A perfectly executed victory relies on May a component, for each component in itself however small; a component none the less that contributes in the overall success. It is without a doubt that our boys did all of us proud, well done and hopefully the first of many many more.... much respect to you Niaz... You put it together and true to be a man of your word for building them what you had promised to do..... On your time, for the love of the sport and for friends that love the sports.... clone a few of you.... Could use one of you here in Yankee Land!!

BTW, here is the what we use in Yankee land as a resource for keeping abreast with the limited rallying that we do here...
http://www.specialstage.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TKVKV_yp08&feature=related

ONE measly pic is all we get after all that philosophising???

ok so what were the dramas the boys were having....When i last saw them at the "Lyons river" service point.. it all seemed good, they had done 40kms from the start.. and the next time we would meet would be 130kms later... in this time they were over taken by if im not mistaken all the suzuki's .. the really really healthy lead we had was compromised big time....firstly the exhaust broke, in a bad spot, and the tuned lenght of the pipe..was altered, so there would have been a power loss, then the gremlins reared their head again.. and there was a mis-fire at certain revs.. but it was intermittant... when you need power on demand, and the wheels are fighting the powersapping sand.. and the engine starts mis-firing... you loose forward momentum very quickly, and you cant get that momentum back if there is a splutter.... Inside the car Khuswant and Samrat were getting desperate as well, as they got overtaken by one suzuki and then the other then the other..., The put their heads together.. and worked on a plan... firstly they stopped and Sammy went to the fuel tank and undid the cap... there was a huge woosh!!!! as air got sucked into the tank....aaaahhhhaaa!!!! here coud be a problem....... also Khuswant found that if he switched the car off for a few seconds .. it would come back strong for a while, then it would do it again....so they kept stopping... releasing pressure in the tank... and jumping back again...hammering it for a while... fortunately, one of the the suzukis that over took them ..came off an embankment in the river..nose first, and ended up in a huge cloud of sand and stopped, another one came out of the river section, and about 5kms from this service point.. they blew the transfer case...... sad for them good for us...Samrat in all the excitement couldnt close the the tool box... so you can imagine the inside of the siera with tools everywhere...we now had to re- inflate the tyres,Fix all the issues..check an see that the hose we spotted in ;lyons;river wasnt leaking.. try and find the cause of this damm splutter...we still had 100and somthing kms to go
we had lost some 20 mins..and there was not much left in the buffer zone , if the boys had a flat .. so all hands on deck for the service

Sammy.. i swear to god.. if i dont get those vids.. ill post that pic of you smoking ..to your dad...

What was it?? Whooosh doe not describe a case of gas tank vacuum?? More like very high pressure build up in the tank.

Now THAT'S a threat, Sudev!

is it like the air vent in the tank cap is blocked and not letting the air through resulting in airlock and reduced/no fuel supply to pump. that is why he said it was producing good power after stoping for some time.

before we flag them off from rocky pool, lets see how good you all are... youve heard the symptoms... what would you do to fix it... remember you only have a few mins... and its life and death... there is not much left in the "lead".. and we might even be in 2nd place.. so what what would you do?????????????????

Change fuel filter and leave the gas tank cap off. I know its a risk but with remaining distance you do not need to keep the tank full to brim. Tie a cloth on fuel pipe top to prevent mass spillage. Let the fuel cap dangle with a wire (if it ain't there already)

And then remember to screw on the cap just before the final check in.

hi,
i will try and put back the exhaust tuned length if possible, tighten everything to push gremlins away, make a hole in the fuel tank cap/remove the pipe which brings back the fuel to the mouth of tank/drill a small hole next to the fill cap to make way for the air to go in as the fuel goes into engine. keep the fuel level on lower side but bit more than it is required for the stage. cross my fingers.

