Latest Info. from MRT 1998

8th December 1998

It has been some time since we last posted a report, the rally car now barely resembles the Honda Civic it was less than two months ago.

Honda on "The Spit" The chassis is almost bare and as I write the team are removing the engine as well! We have fully stripped the car in preparation of Sand blasting the car over Xmas. All in a bid to save (hopefully) 20 kg ! The car will be put onto the 'spit", look close you can see the attachments at either end, this way we can easily get to any part of the car by spinning it over. The "shell" will be blasted inside and out and then immediately delivered to premier panel in Greenacre to be completely re painted inside and out! Only the minimum paint will be used, as this all ads up to unwanted weight!

Even the wiring loom has (again) been stripped to remove excess unwanted wires, we now have only the bare minimum in electricals! It is hope by the end of all this we will crack the magical 1000 kg mark and get "close" to the weight of those darn Daihatsu's.

News is the factory has not approved the teams budget for 1999 so we are hoping our early plans will allow us some added vital lead time to next years attack. MRT has some new ammunition it will divulge in early 99 and all in a bid to claim back our lost title of national f2 Champions.

New teams will also be there chasing us, Simon Evans has made a bold statement with his plans of running a kit car Golf, claiming to only have to run at %80 to win, !! he has not even got the car yet! The Nichols family are planning to run the full ARC in the new Pug 2000 litre car, plans for its debut were to run at the recent State Championship event, but it did not start. The guys will need to be quickly in the groove to meet the demands and closeness of the existing F2 brigade! Lee Peterson is chasing more grunt in his Sunny, and Dean Herridge is sure to be keen after a great effort at the recent WRC event in Perth where he won convincingly from the "local" f2 boys.

Well that's all for now, time to look to Xmas cheer and enjoy your friends company as well as family . Thanks for your interest in MRT for 1998 we look forward to hearing from you in 1999 with great news!

Brett and the team.... Sydney Australia

1st September 1998

Bates wins again.
Yes, the twin brothers, Rick and Neal Bates have won both Heats at the rally of Melbourne except it was F2 driver Rick who took a Championship win.

The pace was hot today, Rick simply needed to finish, to bag the F2 title whilst Dean Herridge and Ross Mackenzie both fought it out for second place, with Ross finally gaining a lead, a broken rear brake line on Deans car in SS4 did not help!

The MRT Crew of Brett Middleton and Andrew Benefield has a good run deciding to compete with Lee Peterson, choosing not to risk damage to the car when there was nothing to win.

"We had a fair run, I was not really motivated and drove like a snail" the team went on to beat Lee.

The rally was a good event, the roads were better than last year, and the spectators great. Put simply MRT was beaten and now looks forward to a ride in the forest tomorrow with Sanyo clients and next month in Sydney. The team will not compete at rally Australia, Brett having chosen to work for Prodrive sponsor 555 looking after clients in the Corp hospitality tent!

1999 will be a better year for the team, with major partners, Sanyo and Falken already confirmed.

20th August 1998

Melbourne Here We Come. It has been some time since our last event, the Saxon Safari Rally in Tasmania. Now its time to head south, to Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, the most Southern State of the Australian mainland.

The F2 championship as well as group N still remains open, with the outright championship having been won by Possum Bourne in Tasmania. The MRT Crew, Driver Brett Middleton, Co Driver Andrew Benefield, and service Team, Scott Middleton, Ross Middleton, Steve Kennedy, and Dale Moscat are joined by Colin and Lloyd. Plus Debbie, Andrews wife, and Lisette, Bretts wife, not forgetting 8 mth baby Hayley, her 4th rally!

Rallying is a unique sport, its dangerous, yet combines team spirit (families are often involved) with close rivalry between competing crews, that often even help each other during the race!

The rally of Melbourne, counts for bonus points. Based near the centre of Melbourne crews travel approximately 1 hour to the Dandenong ranges East of the city to the extremely picturesque towns of Marysville and Healesville. The roads are generally good, some of the fastest in the ARC, plus some fantastic twisty roads such as Acherin Way, a popular tourist road!

MRT plan to have some fun, having lost any chance of winning the series the team expect a fair result. The crews of Rick Bates and Ross Mackenzie will fight it out and maybe make a mistake?

Who knows, we did well here last year,, maybe we will again!

