News Archive 2008

Coffs Coast Rally

Posted Thursday, November 20^th, 2008.

The final round of the Australian Rally Championship brought sun, surf and heat to the Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team who headed to the Coffs Coast Rally. Held in the holiday location of Coffs Harbour, the heat is a stark contrast to the cold experienced in the last round in Tasmania.

For the first time at an event, the team performed pre-event testing to ensure the car and driver Glen Raymond were well sorted prior to the event. The crew was also able to fine tune the car's handling setup to finally give the driver the ability to push 100% on the dangerous Banana Coast roads.

Entering into Heat 1, the confidence of Raymond and navigator brother Matt was soon evident with them charging easily into fourth outright. However, tyre dramas were to unfold when the team suffered two flat tyres. Having only one spare tyre resulted in the crew having to drive on a flat and plummet them from 4^th to 12^th Outright.

"It is definitely frustrating to get two flats, but even more so when we didn't hit anything and took it easy through the rough parts," said Matt Raymond. "However, we now know the stages and will be able to push tomorrow in Heat 2."

Heat 2 started well, with them instantly setting 2^nd Outright time equal with Toyota works driver Simon Evans. Despite taking no risks during the heat, the team was able to consolidate the previous day's efforts to come home in second outright, their best heat result to date.

Despite the heat 1 tyre dramas, the team were elated to be able to finish 3^rd outright in the Australian Rally Championship for the event. Without the punctures, they would have finished 2^nd overall.

"After spending a year chasing the setup of the car to suit my driving style, I'm so happy to have a car to that is so fun and confidence inspiring to drive," stated Glen Raymond. "After a year in the car and with some fine tuning of the setup, we are really looking forward to hitting the ground running next year."

You can see footage of the boys at the spectator point below:

Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge Results

Posted Thursday, October 9^th, 2008.

The Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team have gained their best result ever in the latest round of the Australian Rally Championship, the Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge. Running on tarmac roads for the first ever time in the championship, brothers of Glen & Matt Raymond were able to push their Toyota Corolla to finish on the event podium.

"I can’t believe we finished on the podium, " said an elated Glen Raymond. "It’s been a hard journey to get here, and even though we didn’t win, it definitely feels like we did!"

It was also a first for Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship with the manufacturer pulling a 1-2-3 finish. With TRD Drivers Neal Bates & Simon Evans 1^st & 2^nd in their S2000 Corolla’s, Raymond finished 3^rd in his more standard Group N Corolla.

"Tarmac is such a different surface to gravel, with a different driving approach resulting in the learning curve being steep. With it being my first experience on the hard surface I drove to my own game, and thanks to the pre-event advice from Neal (Bates) we were able to come away with a podium." Raymond said.

With no mechanical troubles thanks to the meticulous preparation at Mammi Motors, the only struggle was the uphill sections where the Group N Corolla lacked the outright horsepower comparative to its competitors.

"The in-car footage will be funny with both Glen and I cheering the car on to go faster," laughed navigator Matt Raymond. "But with that said, thanks to the Michelin tyres I was amazed how much speed we were carrying through the wet corners to make up the time."

After a great result, the team now looks excitedly towards the final round of the championship held in Coffs Harbour on the 15^th & 16^th of November.

The team would like to thanks its sponsors for the continued support: Raymond Partners Accountants, JNJ Electrical Contractors, Mammi Motors, Bendigo Bank, Premium Electrical Services, Global Energy Solutions, Michelin Tyres, Quality Site Welding, Legible Signs, Critical Damping Services, Jen’s Dinkum Discounts, and VicParts

Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge

Posted Wednesday, October 1^st, 2008.

A whole new dimension has been added to the Australian Rally Championship when for the first time in its history a full tarmac rally has been added to the calendar, this weekend's Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge. The challenge will be faced head on by the Raymond Partners Accountants Rally team of Glen & Matt Raymond, with their Toyota Corolla rally car been converted from a forest machine into a road racer.

Preparation for the event has been slightly altered for the tarmac round comparative to the usual gravel events faced in the championship. With a smooth and high grip level surface, the team has been able to completely change the car set-up. Fresh from a touch up at Blackwell Bodyworks, the car will stand out from the crowd with its new look which includes stiffer, lowered suspension and bigger racing wheels to make sure the Corolla maintains as much lateral grip as possible during cornering.

Team driver Glen Raymond was also given a huge lift when Toyota Racing Development driver and current leader in the championship, Neal Bates, flew to Victoria to give Raymond tarmac driving tips.

