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2004 saw the Eastside Cruisers out in force (again!). With 30 cars and around 70 – 80 Eastsiders mixing it up with a slightly smaller Spring Car crowd than usual we were always going to make ourselves known. As everyone knows we would have to be the most fiercely competitive car club getting around at the moment, and this year was no different! Arrival at DECA for Friday’s events was a fairly painless ordeal. Our club marquee met us, which was a staggering 20 feet by 40 feet this year. I don’t think I need to tell anyone that the weather was damn HOT! Most people found the Friday night Motorkana course very tight this year and not surprisingly all winning places were taken by smaller all wheel drive cars. It was great to see heaps of Eastsiders out there giving it a go in one way or another! With the bulk of the driving events and the start of the Show ‘n’ Shine on Saturday, it was an early start for most entrants. Cars were cleaned and polished, the club site organized, and the BBQ trailer put out on display. A large number of people rolled around for the first driving event of the day, being the Spear a Spud. I could relay a number of interesting stories and sights but I’ll leave each person to tell their own tales. Lunchtime saw the commencement of the Burnout Comp and the start of one of the most popular events of the weekend – Go-Whoa. This was held right through till 10.30 that night with a small break for dinner. Most people got out there and gave it their all for this one. Eastside Cruisers both male and female were out there flying the banner for the club with every one having fun and some giving it 110% to try and make the finals. The driving events concluded with a huge fireworks display above the skidpan and the annual fire in the scrub as a result. Sunday saw many people rushing to DECA to see if they had qualified for the Go-Whoa finals. There was happiness and disappointment with a mixed bag of results and calls were made to those not expecting to need to be there. As my memory is not that great I will say congrats to those who made the cut. There were quite a few of the team out there. After the finals had been run and won the skidpan was opened up for Go-Whoa grudge racing for the rest of the day. At one stage as I watched on from the sidelines it looked like an Eastside Cruisers DECA day as the club cars made up more than half of those people still out there. During the course of the day the crew from Grunt Files came past and had a bit of a chat with some of the members and a look at the club BBQ trailer. They also interviewed both Dave about his Gemini and Brett with LXCHEV. That will be something to look out for in the next upcoming DVD from them. After packing up all our stuff and seeing the various cars loaded onto trailers, not to mention spending five minutes in the shade doing nothing (did I mention it was damn hot?!?). The stragglers wandered over to watch the trophy presentations. With every car flying an Eastside sticker and all of those who wore their club merchandise, not to mention the huge improvement in this years display, Eastside Cruisers picked up BOTH club trophies this year. For the first time the club was awarded with Top Participating Car Club and Top Participating Car Club Display! A massive congratulations goes out to those people who represented the club over the course of the weekend. Individually, it was no surprise to those who had seen her performance on the skidpan that Helen Dickson placed Third in the Female Go-Whoa in her trusty Navara. It was with great satisfaction that Kath and Liz took Third place in the Female Spear a Spud, backing up last years Second. But it was pure stunned amazement to hear that Dee and myself managed Third place in the Male Spear a Spud in Dee’s RX7. Congrats to you all! It is probably no surprise that I have already heard some whispers and ideas being thrown around for next year’s event! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did….. for those 3 people whose cars I did not get a ride in….. Next time!!!!! - Simon |