7th July 1998

Rally event update: This is the fourth round of the five round series, starting in Hobart. This event is known for its "real" possibility of snow. This year however, whilst the days were cold, none appeared, thankfully!. A publicity stage was again used, beside the Derwent Entertainment Centre, obviously thousands were there.

Details: An entry of 45 cars (over 30 from the mainland) lined up for the publicity start on Saturday from Salamanca Place (normally well known for its finish location of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race). All the regular F2 competitors were there. We were all feeling confident, having finally sourced and repaired the problems that have plagued us all year. This was a win at all costs, with maximum attack, our only ‘chance" of putting ourselves in a position to win the series.

Heat ONE We were second quickest around the "DEC" super special stage by 1 second from Rick Bates, the rally then headed North to the proper well known "ANM" logging roads. SS2 and all was well, a stage that tested the front drive train of the car to the limit, many fast and slow hairpin corners that were in 1st and 2nd gear on very steep rocky climb. A loud bang from the back of the car was ignored as a rock, only to be found soon as a brake problem, at the end of a long 4th gear straight with a 90 degree T junction! This was seen by millions of viewers (National TV) as we had the camera on the front bumper bar, showing our trip through the trees! Inspection at the end of the stage was worse than expected with total loss of the WHOLE rear caliper! Needless to say we were down on time as we pressed on into the other remaining stages. Meanwhile the crew "borrowed" one from a new car at the Hobart Honda dealer! Repairs were made in time for the final stage.

Heat TWO With the rear brakes fully repaired day two offered a fresh start and an opportunity to attack again. Run over the same stages as Heat One the roads had become very slippery and despite driving flat out our progress was hampered by a few wrong tyre choices. Ross and Rick lead the way taking big risks as they now fight for outright championship honours. We were pleased just to have a trouble free run all day for the first time this year, experiencing no overheating problems in the cold Tasmanian air, the under bonnet air intake temperature sometimes as low as 7C, despite the motor working flat out. The rally finished with another trip around the "DEC" super special stage in front of a huge crowd. Despite been beaten in the forest we were pleased to post the fastest F2 time around this stage to finish the rally on a positive note. Possum Bourne won both heats to convincingly retain his Australian Rally Champion title for another year.

Results: Heat 1 1st Ross Mackenzie 2nd Rick Bates 3rd Dean Herridge 4th MRT Honda Civic Heat 2 1st Rick Bates 2nd Ross Mackenzie 3rd Dean Herridge 4th MRT Honda Civic F2 Points after Heat 2 MRT 54, Bates 132 McKenzie 110, Herridge 98, Peterson 35, Evans 35 Outright: Heat 1 1st Possum Bourne WRX, 2nd Neal Bates Corolla WRC Heat 2 1st Possum Bourne, 2nd Neal Bates Corolla, Comments, Unfortunately we can no longer win the championship this year, however our plan is to give the F2 fraternity something to think about for 1999, with two convincing wins in Melbourne.

Press and PR: As usual we carried a TV camera in car all weekend, which proved worthwhile with the footage of our "lost brakes off" shown nationally on Sports Tonight both nights, RPM on Sunday, the ABC, and many other news programs. Stay tuned for the 30 Min special in 1 – 2 weeks. Whilst there are no Strathfield stores in Tasmania the car was on show at a major Sanyo electrical retailer in Hobart Added to this the Sanyo (Vic) guys did a great job promoting the car and arranging client rides at the media day.

Internet: 5 Separate updates were sent out to thousands of readers; with our new laptop we now distribute results within 2 hours, so if you have an email address let me know, for UP TO DATE INFO

2nd July 1998

At all costs.
When the next round of the Australian Rally Super Series moves to Tasmania this weekend, defending triple Formula 2 Champion Brett Middleton will be out to win at any cost in his Sanyo Honda Civic.

After a start to the year he would rather forget the defending champion needs to win each of the remaining four heats if he is to have an outside chance of retaining last years crown. "There are no tactics now, it is all out to win, every time from here" commented a still enthusiastic Middleton," and it is time for the other F2 competitors to share our bad luck of this year."

The 98 spec Honda Civic, based on the popular Vti R model, certainly has the potential, having lead many times in this years championship. Technical problems with non-spec parts have proved hard to remedy in the modified twin cam engine. (The team having chosen to install a highly modified engine for this years championship). Last years championship was won with a near standard engine.

