Lactos Heritage Rally

The Lactos Heritage Rally was held in conjunction with The Computerland Rally, based in the NW of Tasmania beginning on Friday the 13th of February. It is an all tarmac rally comprising of 18 Special Stages over 3 days for pre- 1975 vehicles in 10 age/capacity classes.

Out of a total entry of 44 vehicles competing in the event were a total of 13 Sprites and Midgets. (That number again!). Heading the entry were the bugeye sprites of John Sprinzel, Tony Bennetto, Richard Dutton, Neil Blaney and locals Phil Nichols and myself. The AHSDC were well represented by Mike Gigante and Stephen Schimdt also in their bugeyes, Peter Wescott(MK 2), Simon Hughes and Russell Cox in their MK 3's and last but not least Christine Crombie and local Mick Peart in their Midgets. The popularity of the event for Spridgets obviously had alot to do with the fact that John Sprinzel, BMC rally ace of the late 50's and 60's, was competing in a Sprite prepared by Tony Bennetto.

The event started on the Friday evening with 2 stages west of Burnie, Oldina (8.8km) and Yolla (4.5km),designed to settle everybody into the rally. On completion of these all competitors returned to Burnie, to an underground Parc Ferme impound overnight. All Spridgets performed well, although on return it was found the Sprinzel bugeye was down to 2 cylinders but was quickly diagnosed as a lost venturi fixing screw and easily replaced.

That evening at The Wellers Inn lots of smiles of relief were to be seen from drivers and navigators at an impromptu BBQ (borrowed from the mayor of Burnie no less!), where support crews, family and friends all joined in to shed the tension of the days and weeks (and months for some) of preparation for the rally. Notable faces amongst the crowd were National Registrar/ Historian Ray English and Neville and Irene Mansfield from QLD. with their trusty bugeyes, Rob LeCouteur (who needs no introduction! ), Mike Summers from Melbourne and Neil Wakeman from Aust. Classic Car who had all traveled to Tassie to support the crews.

Day 2 started early for crews, who collected their cars at 8am., to check and service prior to starting at approx. 10.30am. The day saw us start with a 'warm-up' stage, 31 km to the SW of Burnie, at Mount Leslie (5.5km) before proceeding down the famous Hellyer Gorge (15.5km), one of the most challenging and spectacular roads through rainforest and pine plantation in Tasmania. Following this was the longest special stage for the event, the 26.2km haul into Savage River. Thankfully earlier rain in the area had cleared to brilliant sunshine and a "mostly dry road with a few damp spots under trees". (Information provided by a friendly female member of the local police and confessed Sprite lover!).

This stage is long and arduous, full of twists and turns as it makes its way through many valleys and gullies. Almost all the Spridgets arrived safely except for the Phil/Ritchie Nichols bugeye, which had an 'off' on the second last corner but with the damage minor, was able to continue to the end of the stage. Anxious service crews, fuel and an hour lunch break greeted us in Savage River where we had the opportunity to rest for the long day ahead.

After lunch saw us complete the reverse of the morning stages, except for Mt. Leslie, back to the Burnie Civic Centre for a 15 min. service break and then onto 2 stages south of Burnie, West Ridgley (8.1km) and Tewksebury(4.3km). On the Tewkesbury stage Simon Hughes and Christine Crombie encountered problems as did the Stewart/Neil Blaney bugeye whose water pump gasket had begun to leak, spraying water onto the distributor robbing them of power. Fortunately they were able to make the 75 km journey back to Burnie to the next service break and regroup prior to the last stage for the day. This was City of Burnie,a 2.5 km blast through the streets of Wivenhoe and up the twisty climb of Round Hill to the finish.

As you may have guessed it was back to the impound overnight to find that several Sprites had encountered problems that would have to be fixed early the next morning. The end of day 2 saw most competitors tired, and happy to have a quick beer and feed before hitting the bed in anticipation of the early start the next day.

Day 3 started for everyone at 7am. When the overnight impound opened and our service crews swung into action. Melissa and I had discovered a leaking oil seal in one of the rear hubs and Neil and Stewart had a similar problem, to add to their leaking water pump. Richard Dutton had a race against the clock to find a replacement generator and suitable fan belt, and the carpark at the Caltex Burnie at one stage resembled a Spridget wrecking yard with wheels, tools etc. lying everywhere. Meanwhile the Sprinzel sprite was purring along and in his own words, John was having a ball!

The first stage for the day was a new addition, Camena (6km) through rural roads 20km to SE of Burnie, which was followed by Leven Valley (7.5 km) run in reverse to last years rally. It was apparent that Mike Gigante/Peter Brice were putting in a big effort to try to cut into Tony Bennetto and Paul Ellis's lead in class C2 with two of the favorite stages of the rally, Isandula (8km) and Gentle Annie(15.5km) to come.

At the start line to Isandula we were advised by officials that a car had rolled at around the 2km.mark and you could understand our dismay to discover it was the Blaney's bugeye. Thankfully they were not hurt and the damage was superficial and the bug drivable although they were out of the event, as was Richard Dutton who had exceeded his late time at the start by less than 2 minutes. Gentle Annie and Moina (6.9Km) passed without incident and it was with great relief to see our "mobile fuel bowser" driven by Hobart Sprite enthusiasts Tina and Craig Trenham in the service area at Cradle Mountain. Not only were cars empty at that stage but crews were also in need of replenishment!

After our 1 hour lunch break we headed for our 152 km haul home, firstly heading west to the Murchinson H'way and then north towards Burnie where we were to face the final three stages of the rally, Hellyer Gorge, Mt. Leslie and Oldina, all in reverse direction to before. Most of the competitors were thrilled to get another chance at the challenging Hellyer Gorge, to see if they could better their previous day's time. Peter Westcott's Mk 2 literally 'struck' trouble in the form of a guide post on Mt Leslie which hampered their run over the final stage Oldina. It was very pleasing to see a large contingent of Spridget supporters waving enthusiastically during the last stage, and to be able to return the gesture. (Melissa was driving and I had plenty of time!)

On return to the Lactos Cheese Centre everyone was all smiles and celebration drinks flowed as we all unwound and waited for presentations to be made to the provisional winners. Later that evening most competitors and their friends attended a semi-formal presentation Dinner where everyone had a chance to catch up with each other and relate to stories about the rally.

To sum up, the Lactos Heritage Rally is a great opportunity for sporting car owners not only to drive their cars as they were intended to over some of the best roads in the country, but also to meet new people with similar interests without breaking the bank balance and to experience the fine things Tassie has to offer.

Hope to see more of you in '99

Dale and Melissa Coombe

Reprinted from Sprite Torque - April 1998