November 9-15, 2004 Right now I am sitting on a plane, flying over the Atlantic Ocean and heading out to the WRC's final round in Australia and my own private vacation. I'm bored with the in flight entertainment already and I still have another five hour flight from Sidney to Perth. Good thing I have a lot of rally magazines packed… I'm surprisingly not jet-lagged when I get to Sidney and the first thing that I notice is that the place is a lot like America- there's even a Burger King here under the pseudonym of Hungry Jack's. After going through customs, I'm heading to Perth excited, but a little bit nervous. I'm going to meet my Internet buddy Petra there and we're sharing my hotel room but I've never met her in person and I'm hoping things will work out. Outside I catch a bus into Perth and I'm immediately glad that I decided not to rent a car. The whole right hand drive thing was freaking me out! The scenery was really different and so were the cars. There were so many different kinds that I'd never seen and even more strange cars from familiar manufacturers. My hotel was pretty, covered with vines and lots of flowers. Petra met me in the lobby and immediately I knew she was cool. As soon as we were inside the room, I had jumped into the shower. Petra had to take me to rally HQ. The Perth Sheraton was only about a half-mile from the hotel. I needed to get my rally pass and goody bag since I couldn't get it locally being a foreigner and all. The rally was going to start in a day and a half and things were bustling in the lobby. I got my goody bag and pass by "accidently" walking into the press area. About this same time some of the teams had come back from recce and we saw the familiar red and white jackets of Peugeot and Citroen. As we were walking out, we spied some famous faces in the bar area- it seemed like Harri Rovanpera and Corrado Provera were having a chat. Being a resident of Hollywood for four years and being rather fearless, I decided that we had to make contact. We waited until Harri was alone and then I said hi to him and started talking about rallying. How were the conditions? The car? Things were wet. It had been raining for two days. The car was good. Where are you from? Do you rally? Now it was my turn to get grilled. We took pictures with him and he told us to have a good time tomorrow night at the super special stage and to stop by at the Pug service area. By then it was dark already. We ate dinner and headed home early, ready for a big day tomorrow.

		It was raining when we got up- would our rally be ruined? I didn't have many cold-weather clothes and already had some sniffles. I felt bad for the drivers, as I knew mud wasn't exactly my favorite surface. Petra showed me around Perth and introduced me to the Pit Stop, and amazing store full of car books, videos and memorabilia. It was amazing and we must have spent something like two hours there. I could have bought so many videos and DVDs, but I would need regional equipment to view them on. I was really bummed out. I settled for several magazines and a book about Evos to share with Leon. We spent time in the CBD area pondering the great dilemma of being rally girls- do we buy shoes or tires? With my big rally only four weeks away, I stuck with tires. Before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the super special stage, we hit the Sheraton hoping to get a spot on one of the official rally tour busses. We were on for Friday and Saturday, while on Sunday we would be bussing around with the Norwegian Student's Association from Petra's university. As we were waiting for out passes in the lobby, we ran into Harri again, but this time Corrado was there and so was Marcus Gronholm! Once again cameras went off and we were joking about the lack of power steering and having only three gears (that was okay for me at Gorman, but please not again for any of us!). We went home happy and excited. To kick off the rally tonight, the organizers had a meet and greet with all of the drivers. I was really excited because I would finally see my favorite driver, Markko Martin. It was his birthday and I had made him a present (a special Mexico frame that I had made with a picture of him driving that I had taken at that rally). The first time I had met him I was too scared to say anything, but this time I was determined to say something. Petra and I waited through the Australian drivers to get through to the WRC drivers. Petra had the hots for Sebastain Loeb, so we split up. I got to see Markko again and he got his present and he liked it. I got lots and lots of autographs from the Ford drivers, feeling like a silly 13 year-old at an N*SYNC concert. I took lots of pictures. It was over really quickly, but I managed to grab a million posters to take home. Petra missed out on Seb, so we decided to try the