"To have Neal (Bates) in the car and help with my tarmac driving was awesome," stated Raymond. "Not only has did he teach me to be a faster tarmac driver, but also a safer one too. I'm really looking forward to the event where I can put my new techniques into practice."

"We can't wait for this weekend," said an excited navigator, Matt Raymond. "It's a whole new kettle of fish, but we are there to learn, have fun and also bring home a car that for once isn't covered in mud!"

Motorsport News Article

Posted Wednesday, September 17^th, 2008.

Click here to view the 'Talking Tarmac' interview of Glen Raymond by Andrew Van Leeuwen, where they discuss the differences and variations between gravel set-up and tarmac set-up.

Q & A with Glen Raymond

Posted Monday, August 11^th, 2008.

Click here for a recent interview with Glen on the rally.com.au website.

Mammi Motors & Pre Rally SA Release

Posted Friday, July 18^th, 2008.

Long time Victorian Rally Competitors Gerald and Chas Mammi from Mammi Motors have made the step up into the Australian Rally Championship by becoming involved with the Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team. Using their combined industry and motor sport experience, they have overtaken all of the vehicle preparation on the team's Toyota Corolla Group N (p) rally car.

Both Mammi brothers began circuit racing in 1989, using their engineering skills to build a Datsun 1000 running a Holden 6 cylinder turbocharged engine. However the attraction of dirt rallying hit them in 1998 and with the speed and reliability of their self-prepared Datsun Stanza driven by Gerald, the team was able to win the 2003 & 2005 Victorian Club Rally Series, an extremely competitive series which includes many well driven Four Wheel Drive Turbocharged cars.

"We are passionate about our rallying," stated Gerald Mammi, "and because we rally, we understand the rigours that a car is put through to be competitive. This knowledge we transfer through to all our cars we service, be it race or road."

Driver Glen Raymond is thrilled with the generous offer from Mammi Motors, who operate out of their Somerville Factory in Somerville, Victoria (03) 5977 7973. "They did our dyno tuning when we ran our 1970s Toyota Corollas, and now they do the preparation on our 2006 Toyota Corolla, proving they're capable to work on anything new or old or in between." said Raymond.

Since taking over the mechanical preparation of the car, the team has been able to get rid of the mechanical gremlins that kept hanging over their head.

"We're really excited about heading into the Sprint Auto Parts Rally SA," navigator Matt Raymond, "The shire roads over there are brilliant, the fast nature of the roads should suit us well. Along with a well prepared car, we are hoping to be able to have a cracker of an event and finish both heats strongly."

Photos attached - Gerald Mammi sideways in his Datsun Stanza Rally Car

The team would like to thank their sponsors Raymond Partners Accountants, JNJ Electrical Contractors, Global Energy Solutions, Mammi Motors, Quality Site Welding, Blackwell Bodyworks, VicParts, Legible Signs, Michelin Tyres, Springsure Automotive Supplies and Jen's Dinkum Discounts.

coates Rally Queensland

Posted Friday, July 4^th, 2008.

The coates Rally Queensland, held on the Sunshine coast, presented the Raymond Partners Accountants Rally Team of Glen & Matt Raymond with hot and rough conditions. Held in the bush tracks around Imbil, the event is renowned for its toll it takes on cars.

Pre-event testing brought more confidence for Raymond in the Toyota Corolla Group N (p) rally car, with adjustments made to not only suit the driver but also the rough conditions.

Getting used to the new car set-up and the conditions, the team were sitting comfortably in 6^th Outright when a dry creek bed caused the rear of the car to whip up and bend the tailshaft guard into the tailshaft. The resulting noise was an intense mechanical grinding noise. "We had thought the gearbox had broken," stated a stunned Matt Raymond. "We decided to pull over to check what was wrong. It's important to check that continuing driving won't kill the car for day two, as well as still trying to finish the stage as fast as possible!"

The same problem had occurred previously to the TRD team, but due to the inexperience with the car the crew made the conservative choice to stop. The car still drove perfectly, if not noisier than before.

The action packed day was not over, when Raymond was forced to stop a competitive rally stage when rally leader Simon Evans left the road and was in need of cautionary medical assistance.

Despite the amount of time lost, the team pushed to re-cooperate from a lowly 20^th overall position to finish 10^th Outright. This included a 3^rd fastest stage time on the final stage, which is the longest in the championship.

Heading into Heat 2, the team was keen to use the day to gain more experience in the car. Despite a spin and a flat tyre, the team was able to finish 5^th Outright. The highlight for the heat came when Raymond set a 2^nd fastest outright time, the highest placing yet for the team.