fuelcare that is excellent... let me give you a Virtual prize

Thats very good ..the fuel lines were taken off.. and since we had a compressor running on a gennie..blew air everywhere... then the rubber seal on the fuel tank cap was removed... then we got a drill and drilled a small hole in the cap...the car was spanner checked....but the exhaust was not welded.... as ypou can see its dry and hot, and now there is raw fuel spilling everywhere..so no welding... all that meant was we could not hit the high notes with the exhaust... a lil bit frustrating when you cant hit the high note...it was a little bit like what this young lady feels

Finally the time came for the duo to get stuck into the last leg of this monumental journey, we could not drive the car after its last check up, as it was in a 'Parkfirme' area, but we started it and reved it, ind it reved clean... at the last mins, the clutch pedal came up.. and Khuswant screamed .. please check !!! please check!!! eedhur kuuch ho gya... there were mins to spare, and the last thing we needed was a time penalty... so the crew dived in, and found a dislodged clutch return spring ... so a hastily put 'Plastic tie' fixed that... then everyone became a race advisor.. and i saw them all giving Khuswant advice on how to get the car across the last 130kms or so...drive slow.. watch this look at that...be careful etc etc. so when they had all finished i walked up to the car.. shook Khuswants hand and said..."Drive the pants off the car"..No slow dont watch anything, the car is good... just flog the living daylights out of her...and you will win... this is it.. this is what we came for... "UB TOH PUURA MAARO"..Max attack. Khuswant smiled

Khuswant and Samrat lined the baby up at the start...and brought the revs up... and since the whole crew were there...i could just jump in the Landy and scream down the road, to a point where the race track runs parrell to the road...and it was with pure extacy to watch the lil red sieera, come screaming up the track






I was sure we would win, but ive been around long enough to know, that its "NOT OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS"

as the duo dissapeared in a cloud of dust.. that funny feeling came to the tummy again.. we sped down the road, and i made a "b" line for a point in the road where i knew the track crossed , this would have been about the last 20kms of the race , and if Khuswant and Samrat got here i knew they would finish...we waited for about 15 mins.. and then finally



The sweet sound of the 4cyl 16 valver was just music to my ears...there was a distinct splutter though, and as Khuswant neared.. he switched the car off coasted for about 100mtrs or so then fired her up again, and tore away, quickly we jumped back into the landy.. and headed the short way to the finish line... he was gonna make it... had we won.. or was it a second... Had Samrat and Khuswant done what no other sieera had ever done at the Gas Dash....

And then they were finally on the home straight , Khuswant had absolutely wound her up to the max, it was exciting to the max, as it got closer and closer..one more corner..and now... PEDAL TO THE METAL..the boys literally flew across the finish line


Here is the historic photo as the duo take the chequered flag


and into the history books

THIS WAS IN TODAYS PAPERS

This is the official print media of the event.. look carefully at it, and realise what this duo have done.. It dosnt say..."ROBINSONS WIN THE GAS DASH"..This is certainly a boost for Indian drivers globally


Think for a second.. among all Indian that have or are competing in the various forms of motorsport all over the world... Who has achieved what these two have achieved.. they are Giant killers. the story is not over yet.. there is still some more masala, and pics on the finish line and at PD

INSPIRING!! Nice winning story with all the details of the drama associated with motor racing!!

simply amazing and inspiring

For the town of Canarvon, (which is a small town)..This is a big event, and as you get to about 50kms from the town you can pick up the local radio station, on your car FM station...i had tuned in, and all that was happening on the radio that day was "GASCOYNE DASH " related..they were interviewing the driver's and Navigators as they came in, and updating placings.. and giving us the news as it unfolded...We got to the finish point about 10 mins before the duo got in.....and immediately the Radio people caught me and wanted to know all about the Indian team and .The were broadcasting from the track that day.. and it was all live and happening.. so here i am giving the locals all the info on Samrat and Khuswant and our effort , our dramas...i wish i had it on vid so you all could hear the fun we were having




Then , the boys pulled in....and all hell broke loose

I took this photo about 10 secs befor the got out of the car on the finishline