Between each event the crew have worked tirelessley to remove more weight from the car, the key to increased speed when every other element is already highly tuned. "At least I know I’m in for a "wild" ride as we push the car to the edge in Tasmania." Commented an excited navigator Andrew Benefield. Interestingly after the last round in Queensland he refused to ride a theme park rollercoaster with Middleton, but will happily strap himself in for a ride through the forest!

The event is also set for a battle of tyre brand’s with the unique chance of snow, (last years rally had 2inch’s).The MRT crew are on Falken whilst many other crews are on rival compounds…"Our experience paid off last year with vital seconds gaining us a win from the correct choice of tyres" Brett said.

The Saxon Safari Rally starts next month. In the meantime, the team is rebuilding the suspension, removing more weight and looking for that elusive edge to ensure a win.

17th May 1998

Trimmed to win.
Whilst most of us would head to the sunshine coast of Queensland to regain our health, one championship winning team have been working hard on their health before they even leave Sydney for this months Falken Tyres Rally of Queensland. The health of their car that is!! The Middleton Rally Team’s, 1997 championship winning Honda Civic has suffered from overheating and waning performance in the first two rounds of this years championship. As a result the team has worked tirelessly in the six weeks since Perth to cure the temperature problem and to remove many kilo’s of non-essential weight.

"Queensland was a very good rally for us last year" commented the teams lead driver and local resident (Ryde) Brett Middleton-"with the source of our temperature problems found we can fully use our new spec 98 engine to maximise the power to weight ratio." The team needs a victory in this round to keep their hopes alive of retaining the Australian Formula Two championship.

Whilst in Queensland the team has gained support from the Surfside on the Beach located on Buddina beach. "It is great to receive support from local businesses as it makes us feel welcome in the area" commented navigator Andrew Benefield(Collaroy). With all the travelling teams in the Australian Rally series do from Perth to Tasmania to Queensland they always respect a warm local welcome and a place to feel at home. Surfside joins an impressive line up of national sponsors including Sanyo, Strathfield and of course Honda Lubricants.

Keep an eye on the Channel Ten sports show for plenty of action from the many inboard cameras carried in the teams Honda. They advise that the camera technicians have been working on some very special angles to ensure you can really feel part of the action.

5th May 98 UPDATE

It has been some time since we brought you up to date, as the next rally is comming up, its appropriate to let you know what we are up to...

Since our dramas in WA we had a team meeting and decided to focus on several issues, mainly weight and solving the water / temperature problems. This has been tackled head on and we are glad to say we have definitely saved some weight, (at a large $$ and labour cost!)

The temperature problem we believe is fixed, but at present we are still to test it to be 100% sure. However other issues such as suspension and gearbox have been away to their relative "Doctors" and checked and repaired.

NEW GEAR
We have invested in some new gear, namely an "EZI UP", a flashy tent thing that is 10x20 feet and only takes two guys 1 minute to erect. Its like a big expanding umbrella. This is to give the guys some better conditions as most events now are so local and sprint based, they don't move as often as what I would call "normal" rallies!

OPPOSITION
Even before Wayne Bell announced he would compete we have elected to miss the media day and go testing instead..... This will allow some vital time in the car to check it out and plan our win or bust intention! Lee Peterson expects to be on the pace having finally fitted the last part of his new gearbox, the LSD will give him a big boost. That car is a real weapon, a larger budget and he will be hard to beat!

PLAN
Basically we MUST win to have a chance at the series, we have the pace we can (and have) beaten Rick so I see no reason why QLD wont be a "ding dong" battle in F2. All we need is a little luck and a reliable set up. Its time things changed, Rick has had all the luck he needs! The rest of us (Dean, Lee, Ross etc) need a turn!

We will be staying at the great "Surfside on the Beach" just north of Rally HQ (Caloundra) so make a date and come watch the rally in sunny QLD. Hopefully it won't rain this year!!

5th April 1998 - A BETTER DAY!

Even though we suffered heat problems again, we believe we have found the cause, a small pin hole in an alloy fitting welded by 'self, that slowly allows water to evaporate. Eventually resulting in overheating when the water gets too low. With this in mind we elected fore a finish with G teed points instead of win or bust!