Finishing 6^th Outright for the whole weekend, if the time deducted from stopping on heat 1 the end result would have been 4^th Outright, proving the team is getting closer to the top.

The Australian Rally Championship 1-hour Review will be on this Sunday the 4^th of July on Channel 10 at 12pm which will show the Raymond crew racing through the Queensland forest.

The team would like to thank their sponsors Raymond Partners Accountants, JNJ Electrical Contractors, Bendigo Bank, Global Energy Solutions, Mammi Motors, Quality Site Welding, Blackwell Bodyworks, VicParts, Legible Signs, Michelin Tyres, Springsure Automotive Supplies and Jen's Dinkum Discounts.

Rally of Canberra

Posted Tuesday, May 20^th, 2008.

The Rally of Canberra, held in the forests around the nation's capital, came to an early end for Glen and Matt Raymond of the Raymond Partners Rally Team due to a mechanical failure in their Toyota Corolla Group N (P) rally car.

An early morning start into the first group of stages, the team picked the wrong compound tyres and suffered from a lack of grip. "I'm still constantly learning the car and what it does," driver Glen Raymond said. "Small errors such as the tyre decision help us gain the experience to make the right ones in the future."

The morning also bought a spin, an overshoot and to top it off a kangaroo jumped into the side of the car, a problem numerous rally crews encountered in the drought stricken forest.

Heading into service, a slightly concerned service chief Stephen Raymond found the car had been getting warm and had lost water from its cooling system. The damage from the kangaroo was quickly eliminated as being the cause due to it hitting the side of the car, and the team was anxiously sent out into the afternoon stages.

Hoping to claw back some time in the afternoon, the team's hopes were dashed when the car started to dramatically overheat. Despite the crew's best attempt, the car was forced to slowly cruise through the stages, resulting in vast amounts of lost time.

Once the car was back into the final heat one service the Toyota Racing Development mechanics came over and had a look and confirmed the team's diagnosis, a blown head gasket. Due to the damage already caused, and not wanting to cause any more, the team was forced to withdraw from Heat 2.

Surprisingly, the team still achieved enough to finish 6^th Outright in heat one in the Australian Rally Championship, an impressive feat proving that pushing through your problems can still bring a result at the finish.

"Obviously we are frustrated; we were taking it really easy on day one and ramping up for a big crack on day two," stated navigator Matt Raymond. "But as they say, that's rallying."

Quit Forest Rally

Posted Wednesday, April 9^th, 2008.

Round one of the Australian Rally Championship, last weekends Quit Forest Rally, brought mixed emotions for the leading Toyota privateer Raymond Partners Rally Team. The infamous ball-bearing gravel roads in Western Australia was the debut for the competing brother crew of Glen and Matt Raymond in their Toyota Corolla Group N rally car.

Despite first event nerves, the team was able to set a 4^th outright time in the first forest stage, even with the unfortunate incident of colliding with a kangaroo. However the teams fast start was to come to a sudden end when they collided with a rock buried in the notorious WA blackberries, putting their Corolla onto its side and out of Heat one.

The Corolla is such a good car compared to my old Subaru, that its turn in grip caught me out on a long medium left that tightened, Raymond explains. We clipped a rock that was hidden in the blackberries on the inside of the corner. It was frustration plus as, although it was driver error, it wasn't due to excessive speed but more so inexperience in the new car.

On the very same rock, Australian Champion Simon Evans two-wheeled his Corolla and ex-World Rally Championship driver Michael Guest rolled, proving the difficulty of the corner involved.

Heat 2 brought its own difficulties, with a lack of power dogging the team for the first half of the stages. With technical assistance from TRD, the service team sorted the issue, discovering the blow off valve, a part of the turbo charger system that vents excess induction air, was leaking and reducing power.

With an improved car, the team was able to consistently set times within the top 5 outright. Even with the time lost, the team was able to claw back time to finish the heat in 5^th Outright.

We are even more excited about the year ahead after this weekend, stated navigator Matt Raymond. There is still massive amounts of speed left in the car and ourselves. Considering our unfamiliarity with car, we were happy to be rubbing shoulders with the nation's best.

Raymond's attention now turns to the Rally of Canberra held 10-11^th May, round 2 held in the nations Capital.

The team would like to thank Raymond Partners Accountants, Bendigo Bank, JNJ Electrical Contractors, Global Energy Solutions, Mammi Motors, Quality Site Welding, Jens Dinkum Discounts, Legible Signs, Springsure Paints, Vic Parts and Critical Dampening Service.

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