricans. There were several other dramas including a Falcon who lost the top nut of the RHF shock absorber. This required some innovative trial and error to line up the shock with the hole, jacking the brake disc with wheel off, and everyone standing on the bull bar and front of car to compress the spring enough to get the thread of the shock through the mounting hole. Despite all this, everyone was in good spirits.
Day 5 – For the Silverton to Bourke leg the sky was bright and clear. There were 10 cars in triage the previous night but all were back on the road in the morning. Unfortunately, Sparky scraped the bottom and ripped some brackets on the fuel tank, which were repaired – however that was just the beginning of the day’s challenges as they also hit a rock, bending the fuel tank and cracking a hose. The day finished very late!
Day 6 – Several mechanical wizards had managed to fix the previous day’s damage, and Sparky was happy to be in it for the trip from Bourke to Nindigully. The 468km drive included 209km unsealed, and they had to work hard to keep the car on the ridges and out of the tyre ruts to minimise bottoming out because the clearance was reduced with the bent fuel tank brackets. The fuel pump fix kept them going and they succeeded on reaching Nindigully.
Day 7 – The last day from Ninidgully to the finish line at Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast was 547km and all on sealed roads, but these were quite bumpy. Sparky scraped the fuel tank brackets a few times but made it.
After tidying up the car and tightening the fuel tank brackets in Brisbane, Sparky left for Melbourne on Monday and arrived Tuesday night after an overnight stay at Dubbo. Fortunately, the fuel pump fix lasted the distance!
As you can see from the selection of photos it was a great adventure. Well done to Bryan and Rudi!
