Ross Cox: R.Sout In Brisbane

9 March 2010 in Rally Leave a reply

Meet Ross Cox of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.  Ross recently won top honors in the Qld Rally Championship P6 Class in his 1989 Mitsubishi Galant VR4.  An active member of the Brisbane Sporting Car Club, Ross shares his rally opinions and community with us.  He’s got great stories about recycling a diesel Isuzu Gemini, volunteering at the WRC level, and more.  Read on!  What’s your name?
Ross Cox.

Where are you located?
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

What do you do for a living?
I own small manufacturing business.

What got you interested in rally?
A mate asked me to help setup a rally in the Early 1990′s. I loved it. I was involved in setting rallies, everything from mowing the forest roads to Deputy Course Checker at a round of the National Championship. I started competing with my son Jon in 2003, he stayed co-driving till 2005 but after I wrote off the first car he decided he had had enough rallying. Since then I have won P3 Clubman Class in a 1904cc Gemini (Isuzu), finished  8th in the State level cars in a National Championship round in the Gemini, won Clubman outright in the Galant VR4 in 2007 and won the Qld Rally Championship P6 Class in 2009 in the Galant VR4.

Tell us about your rally car/truck.
Our team is called r.sout rally team. {Say it out loud, ignoring the full stop/dot}

My car is a 1989 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 2000cc Turbo 4 door sedan running an Autronic SMC computer with antilag. Four spot calipers on the front with Queensland Friction Materials Pads (local manufacturer), VR4 front rotors on the rear with big 2 spot calipers and Queensland Friction Materials Pads. Series Production Rally Car regs allow standard inlet and exhaust manifolds, but the exhaust is free after the turbo. I have a three inch exhaust from the turbo with a muffler at the rear. The inlet is free up the the throttle body but as the rules mandate a 34mm restrictor and the standard intercooler I run 38mm piping all through to the throttle body. I have the pipe from the inter cooler do a tight turn and go direct up to the throttle body to lessen the length of the inlet tract. Aluminum radiator with two fans. Night rallies are lit by 4 Hella 1000 lights in a pod with HID bulbs. Brantz Laser 3 trip computer and Peltor 120 intercom. My co-driver and I have Peltor helmets with the built in headsets.

How long have you had it?
I bought the VR4 early 2006.

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
I built the 1904cc engined Gemini from a beat-up old Diesel Gemini in 2004 to a 110hp 4 wheel disc braked little weapon with an LSD. Could do 100mph quite easily.

I bought the VR4 as an incomplete rally car and spent a year rebuilding it and learning to drive a 4wd rally car. The difference in acceleration was amazing, top speed of 120mph in the trees was an eyeopener as well.

What challenges did this cause?
Re-manufacturing engine mounts and remodeling the chassis rail from a 2wd front 1/4 cut stretched my skill as a welder. Three partial engine rebuilds before finding a sick injector was character building, but I am good at removing/replacing the engine gearbox now.  Wiring the Autronic computer was interesting but it all works, so happy with that.

What benefits did you realize as a result?
When I started racing a 4wd my speed increased and I found I was finishing in the Top 10 in State rounds. Consistency is my biggest problem as I sometimes set  third fastest times in stages and the next one, back to 8th or 9th. Enjoy the extra challenge of wet racing though.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
I wrote off our original Isuzu Gemini sedan at the end of 2004. We were 800 metres from the end of the last stage at about 9.30pm after starting the stages at 1.00pm.  An old bloke who has been rallying for many years was co-driving for me. I had an intermittent sticking throttle so had to use both feet on the brake pedal at times to slow our speed. Tony’s call was ’100-road goes right’. I was carrying way too much speed for my talent and the old car. We slid off the road and mounted the slight slope up off the road and were flying along very close to the tree line with my foot flat to the floor trying to get it back on the road. I swear to this day it looked like we were going to centre hit a large white barked tree. I swerved slightly right to miss it, the car slewed into a pine tree, collecting it just on the back left wheel. Broke the wheel and axle, tore the axle from the diff and spat us back on to the road. The car slid along to the right but both right side wheels collapsed after hitting some rocks that sent us into a one bounce on the roof roll into the lantana. When we stopped moving, I asked Tony ‘Mate, you ok?’. He said, ‘Yes, done this before’. Car was completely stuffed broken wheels, bent chassis and bent roll cage so I sent it to car heaven at the metal recyclers after removing usable bits for the new car.

