TeamRFR.com

Latest TeamRFR News

10 April 2008 – TeamRFR’s rallying comes to an end

TeamRFR have decided to pursue other interests, namely mountain biking and raising children, perhaps not in that order, and would like to sincerely thank all their supporters and people who have given help and encouragement over the years we have been competing in rallying. The team wish everyone all the best for the future.

4 September 2006 - TeamRFR complete an action packed Canterbury Rally

TeamRFR started their only rally of the year in 2006 a little out of practise although the Makerikeri Road sprint last month showed David retained some speed with a second place in class in that event. We had only just returned from our holiday to the Rotorua MTB World Championships so being still on a high helped the enthusiasm levels. The first stage showed that we were on the game, at least of those others not running pace notes! Zuki’s alternator tried to fall to bits throughout the day but some great use of cable ties by co-driver Andy and good work in confined spaces by Geoff and another mechanic at service ensured we lasted the day out albeit with a battery light flashing all the time. We had some great skids on the good roads and only one moment to remember where the front rode up a bank but all in all a fun day. The last stage was done into the setting sun which proved a problem in some places with visibility cut to almost zero and the consequent slow going losing us a bit of time. Michelle and Eddie helped out in the service park as did Adnan and Malik who came out for a look and ended up scraping dirt off from all round the car, thanks guys! Eddie enjoyed his first day rallying and was so excited he hardly slept a wink afterwards, damn it! The prizegiving was a subdued affair as the results computer had problems and there were no results by the end of the night. With costs rising and income halved for now, it looks like this will be TeamRFR’s last event in a while. We’ll keep you posted how we’re getting on and what we’re up to though, so stay tuned!

8 June 2006 - TeamRFR announce near future plans

TeamRFR driver David stated today that given the expense of having Zuki's motor reconditioned he would not be partaking in any events until the Canterbury Rally in September (with perhaps one sprint beforehand for testing). The Team will be recruiting to help with at-event servicing now that Michelle will have her hands full looking after the youngest team member(s). So, check back from time to time and see how we're getting on. Hopefully some competition will follow later in the year!

14 April 2006 - TeamRFR Have A New Addition!

It is with great pleasure that David and Michelle announce the arrival of a new team member. Edward James (Eddie) Fletcher was born at 3:28am this morning and weighed in at just over 4kg (8lb15oz in the old school terms). We will be working on integrating Eddie into the team over the next while and it will be very nice when he begins his tyre changing training.

13 April 2006 - Shock Departure - Huri Leaves TeamRFR

It is with dismay that TeamRFR announce that Huri has left the team after many great times on events and around and about. In a shock announcement Huri departed without a press conference or any warning. The team will be taking stock in light of this development and will be announcing future plans soon.

16 March 2006 - New HQ For Projected Team Growth

TeamRFR have moved headquarters recently after the figures showed a projected growth of one additional team member in the near future. David commented "We have acquired a 4-car garage for the team to house the motorsport operation, and there was this house on the section too that Michelle liked". When questioned about planned team growth David also stated that due to unceasing demands (for crew members to service the car of course) Michelle was to have a baby to cater for expansion of the team's operation sometime in the future. The new team member will arrive some time in early April 2006 and it is expected after 10 or so years of training will be fully able to change tyres at service parks. The Team plan to take a break from motorsport competition while the new team member is being trained and plan to return at full strength if a bit out of practice at some as yet undisclosed location and time.

27 November 2005 - Ripper run takes top time

TeamRFR driver David Fletcher scored an emphatic win in the 1300cc class at the Mt. Alexander sprint this weekend. Gaining 20th out of 42 cars and faster than second place by a whopping 14 seconds has perhaps edged TeamRFR ahead in the club sprint championship. Being the final event for the year it was great to finish on a high after so many lows earlier in the season. The road was dry and slippery for the first run but as the racing line was swept clean the times got quicker. David was especially happy with his time which beat the previous fastest known 1300cc time for the course by 3 seconds saying "I'm especially happy". Again the Suzuki didn't miss a beat, and now it's off to Dr. Bert's for a freshen up over the summer.

Exciting developments are ahead for TeamRFR so keep up with happenings on the website, and have a safe and happy holiday season!

13 November 2005 - Wicked Watery Westland Win

TeamRFR scored a first class first in class victory at the weekend, claiming 21st overall in the Westland Rally. Car, driver, co-driver and service crew all performed flawlessly in a challenging rally that saw the weather change from pelting rain with muddy roads to bright sunshine with a touch of dust. Where all the water goes over there we have no idea. The smooth Westland roads suited the wee Zuki well, and in the flowing twisty sections the crew were hooting with delight. "Woohoo" said driver Dave and co-driver Andy on many occasions. The win means the team also achieved 3rd in the Mainland Series 0-1300cc class for 2005, and with two victories in a row, things bode well for the rally season next year.

