2022 John Giddings Memorial Rally of Orange
May 7, 2022
After spending some time in the forests around Orange for the Classic Outback Trial I was looking forward to the first AMSAG event of the year using some of the same roads.
 Supplementary Regulations |  Spectators are back! See the Spectator instructions here |  Service Instructions |
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| To make a change from standing in the dust taking photos, I put on my new helmet and strapped myself into John Fraser's green Mitsubishi Lancer EVO6. (Photo is from the Rally NSW test day earlier in the year. When I took that photo I didn't know I'd be riding in the car one day.) | |
Seeded entries - just look at position 17!
Everything starts at the service park. As has been the case for the last few years it was at the Towac Park Racecourse which provides plenty of space for competitors and teams to set up and work (even if the grass is covered by a layer of frost, as it was early in the morning this time) and good facilities for catering, drivers' briefing and after-event ceremonies.
Click to see some larger pictures.
Where the rally went
You can go to Google Maps for an interactive view.
We only got to the halfway point and were eliminated by a clutch failure, but it was great to get back on the other side of the fence instead of standing in the wind, cold and dust taking photographs. I thoroughly enjoyed getting back 
into a rally car after more time away than most competitors had been alive. Cars are a lot faster now (which means calls are chronologically closer together), today's roll cages present a challenge for old buggers to get in or out, I didn't need reading glasses back then and the car sickness pills still do their job. But will I do it again? Just try to stop me. I have to thank John Fraser for inviting me to sit beside him despite my very almost medieval experience, and as he is talking about doing the remaining AMSAG events this year I must have passed the audition. I must also thank Gwyn Mulholland for coming to our rescue and towing the car back to the service park. It was too far to push it.
The story continues on the pages for each stage.
 Stages 1 and 5 Berrillee |  Stages 3 and 6 Central |  Stages 3 and 7 Thistle |  Stages 4 and 8 Paruara |
| Results | ||||
| Place | Car No | Crew | Car | |
| 1 | 16 | Conor Ferguson/Domhnall McCarthy | Subaru Impreza |  |
| 2 | 2 | Jody Mill/Snow McMahon | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 |  |
| 3 | 1 | Ron Moore/Jo Moore | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 |  |
| 4 | 5 | Ian Hill/Phillip Bonser | Ford Escort BDA |  |
| 5 | 7 | Michael Valantine/Erin Valantine | Datsun Stanza |  |
| Full Results | ||||
| Stage Winners | ||||
| Retirements | ||||
| See a full analysis of results at https://www.chrissport.co.nz/events/ | ||||
Information about this and other events can be found at https://www.amsag.com.au
