Waimate Tumble!

Evo 6, 2.3 Stroker with a Quaife sequential running E85, 550HP on high boost, legs are MCAs and a Link G4X for brains.

Waimate is a 2-day event, day one went smoothly with no major issues and I was taking it easy on some old tires just to get into the groove. 

On day two things got a little more interesting with a wide run on top of the hill and clipping the outside corner at a spectator point I made pretty good contact with the tire barrier but no major damage just a bit of aero. Well, so I thought.

The next run I made it perhaps a kilometer into the run and broke a steering rod end which no doubt got damaged on the run before, this ruined the run but Mike from 4WD Upgrades had a spare part for me which I installed ready for the final run before the top 10 shootout. The run went well, I had a new set of Pirellis strapped on and the times were looking great, the second to last corner before the finish line though is a sharp corner to the left with some bales on the outside just after a blind crest. The crest was OK, the braking point was good but I entered too shallow and the rotation was too close to the bank on the left. Unfortunately, my left front wheel rode the bank and flipped the car over, an in-car video showed 127km/h going into the first roll, I was in for a ride!

My initial thoughts were man, here we go again, I went off the road the weekend before in my tarmac car and it nearly wasn't pretty. I immediately knew though that things were going to get bumpy so I just tried to hang on and hoped for the best.

Luckily I wasn't injured too badly and I was glad no one else was in the car. My crotch belts did come loose a little, they weren't attached very well, and that's why my head kept on hitting the cage over and over. My nuts also took some beating due to this. The cage held up very well except next time I'll add more bars in the roof.

The accident happened 10 seconds from the finish line so it took some time for the recovery crews to arrive. Mark Higgens ran down from where they were waiting at the top of the hill to come and assist me as I was slightly concussed and couldn't figure out which way was up. He was really good and made sure I didn't lie down and close my eyes as that's all I wanted to do. The car was pushed off to the side of the road and we recovered it after the event.

Many people have asked immediately after the event if that would be the end of my racing, I feel that I'm pretty new to the sport and that these things happen to everyone. I have the ability to carry on, I want to learn more and get better so I will dust myself off and go again.

The car unfortunately won't be carrying on, the cage has moved too much for my liking and I have another project waiting to take its place so I will get stuck into that straight away.