service area later. The super special stage was pretty fun to watch. My seat was terrible, so I just watched individual corners on the grass, hoping to learn how to drive well. And I think I did. Back at the service area, we caught Markko again and I had to take a picture with him and me and Petra finally made him smile. We looked for Seb, but we were skunked again. Then disaster struck- we were taking pictures in parc ferme and my camera went batty. The memory card erased all of my pictures! I was very pissed off. Petra and I met up with some friends before going back to the hotel and one of them, Simone, was into rallying in the U.S. so it was nice to talk about something familiar. After that excitement, we had to get up early to catch our bus. It was sunny and warm already and good for rallying. This would be a fun day. The first stage was 'out bush' as everyone said in Oz. The flies were annoying, but this time I had sunscreen and a new memory card for my camera. We caught most of the works car, but there was no sign of Markko. Apparently he had blown his engine after last night's run. This news and the camera tragedy, along with my sniffles had just seemed to make the morning a bummer. The next stage we went to, however, was good- I could see the road for miles and I was really excited about observing the big rally cars and making mental notes. Before crossing the road to spectate, I ran into Markko. He was trying to spectate somewhere where he shouldn't have been and was now among the plebeians. He was pretty pissed off, but felt bad about the camera so I got another picture. And the stage was great. Beautiful sleek Evos, slid through the corners turning in early. I immediately wanted to learn how to do that, so I kept watching and even ventured into the road in between runs. The next stage was across the valley. It wasn't as exciting, but two VW Polo's got stuck and couldn't get out. I looked like this rally would have a high attrition rate! I was trying not to think that usually only half of the cars that start the Ramada Express rally finish. I didn't want to get stuck like the Polos, especially if I would be starting at the end of the line. There was a long ride back to Perth for another running of the super special stage. I sat at another corner after buying a scarf and a long sleeved shirt- it was cold! Once again, I saw how people were turning in early and conserving every inch of road. The less sideways you got, the faster you'd go. The idea was lodged even more firmly in my head. Everyone had lightening quick reflexes and no one ever missed a shift, but I guess that's not hard when you have a sequential gearbox and paddle shifters. I wish it would come that easy for me. That night I splurged and bought a model car and visited the 'historic' cars, though as they were Prince's colleagues, I felt better calling them Old Skool. Petra, Simone, our new friend Harry ("Harry with a Y" as we called him) and I went out to the service area before the race was over and once again we literally ran into Markko. I guess he just couldn't get enough of us! We looked at the Group N cars and I knew right then that I wanted a Group N car, an Evo. I daydreamed about driving one out of a large group of Evos in the Group N area and then I started thinking about how there were no girl drivers at the race, which was kind of scary, but the allure of Evos made me forget about everything. After we saw a few more drivers and co-drivers, Simone took us out to her hotel, the Official Subaru Hotel, to have an overpriced dinner. It started raining again, but we saw Petter Solberg. After that adventure Petra and me were asleep early, although our giddy chattering kept us up for a good while. Saturday was way out bush. Petra was happy because she saw Seb leaving for the stages, which got us through another long bus ride. It was warmer today and there were lots of flies. The spectating spots weren't all that hot either. The first was on a long straight portion with lots of 5 and 6 corners, while the second was in a forested area. The views weren't great from either, but the forested stage was also where 'roadside' flexi service was held. This was probably the best part. Each team had small crews and I got a lot of opportunities to talk to people. I talked to everyone and I asked about team management, moving your crew around, what supplies to have, what types of Michelin tires are good for X conditions, how to rally for cheap, etc. It was very fun and I met a lot of interesting people. But there was so much waiting today! Harry met us out bush and offered to take us to stages we were missing, but he was having car trouble so we told him not to risk it and to stay with us. The third stage we went to was pretty cool. It was a sort of isthmus between the track. On one side there was a R 2 