News Archive 2006
NGK Rally Of Melbourne
Posted Friday, September 29th, 2006.
In the final event of the NEC Australian Rally Championship, the Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team have blown away the competition with their rapid pace in an aging car.
The event, the NGK Rally of Melbourne held in the Yarra Valley, offered the Bendigo Bank crew of Glen and Matt Raymond a mix of fast and slow roads including an array of surfaces which are subject to Melbourne's weather.
The crew blasted into the first group of stages, pushing the 15 year old Subaru Liberty well past its potential to be sitting in an amazing 6th Outright, including 5th Fastest time outright on stage 3, the fast blast down Don Road. To add to the excitement, the team were also leading the RaceTech Steel Victorian Rally Championship.
"To be so competitive against Australia's best in old machinery is a real buzz," remarked driver Glen Raymond. "We haven't had any real troubles, however the brakes have been getting so hot they are catching on fire!"
With a repeat of the same stages, the team was able to consolidate their position to remain in 6th outright and 1st State. The glory however was to be short lived, when a cam seal was found to have popped out and dumped all of the engine's oil. A concerted effort was made to fix the seal during service, but on the next stage all the oil was lost along with the giant killing result.
"Despite the retirement, to prove we can have the consistent speed is a real encouragement," stated team manager Roy Raymond as the service team prepared the car for Sunday's competition.
Heat 2 was to be greeted with wet and slippery conditions, making the Bendigo Bank crew's challenge even more difficult as the opposing cars have computer aided differentials giving their car traction advantages over the team's older Liberty.
All was well into the first stage until they caught another competitor who was having troubles. Despite the vast amount of time lost catching and passing the car and a slowly deflating front tyre on stage 2, the crew were still able to be 7th Outright and 1st in the Victorian Rally Championship.
The crew were able to hold onto this position for the rest of the rally, despite 2 stages being cancelled to dangerous weather and a gear selector problem creeping in on the final spectator stage.
After the car was checked and cleared through post-event scrutineering, our results were confirmed of 7th Outright, 1st outright State and 1st in class in both. The first outright in the State component also gave the team its first ever Outright win.
"This a great way to end the year," said navigator Matt Raymond. "It's great to show an old car can still match it with the new ones, we'll definitely be out next year, maybe in some newer machinery and hopefully improve on the pace we have shown this weekend!"
Mid-Season Report
Posted Friday, August 11th, 2006.
Midway through their first attack into the NEC Australian Rally Championship, the Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team has come away with smiles all round. The young crew of Glen and Matt Raymond in their Subaru Liberty RS Turbo are being recognised as an up-and-coming crew, which includes becoming the crowd favourite due to their sideways driving style.
In only their first year in a self-built 4-Wheel Drive Turbo and the NEC Australian Rally Championship, the team has come through far exceeding expectations. Every event contested this year has resulted in the team running in the top ten and winning their class, accumulating to running in the top 6 outright at the last round in Tasmania.
The team's giant effort is being recognized with channel TEN broadcasting footage across Australia of the team rallying in the Tasmanian round. "This year has been an awesome experience," stated driver Glen Raymond, "As a team we are constantly learning, and its paying dividends through our rapidly improving results each event. The future looks very promising, and with constant development the prospects are really exciting."
In a rally event the car is pushed to the limits, hurtling down dirt roads, bouncing over rocks and going over jumps require a strong car, one the Raymond Partners Team have found in the Subaru Liberty. "Rallying is one of the most extreme tests on a car," navigator Matt Raymond said, "And the Bendigo Bank Subaru is a strong package, and accompanied with the all-wheel drive system and the fantastic grip from the Michelin rally tyres it makes a great rally car."
The last two rounds of the championship, South Australia on the 19th & 20th of August and Victoria on the 23rd & 24th of September in the Yarra Valley, are having the team eagerly preparing the car ready for competition.
Subaru Safari Rally Tasmania
Posted Tuesday, July 25th, 2006.
The Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team has stamped themselves as a top ten competitor after the fourth round of the Australian Rally Championship, the Subaru Safari Rally Tasmania.
Based out of Tasmania's photogenic Huon Valley, the roads offered a challenging mix of slippery and fast conditions. The wet conditions presented a challenge to the crew of Glen and Matt Raymond, as this was their first experience of wet weather driving in a 4-Wheel Drive car.The whole team would experience a learning curve, but leaving the team excited for the challenges presented by the event.
Despite taking a conservative approach, they were still placed 7th outright half way through the first day. "We started of the morning taking it easy, just gaining the experience in untested conditions," stated navigator Matt Raymond, "but in the afternoon we started to push and set consistent 6th outright times and even knocked off some of the big boys!"
Pushing up into 6th Outright, the excitement for the teams first Australian top 6 result were dashed when they suffered a flat tyre on the last stage, a problem due to the very rocky nature of the roads. Despite the disappointment, the team were ecstatic to finish equal 7th outright and win their class.
"The Bendigo Bank car ran superbly, and to come away from a learning day with 7th at Australian level is just awesome!" said an excited Glen Raymond.
The excitement carried forward to the next day with the crew by sitting in 8th outright, 1st in class half way through the second day.The prospect of another solid result was dashed when a front driveshaft broke, and with over 100 kilometres of driving left without service the decision was made to pull out before any more damage was done.
Despite the retirement, the team is thrilled with their results from the weekend, and excited to be known as one of the crowd favourites.
coates Rally Queensland
Posted Sunday, May 28th, 2006.
The Raymond Partners Rally Team have taken away an encouraging result from the Coates Rally Queensland. In just its second event, the Subaru Liberty RS duo, Glen and Matt Raymond were able to set some times far and beyond expectations for their car and experience level.
Up against far faster and modern machinery, the crew were up to 8th outright after the second stage, despite taking a conservative approach to the technical stages inland from the Queensland's famous Sunshine Coast.
However, disaster struck the team when the car massively overheated in the Queensland sun, resulting in the crew devastatingly dropping minutes to the leaders. Penalties after a late exit whilst the service team frantically tried to rectify the overheating troubles pushed down the teams outright position.
The team overcame other minor issues including an intercom failure to set an amazing 7th outright on the last stage, setting the precedent for the next day. "Despite all the issues we were still over the moon to come back from behind to be 11th overall," stated Driver Glen Raymond. "Minus the time penalties we were 8th outright and could have been even higher if we didn't crawl through stages trying to cool the engine. It was a real encouragement and we learnt a lot during the day."
The team's excitement of a stronger result and a big push for another outright result on Sunday was dashed when 100 metres into the first stage the engine blew, leaving the team disappointed but excited about the future prospects.
Despite the disappointment, the team has taken the positives and is looking forward to the Subaru Safari Tasmania in July for a clean run in the contrasting cold to the Queensland heat.
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