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally?
The fact one can have a broken part (the spare being at home on the workshop floor) and another competitor will give you his spare so you can stay in the event.

Watching my service crew, r.sout rally team, (young brother Brett and friends, Andy, Ray and Brett) work some magic at service breaks to keep the car in the event.

The most challenging?
Keeping the car going on a small budget, doing most of the work myself, although I have lots of support from Saab Care Motorsport Services here in Brisbane. Staying on the mental side of the rally, just drive as best as I and the car can and let the chips fall as they may.

How many events did you enter last year? Six.
Is that trending up or down?  Down in 2009.

Why?
The WRC {Rally Australia} came to Northern New South Wales about 300klms from my home. I had a job on the organising crew, along with seven other enthusiasts organising and placing between 100 and 150 people on road blocks in the stages each early morning before the WRC cars entered the stages.. Meant I had official duties in an event in the mountains between New South Wales and Queensland, a ‘trial event for new volunteers’, so was unable to compete, and I missed a round at the start of the year due to a shortage of funds.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
Pipe dream, but…   I think a cash prize for stage winners (in each class) up to a maximum of the entry fee then one becomes ineligible for more cash could be fair. i.e. If it was $100.00 per stage class win and there were 10 stages = $1000.00, but if the entry fee was $600.00 and if I won six stages the cash would stop and then second in class would take the cash. Means a lot of money up for prizes though… 10 Stages-6 Classes = $6000.00. It will never happen…  LOL
Here in OZ we mostly compete for fun. There are no cash prizes. As the time has gone on since I started the entry fee costs have increased, I admit, to a point where it means I will pick and choose events in the future, unless I can pick up a kind sponsor. I noticed on the net the Supp regs for an event in New York. The entry fees were comparable for the distance of the events.

Should rallies be run as for-profit corporations?
Difficult question. I am member of Brisbane Sporting Car Club run as a business by a board of club members. The club is always upgrading radios, timing clocks, Stage boards etc. These costs also reflect in the entry fees.

If there is value for money why not. Again value for money should be the criteria. If a company was to run rallies for just profit, I think it would be a difficult proposition.

There are clubs in Queensland that run less expensive Club events in different areas of the State, and they also accommodate juniors and beginners by running Motorkhanas and Rallysprints. They are run on a volunteer basis, with a President, Secretary and Treasurer in charge of the club. They sometimes hire equipment from my club.

How important are car classes?
For me, very important. I enjoy racing blokes in similar cars, while still competing for overall positions.

What class/region do you race in?
My Class P6 is older 4wd cars, such as the Galant VR4, Celica GT-4, Nissan GTi-R, Mazda Familia, Audi Quattro. I race in the Queensland Rally Championship events, and Short Course Rally Pace-noted events three times a year.

How many competitors in your class at each event?
Worst case-Two.
Best case-Six or Seven

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes?
I thought recce was to make your own pace notes. We call other events, blind rallies. These events have a ‘road book’ supplied to competitors before the event, noting blind corners and obstructions on the stage. Essentially drive what you see. I guess if one is supplied with a really good ‘road book’ it is a safer way to rally.

Recce and doing one’s own ‘pace notes’ is fantastic fun, especially when one has run many times with a steady co-driver who knows your timing and can read the notes accurately. I feel best when I can drive and trust what I hear in my helmet. To slide over a crest at full noise and have the road going the way it should it the best feeling… lol. A drawback is when you go off the road in a pace note event it is usually at a quicker speed so there is more damage.

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare?
Love spectators.

Why?
I like to speak to interested people at the service park who know how to wait for the opportunity to chat. I never hear them in stage, but it is good fun after the event talking to people who watched you through the spectator points. Don’t like people who can’t handle their alcohol though, in the bush or in the service park.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
See the answer to ‘How would I address that issue’ question down the page… lol

Need to get the idea that Rallying is a race against the clock, on a closed road. You cannot blame someone else if you go off the road, nor do you have to rely on someone’s interpretation of your style to win an event. It is not a Drag Race either, so barking on about HP or 1/4 mile times is not the idea. It is the only Motorsport where I can race the Australian Champion on the same roads, on the same day. He will whip my arse but I know how quick I am against the best in my country.