downhill into a R 3 then a L 4 that tightened uphill into a 200 straight. It was a good place to observe and I learned a lot, comparing each car's path to the next and figuring out what was the fastest way down. People left for the slow cars, but I stayed- slow car pride! I think everyone fell asleep on the ride back to Perth. We all took long showers after being so dusty out bush and then Petra Harry Simone and me assaulted the service area at the super special. Harry being a Peugeot nut informed us that it was Marcus Gronholm's co-driver, Timo Rautiainen's birthday. And what did that mean to a group of miscreant youths? That Timo got sung a very loud and off key happy birthday. Hey, at least he appreciated it. That night Petra and I finally caught Seb. Many pictures were taken and he was very kind to us especially after he had just got his ass kicked twice by Harri! The scandal! We went out a took pictures with the rest of the drivers that we had missed, getting both Petter and his co-driver for pictures and scoring some Michelin banner tape from the Ford people (who made Markko sign it, just to embarrass me!) and we even caught the elusive Francois Duval. Three WRC champs in one night was too much for us all. We went back late and very tired! Sunday stared sooooo early. We were meeting the Norwegian students on the other side of town. It was really warm already and it was only 6:30 a.m. As we waited, we noticed that libations were flowing and many were already celebrating…. Petter, I guess? He'd DNF'd yesterday, but if you'd flown half way across the world… I didn't fit in at all and Petra and I were about to cal Harry for a ride. But we took the ride and got to listen to a lot of Norwegian on the bus. It was pretty miserable. There was only one stage today and it was the great Sotico. Inside a car the stage was wonderful- a giant downhill with yumps and then a big water splash! Was there an Evo there for me to sneak onto the stage? Spectating wasn't so hot. There were a million people there who had practically camped overnight, but we did get close to the water splash. I couldn't see much, so I walked around. I met a photographer named Ralph from GB who just happened to be running Ramada Express, too! Strange but cool. He offered to take Petra and I back to save us from the Norwegians. We agreed. There were some other photographers who'd seen me in Mexico and I gave them Rallye Star stickers. I spent lots of time promoting myself. I had to show everyone that rallying is alive and well in the States! After being crowded out, our little group went to the mini service area where I took my pen and notebook and went out to talk to the Michelin guys. I got lots of information about choosing tires, even though the Michelin guys spoke mostly French. I liked this service area because it looked like a Pro Rally- small paddocks, 3-4 crewmembers, no big fences or security guards. The ride back was fun. Ralph wanted to know a lot of things about rallying in the States. He took us to the ceremonial finish (can't wait to get my own trophies and flowers!) and then back to the hotel. Petra took me out to Hungry Jack's where we mulled over what we were going to wear to the after party (and an upgraded combo there is only what a small combo is in the States!). Seeing so many nice clothes in the CBD had made us question what we had packed, but the 'shoes or tires?' instinct kicked in and we went straight back to the hotel to freshen up. The party was marvelous. We met Nicky Grist, who was very friendly and he made sure that we were having a good time. And we were! Even though the band was crapy, we were still dancing. I was talking trash with other drivers and arguing with some JWRC drivers over whether FWD was really better than RWD. Of course RWD rules! Silly boys. There were Peugeot and Citroen people there and Petter showed up with Phil, and both were pretty drunk. Francois Duval was there, looking like something between a nerd and a cowboy, and we finally captured Mikko Hirvonen. The party went on for a really long time and it was getting light when we went back to the hotel. Harry rescued us the next day. He took us to rally HQ where Petra interviewed Daniel Elena and then he got us food and then we went out to the beach, where Petra and I were as silly as ever. We ate fish and chips, watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean. It seemed like my vacation was just starting now and I didn't want to go home! I wanted my car down here and then another day of rallying, but this time I'd be driving… *sigh* someday. I left the next morning at 4 AM. The flight was horrible and I was pretty out of it, not to mention sick. But that same day, I was out in the parking lot tearin' it up- I've got a WRC style rally in only three weeks! AAAAHHHHH!!!!! Back to Diary of a Driver.