The day started close with all F2 crews with 2 secs on SS1, we were happy to be fastest with a 2 22' Rick 2 23' Ross 2 25' and dean 2 23'.

SS2 and we ripped 20 secs off our previous best with a 9 03' Dean 9 00' Bates 9 01 and Ross 11 17' with a flat.

Lee Peterson also lost time with overheating.

This left us with the fast Reservoir Stage and only Rick and Dean to be concerned with. We had a careful "go" (as this stage is VERY tight and VERY VERY fast)11 21' was the time, faster than yesterday and with terrible ruts. Rick on a 11 11' and Dean 11 17'

Here at service we found the fault and decided, to "tonk" thru to the finish with no time allowed to service between the next 35 km stage and the following 10 km stage.

We dropped 35 secs in cruise mode to Saturdays time with Dean and Rick well on the pace up front.

SS5 and we wound it up a bit only to get another flat (on the same rock!) Dean started with injector problems and also set a slow time.

the Final SS and we had some fun almost clipping a stump on a cut corner! and posted a 2 32'

The end result was

1st Rick Bates 20

2nd Dean Herridge 16

3rd MRT 14 (we were 12th Overall)

4th Ross Mackenzie 12

Points are allocated as follows: 1st 20, 2nd 16, 3rd 14, 4th 12, 5th 10, 6th 7th 6, 8th 4, 9th 2, 10th 1

the annoying part was Dean ended up beating us by ONLY 7 seconds!! so (IF) we had gone a bit fasted and (IF) we had no flat BUT always WHAT IF !!!!!

Remember to watch Ch 10 as we (again) got some great TV footage, Off the roof and on the side of the door....

UP FRONT

Bates and Bourne again were rarely a few seconds apart! In the end Neal finished with 2 wd only and Possum a broken or bent front suspension..

1st Bourne,

2nd Bates

3rd was local crew Lowndes

4th the Longs

5th Cody Crocker in the new Subaru WRX Gp N car

COMMENTS

The Reservoir Stage was closed to collect Evan and Peta Bollard who had a big one, Peta is on the way to hospital, but in a fair condition. This was only their second ARC event in the newly prepared VR4

SS1 was cut short due to the mammoth ruts and rocks, typical of the whole event..

Generally the roads for WA were very good, even the fast flowing SS called Gorries where we were well in the limiter in 5th @ 160 km/h was fun and made up for all the ruts!

F2 POINTS after Heat 2

MRT 28 added 14

Bates 80 added 40 (20 + 20)

McKenzie 56 added (16 + 12)

Herridge 44 added 16

Peterson 21 added nil

Evans 24 added nil

we have to work towards a GOOD result in Qld now........ BUT this was the same last year and we won!!!

4th April 1998 - A SAD DAY.

I am very tired and its past dinner time, here is the brief story.....

Rick and Ross were as expected, on the pace, Dean went off losing over 30 mins.

We had a go on the 2nd last stage to grab back a 20 sec deficit to the Charades and managed to only equal their times, BUT cooked the radiator whilst waiting in the finish control with a very hot engine.

We had to do the last stage with (another) vapor lock and stopped 10 times. To cap it off we got a flat tyre!

Any way we finished, and are ready to have a "careful" go tomorrow! Points are what we need, I am really annoyed as there is NOTHING wrong with the car!

The crew worked in very HOT conditions and VERY dusty, (the rally ran 3 min gaps).

Watch for Channel 10 we had a in car camera (Which we will for the rest of the events) with some GREAT shots, hey we did ENJOY ourselves as some of the roads are VERY VERY fast!!

Roll on Heat 1 and QLD !!!

1st Rick Bates 13th O' all

2nd Ross Mackenzie 14th O' all

5th MRT P2 and 46th Overall!

Dean was 48th and Lee dnf'd

UP FRONT

Bourne 49 11'

Bates 49 23'

McCarthy 53 36'

Crocker 53 53'

McGroarty 54 03'

Long 54 41'

11th sandy

All we know is Neal was complaining of poor handling and got a flat tyre, he dropped 26 sec to possum, (on one stage) all other stages were very close.

The longs were just off the pace a bit and picked it up towards the end

There is more to a championship than just one rally!!!!!!!

Rob Herridge turbo failed

Stuart Reid hat (another) clutch failure.

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