2022 Dimension 1 Oberon Forest Rally
November 5, 2022
Saturday, November 5, saw the running of the 2022 Dimension 1 Oberon Forest Rally, based at Black Springs and organised by the Australian Motor Sport Action Group (AMSAG). It was Round 3 of the Pipe King AMSAG Southern Cross Rally Series.
The weather earlier in the week threatened the running of the rally. A huge amount of rain at the start of the week had seen Brisbane Valley Creek high up over Sewells Creek Road and Foleys Creek Road, Native Dog creek putting more than a metre of water plus a large tree across Essington Road and Campbells River doing whatever it could to flood the roads to be used in the southern part of the event. If the water had not receded the event would have had to be cancelled.
 Supplementary Regulations |  Spectator Instructions |  Service Instructions |
Click for some scenes around the Service Park
Where the rally went - click for a larger view
Because I was going to be inside a car instead of outside taking photos, I asked professional photographer Roy Meuronen to get me photos of the first three place getters plus car 39. It was a reasonable assumption that car 39 (the one I was in with John Fraser) would not be in the first three, although there is always hope.
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On the day all the water had subsided and all the roads were open. The only remnant of the flooding that could affect competitors was the causeway where Native Dog Creek crosses the road in Essington State Forest. This was in a competitive stage where drivers would be expected to be going hard and erosion around the ends of the concrete causeway could have caused significant damage if hit at speed. The problem was noted in the competitors' instructions and reinforced by a mention at the drivers' briefing, so nobody came to grief there.
The event was based in the dead centre of Oberon Shire at the Black Springs Community Hall, with the service park across the road in the Avoca Pioneer Park. The location could not have been better, especially as there was food available from breakfast onwards catered by the Black Springs Community Association. AMSAG are noted for the way they look after competitors and this was no exception. Service crews didn't have to move during the day, with cars returning three times during the event for fuel, repairs and hot food.
Rallies bring a lot of visitors to Oberon, with about 300 people coming when you count car crews, service teams, spectators and officials. There was one local in the event, however, and I was the codriver with John Fraser from Orange in Car 39, a Misubishi Lancer EVO. Unfortunately our day was brought to an early end by a clutch failure after the third stage, but we were able to get the car back to the service area for an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at repairs. There will be more rallies and we will be back. With 21 retirements out of a field of 54 starters we were not alone in having problems.
 My friend Helen Hayden asked me to be philosophical about the reliability of EVO clutches |  Someone suggested that Bob The Builder had a suitable candidate for team t-shirts. |
AMSAG events are well known for the quality of the roads used, and this event followed the tradition. There were five stages run twice with a meal break. Stages were in the Roberts Road part of Essington Stare Forest, two more stages in Essington, a run around the Beemerang Road area of Vulcan State Forest and the final stage in the Arkstone part of the same forest.
Roads were in excellent condition considering the week's rainfall and were a credit to the Forestry Corporation staff who maintain the roads. There was even dust, and the occasional washaways and boggy patches were easily handled. Nobody complained about the conditions and everyone can't wait to get back into the excellent forests around Oberon. This was the third rally in 2022 in the area, which shows the popularity for competitors and organisers. Someone joked "The cars should be able to drive themselves around here with all the practice they've had".
Outright winners of the event were Tim and Chloe Wilkins, with Glenn Brinkman/Dale Moscatt and Ron and Jo Moore taking out the minor placings. All were in Lancer EVOs, which showed that not all of them break like ours did.
AMSAG should be congratulated on the way the event was run, although this would not have been a surprise to anyone who had attended any of their events in the past. Thanks must also go to the Forestry Corporation, NSW Police and Oberon Council because without their support there would have been no rally.
| Place | Car No | Crew | Car | |
| 1 | 1 | Tim Wilkins/Chloe Wilkins | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 |  |
| 2 | 9 | Glen Brinkman/Dale Moscatt | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9 |  |
| 3 | 22 | Ron Moore/Jo Moore | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO6 |  |
| 4 | 5 | Andrew Maurer/Brett Kerr | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO6 | |
| 5 | 7 | Connor Ferguson/Joseph Quinn | Subaru Impreza |
A report on the event appeared in the Oberon Review on November 10, 2022
Information about this and other events can be found at https://www.amsag.com.au
