2023 John Giddings Memorial Rally of Orange
May 6, 2023
The Australian Motor Sport Action Group (AMSAG) turned on yet another excellent rally for the 2023 John Giddings Memorial Rally of Orange on May 6, 2023. Based again at the Towac Park racecourse it was contained within a tight area of Canobolas State Forest.
Where the rally went. Click for a larger view.
It was a day ruled by Murphy's Law.
The morning saw thick frost glistening across the service park. Because of a clash with an equestrian event, the service park was located in a different part of the racecourse to that bused in previous events. I was running short of time so I wasn't able to do my usual walk around the service park pointing the camera at people doing last minute preparation.
Another thing I try to do is to get into the first stage so I can get photos of all the competing cars. The ideal spot I had located on the map was a fair way from the service park so I set out as soon as the drivers' briefing was over. Unfortunately I missed a turnoff into the forest and when I located it I found that the road in to where I wanted to go was equal parts swamp and huge ruts. As I was driving the little red racing car instead of the "take it anywhere" Commodore I needed a Plan B, but by the time I got to another suitable location I missed many of the cars at the start of the field.
The roads into the forest were all closed of course, with signs warning people off the rally taking place. The forests are shared with other users at other times, as shown by this sign where a mountain bike trail intersected with a main forest road (one that was being used for the rally).
As I was leaving I passed a group of cyclists mounting up for a cruise through the forest. Did they take any notice of the signs saying that the forest was closed for a high speed car rally? What a silly question. They had biking to do and off they went to do it.
The next spot I picked for taking photos was one I'd used in previous rallies so I walked in a kilometre or so from a spectator point and set up ready to catch the cars at the start of the field. After about four cars had gone by there was a big gap and I heard on the UHF that Ron Moore had gone off the road and there would be a delay until the course could be cleared., A few more cars had lined up at the start control for the stage and were let go but then Ron was taken to hospital for observation. He wasn't injured but the medics on site thought that he needed some more tests. As soon as the ambulance left for the hospital the event had to be paused until it returned. By the time it got back the stage had been cancelled and the rally reorganised, facing the problem of not all competitors finishing by the time allowed in the event permit.
By the time things started up again it was getting late and the sun had gone behind the trees and hills, causing the temperature to drop. I take photos by setting the camera to take five frames per second with automatic focus, and I wind the lens as cars approach and leave. The camera battery got so cold that it couldn't deliver power fast enough to do all the things expected of it, so sometimes it responded immediately to pressing the button, sometimes it thought about it for a while before reacting and sometimes it haltingly took photos at irregular intervals. I could get around it by continually swapping the cold battery in the camera with a warm one from my pocket but this wasn't ideal. And that is why the final photos aren't as good as I'd like them to be.
And here are the photos.
Results
Click for the full results
| Place | Car No | Crew | Car | |
| 1 | 4 | Josh Redhead/Ray Winwood-Smith | Mitsubishi Lancer GSR |  |
| 2 | 6 | Chris Stilling/Tim Batten | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 7 |  |
| 3 | 2 | Sean McAloon/Mulreann Hayes | Ford Escort Mk2 |  |
| 4 | 5 | Conor Ferguson/Padraig Cronin | Subaru Impreza |  |
| 5 | 20 | Jody Mill/Brody Mill | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 8 |  |
| 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