17 October 2005 - Kaiwara Claimed After Close Call

TeamRFR driver David claimed his first 0-1300cc class win at the Kaiwara Road sprint yesterday after a close battle with class contenders Graham Wilson and Barry Deuart. Also a close call was David's near calamity, the car up on two wheels and nearly rolling at speed after clipping a culvert on the inside of a corner. "I was glad Craig had a couple of extra Weetbix for breakfast" said David, referring to passenger Craig Millar who was up in the air for a bit. It was a shame that usual pace-setter Stephen Petersen's Starlet had to withdraw before the first run was complete with a loss of oil pressure, as a direct comparison between that car and our wee Zuki would have been great. A report will be available on the Event Details page of TeamRFR.com shortly.

25 September 2005 - Ashley Attacked, Canterbury Conquered

In unpredictable road conditions TeamRFR put in a class conquering performance to capture the Canterbury Rally class title for 2005! The only bits falling off the car today were the gorse branches collected on-route, and Zuki came through relatively unscathed apart from worn out brakes and dodgy wheel bearings. The car survived a high speed sliding spin on a narrow bit of road and the crew lived to tell the tale and charge off to make up lost time "Being in the driver's seat and being a passenger is not particularly pleasant, but this is" commented driver Dave as he scoffed Michelle's patented nerve calming rally cake. A magnificent silver cup trophy was the award for the great performance through the stages with sometimes wildly differing levels of grip. The team were happy to see Nicole and Hayden were out of their rolled car safely before it was engulfed in flames forcing the cancellation of stage 5, a nasty reminder of the hazards of the sport. A report will be available on the event details page of TeamRFR.com shortly.

14 September 2005 - "Nelson Safari" kills championship charge

All hope for defending the Mainland Series 1300cc title was killed by the rough and rocky road conditions in the Nelson Rally this past weekend. On a charge and leading the class by nearly 2 minutes driver David was cranking and set to score his first Mainland Series round victory when all hell (the new name for a rear engine mount) broke loose two stages from the finish. Zuki's rear engine mount had broken off the firewall and unbeknownst to the crew the engine was leaning on the brake master cylinder. A couple of hits and the brakes disappeared ("no fun into a hairpin" commented David), Zuki limping out of the stage with only the handbrake to slow down. It was a right bugger of a thing to happen when the rest of the day had been going so well. A report is available on the Event Details page of TeamRFR.com.

4 September 2005 - Eyreton Excellence

The Bufton's nice paddock at Eyreton was a happy hunting ground for TeamRFR as David took Zuki to it's second consecutive 1300cc class win. After helping to set up the event and running documentation, Michelle helped look after Max (who was much more interested in the cars than the horses). Huri took a ride with Andy around the tight and challenging course, where the opening and tightening and double-apexed corners were very difficult to link up just right.  The ground was really slippy in the first and second runs but a warm NW'er wind came out and dried things up for run 3. Andy was sitting just behind David in the overall and class standings but had a bit of a shocker in run 3 and didn't quite make the class podium. David had an edge by not carrying a passenger and won the class, in 4th overall for the event! It was a great day out but as usual for Autocrosses, there was more time spent cleaning the car after the event than driving it in the event. Still, they're a lot of fun!

28 August 2005 - Makerikeri at Maximum!

The Makerikeri Road sprint in Ashley Forest is a favourite and this proved well found as David blasted through the course to achieve his first class win at an Autosport Club sprint event! Barry Deuart came out firing in run 1 as he had to leave to go to a party and would miss the following runs and his time was amazing, we had to pull finger. In the first run David took  workmate Brendon for a spin, and got to know the course. In run 2 he almost had eclipsed the time Barry set and it was all on in run 3. With Huri along for the ride it was foot flat over the crests and drifting at 130kph around the fast corners up the top. The twisty bits went well (although there's always room for improvement here as David is not completely at home in the FWD car in the tighter stuff yet) and it all came together, a class win by 4 seconds! The wee Zuki had no problems all day and this bodes well for the Nelson Rally which has some similar roads. "I'm very happy" smiled driver David after the event, as he thanked Barry for going home early!