I try wherever possible to engage people who ask about the car if it is on the trailer going to an event. Some have turned up at a rally, been given a job to do and get hooked.

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
I would consider the rising cost of the sport, even at the entry level, is stopping lots of young blokes from starting rallying. Over governance, the over the top safety aspects. I have never heard of a Rally car at up to National level here in OZ bursting into flames and killing the occupants. FIA suits give you an extra 15 secs of time in a fireball… MMMM. I can see the perceived need for cars competing at the upper levels to have good cages, the occupants to have good helmets. But a slow beginner in a basic Hyundai with a half cage should be able to compete at Club events in a pair of fire resistant overalls, fire extinguisher and a good helmet, seat and seat belts.

How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
Again, difficult question. In a perfect world I would ask car companies to donate some older model used cars to the sport, fit them with half cages, race seats and belts, maintain them during the season and allow them to be hired for events so there would be a ‘Come and Try’ aspect to entice more competitors. Lets face it, if I was allowed to hire a car for a couple events and then decided to go on and build one myself, I would be more likely to make my first rally car the same as the one I had hired.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
As I said earlier I have performed in many positions on Rally crews from initial survey, to clean up of forest roads, to Stage Setup, to Deputy Course Checker, to Deputy Clerk of Course. I will do a start or finish control and am the Competitor Relations Officer at the first Short Course Rally this season. At the WRC round I was Team Leader for the road bock set-up crews. There were some problems with stability of the database at the WRC and it was a headache to get everyone placed on stage. There were some disappointed people I admit but generally it went well.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be?
Greece I think. Rally Australia second. Although the yumps in Finland would be EXCITING!

Why?
I always do well on the Playstation/xBox Rally games rallying in Greece… LOL. Greece seems to be closer to the conditions on some rallies here in OZ.

Your favorite Group B car?
Audi Quattro. Noise is incredible. Saw a YouTube clip of Michell Mouton driving one and it wheel stands along a short straight. Would be an absolute handful to drive.

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
Marcus Gronholm. Complete professional, bit dry maybe.

Do you have a local rally club?  Tell us about it!  (If not, why not?)
Brisbane Sporting Car Club. We run the Queensland Round of the Australian Rally Championship and the most rounds of the Queensland  Rally Championship. Also a Classic Challenge Rallysprint inside the Motorsport Complex at Willowbank near Ipswich west of Brisbane. There are two Touring Road events run as navigation events with special tests at race tracks around South East Qld. The club is not run for share holders, but we have a full time secretary who handles requests for information about rallies in Qld, collates the entries for events, the Supp Regs and results for events. We also co-run, with the Goondiwindi Off Road Racing Club, a Round of the National Off-Road Racing Championship at a country town called Goondiwindi in Western Queensland (Google Earth is your friend…lol).

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
During the season, Tuesday night is rally night at Saab Care Motorsport Services. We get cars up on hoists and the mechanics help us with identifying problems. Most weekends I have someone drop in at home to lend a hand. Second Wednesday in the month is Club night, a social night with guest speaker sometimes.

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
Steel Blue Premium Industrial Footwear, an Aussie Boot Company have sponsored me since 2003.  Saab Care Motorsport Services have helped me since 2003, I am greatly indebted to the blokes who own the shop and work there. Autolec at Stones Corner in Brisbane are my Auto Electrician sponsor, again since 2003. Since 2006 Kawana Brake and Clutch on the Sunshine Coast look after the brakes, drive-train and suspension. Am looking for 2010 sponsorship at the moment.

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
My heartfelt thanks goes to the people who go out into the bush and sit on a chair for between 8 and 12 hours in the sun and then in the dark so we can compete in Rallies. Jason and I always try to remember to thank them each time we stop at controls. Also the men and women who put up their hands and give their time to set rallies, TOP JOB!!!!

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
That the sport is bigger than any one person, and although there will always be someone who is willing to cut the legs off an idea without even investigating it, the most important thing is it is FUN!!!!

In the glovebox:

• Ross Cox Follow Up: Carnage at Benarkin
• Junkyard Grabs Part One
• A Gearhead in Need

Brisbane, Mitsubishi