6 August 2005 - Ailing alternator and over exuberance end attack

It was always going to be hard to beat the locals in the Catlins Rally but by gum we gave it a fair crack and at the end of the first stage Zuki had achieved a time nearly a minute better than the previous stage record! We were ecstatic, until we found out our biggest class rival Nigel Marshal (practically a local) had gone nearly 30 seconds faster than us. We were encouraged by the fact we had beaten all the others in the class comprehensively and set about conserving our lead out of the Mainland series class competitors. It was all to no avail as in an attack of over exuberance David backed Zuki into a ditch on an uphill hairpin and the car wouldn't start again. The alternator had died prior and the battery was almost flat. A push start saw us limp to service and after replacing the battery (thanks to Steve Carr!) we pushed on to make up time. That plan was put on ice when the right rear shock absorber decided it didn't like the ruts in the Tawanui Forest and broke free from inside the car. A FWD with rear wheel steering is no fun, so we limped to the finish of the rally with the rear shock held in with good ol' bungy cords. We finished, and obtained valuable Mainland Series points, and we proved how quick we were when the car was going well!

17 July 2005 - Team Third at Tarn Road

After getting Zuki back from having it's map sensor replaced (that's what stopped us at Timaru) we were hoping for the best and a few squirts on the indian file at this huge 9km bent sprint showed the car was rearing to go. The rain started and an already slippy track turned into a bit of a mudfest with rocks in amongst it. To top it off the first half of the course had been trimmed at the sides and all the woodwork was on the road. Very interesting conditions indeed! The uphill section was a bit slow in the wee car as David couldn't quite get the hang of the tightening bends leading into the steep uphill straight bits so not carrying enough speed where needed. David got a few corners really wrong and spent a bit of time in the weeds but fortunately still going in the right direction! The twisty bits at the top were a different story with Zuki flying along with just the right amount of drift, all smiles there. The downhill section of the event was in good nick even if slippery and proved a lot of fun. We finished third in the 1300cc class and were happy with a finish for a change! Fingers crossed for the Catlins Rally.

3 July 2005 - Timaru trepidation, Zuki zapped

We were optimistic going to Timaru with some Ford Sierra bits in Zuki's gearbox to make it go again thanks to Dr. Bert at Hoon Hay automotive, and things got off to a great start and we were leading the 1300cc class with some really fun fast bits in the stages bringing big smiles to the crew. The fourth stage of the day was the infamous Meyers Pass. It was here that the Fix-Or-Repair-Daily disease struck with 4th gear going all manky and not wanting to be changed out of (moody things those Sierras). We avoided using it for the rest of the stage and got through to the end (the last bit through a farm paddock which was an interesting twist). On the tour back to service the Found-On-Roadside-Dead part of the Henry-virus struck and Zuki just stopped. The wires had come out of the back of the alternator and we rewired this but the wee car just wouldn't go. Lots of spark, lots of fuel pressure, lots of battery, but no go. Sadly, we had used up all our lateness time and we had to withdraw. David is considering changing his middle name to Neil, his initials would then be DNF. Analysis of the problem has shown that the map sensor in the computer had been zapped somehow, again the trials of a modern car, it's fast when it's going!.. when it's going...

11 June 2005 - Clapped-out clutch causes capitulation

After a long slow trip to Southland it was goodnight gearbox 3km from the end of the Rally that brought the Team's kick off to the defence of their Mainland Series title to a premature end. It was a disastrous day from the start, the Terraphone intercom gave up on the start line of the first stage (Terror-phone it's been renamed) and then the clutch disappeared not far into that same stage. For the rest of the day we struggled on, clutchless gearchanges and starter-motor crank starts causing slow times but just when we thought we were at least going to make it to the end, the gear lever wouldn't move out of 4th and it was all over. All that was left to do was drown our sorrows and we were too gutted to even do that properly. A short report will be available on the event details page when we get over it and can summon up the will to write about it.

29 May 2005 - Stupid Short Sidelines Suzuki

It was a good 500m TeamRFR did in the first run of the Mt. Thomas Sprint in the Canterbury foothills this past weekend. Because at 500m Zuki's engine stopped, which was quite unnerving in a FWD when you've got the gas on coming through a corner and relying on the power to keep you on the road!. Luckily driver Dave kept it together and managed to pull over safely further down the road. Zuki left the event course on a tow rope. David was operating the timing gear for the event so Les Summerfield and Matt King tried to get the wee car going again after finding a blown fuse (thanks guys!). Unfortunately progressively stronger fuses blew too, and the fault could not be found and we were not able to take another run.  TeamRFR therefore suffered our first DNF in quite a while. The fault was traced to the powered oxygen sensor on the exhaust contacting the radiator after the radiator was pushed back slightly in the altercation with a bank at Rally Otago. At least we found out before the Southland Rally. There will be no report on the Event Details page because 500m doth not a report make!

14/15 May 2005 - Team Triumph After Dodgy Drowning

The Otago Allcomers Rally was one of ups and downs for TeamRFR. An easy class win was scored, "I'm cool with that" said driver Dave after lots of good miles in the car. It looked like things were going to be all over when the car sucked a mouthful of water in a ford and stopped. Luckily it fired into life after about 30 seconds of cranking. Dave also suffered a brain explosion on the second day with the road going right, and an intersecting road going left, Dave split the difference. Whether it was lack of coffee, or lack of talent, we cannot tell, but the car was about an inch shorter in the front afterwards. Battering the bolts back TeamRFR battled on. The brakes wore out, but that didn't stop the quest for victory (well, it was more a crawl than a quest but news is supposed to be sensational). A full report will be available shortly on the Event Details page of TeamRFR.com.

8 May 2005 - TeamRFR Clean Sweep at Sefton Slippyfest

It was a terribly cold and rainy day when we showed up to help run the Sefton Autocross. The local Girl Guides turned out for their BBQ (we think this is the reason it rained to be honest, mention BBQ and it usually buckets down). We were about to can the event when some more cars showed up and voted to run. After run 1 it was Andy leading the 1300cc's followed by a cranking Michelle in second and Dave in third. Run 2 saw Dave overtake Michelle and with Andy suffering a bit of brain fade in run 3 and missing a marker Dave leapt into the class lead and held it, by a whole 19 hundredths of the second from Andy! In the conditions the places were a complete lottery. The course was a muddy boggy mess and cars were sliding everywhere. You couldn't see out of the windows as the wipers couldn't get rid of the muck fast enough, it was hilarious. All up, we learned not to run a mudbath like this again, it's not worth spending 3 hours washing the mud and cow pats off the car for 3 or 4 minutes of driving time. The consolation was that TeamRFR took 1st, 2nd and 3rd in class! There's not much more to report so we won't be putting a full report on the Event Details page.

25 April 2005 - Chilly after Chilli Chow-down

After the rally the night before a nice meal of Chilli set us up for an interesting day. It was freezing conditions, with snow on the ground and in the air from time to time. After helping set up and organise and do documentation, the Team set about using some of the 'Chilli turbo' (FAF!) to warm things up a bit in the rally car. You'd think the extra 'warmth' would make the driver go faster, unfortunately the car was a bit off song (possibly due to farts making it to the air intake) and we only managed 4th in class, pipped by 1 second for a podium spot, a bit disappointing after the good run the day before. It turns out the car was running a bit of a naff computer setting for when the intake temperature was cold, and the thrust bearing was stuffed which explains the weird whirring noises we were hearing that put us off going faster (well, that's what this reporter was told anyway, personally I think it was a hangover combined with a case of the squirts).

24 April 2005 - Second Scored in Winter Wonderland

The Hanmer Rally was back on the calendar as a celebration of the Autosport Club's 30th anniversary and it lived up to it's reputation of being a friendly and fun event. It also lived up to it's reputation of being wet, slippery, rutted and cold. It was all driver Dave could do to keep the car on the straight and in some places very narrow. The snow on the top road and in the trees was described as "romantic" although the driving conditions didn't arouse the same kind of emotions. A couple of moments were had (one due to a clutch foot on the brake pedal!) and some brain fade by leaving the handbrake on a couple of times, and we felt that the car was down on power a bit, although that could have been the lack of grip in the slippery conditions. The Autocross stage to end the event was good fun on an undulating paddock, and we were inside the top 10 with a 9th overall in the stage. The team awaited the results by soaking in the hot pools with snow all around at the Hanmer Thermal Resort. Second in the 0-1300cc class was a pleasant surprise, as we felt we could go much faster and were still really inexperienced with the car. There are interesting times ahead for TeamRFR!

13 March 2005 - Zuki runner up at Rakaia ZigZag

The Rakaia Zig-Zag sprint is a steep hillclimb and David had a good day out driving Zuki for the first time on this great fun piece of road. Running first in class for the first and second runs due to competitors having wee moments, David was pipped at the post by half a second for the fastest 1300cc of the day by a charging Barry Deuart in the 120Y. That aside it was a lot of fun with David Coming to terms a bit more with the front-wheel drive Suzuki. Next up to learn,.. left foot braking! Stay tuned.

20 February 2005 - Wonderful Weather, Zuki Zooms!

The Autosport Club's first autocross of the year was a successful event for the team despite the car's wheel alignment being way off. Zuki zoomed around the course at the hands of both David and Michelle. David getting a 1st in the 1300cc class and 4th overall in the event, his best result in an autocross, and Michelle was the first lady driver for the day. It was a really good course and the weather was fantastic so everyone had a great day at Loburn.

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Last year is Old News, and if you want to see even older news the year before that and that as well is pretty Old News too! The highlights included:

· Club Champs Class Captured

· TeamRFR Triumph in Terrific Tussle!

· Balls-out Bob Battles Bends, Resounding Rally Result!

· Heroic Hinge Helps Bob's Brakes Bounce Back in Freezing First-place Finish!