Terribly sad news overnight on the passing of Ed Mulligan.
Crazy old Ed was not only a rally legend of Australia, but a great bloke who was also an amazing motivator, realist and all round SHIT STIRRER!
But more importantly to me, Ed was always an available ear and supporter of me in my rally career and constant encourager of all my crazy life adventures.
I caught up with Ed at so many events over the years both at home and around the world. He lived a full life and certainly always lived it the way he wanted to, and he was never ashamed of that fact (nor should he have been).
It seems mad that only last week we were sharing laughs at the Otago rally in NZ (where he was pedaling his trusty classic BMW) and then on the Sunday night (as always) sharing a beer and more laughs and “Ed stories” after the event.
Everybody always knew when Ed was around and there will certainly be a huge amount of people that will be feeling this void left with him no longer being there for all of us.
Thanks for the qaulity time, chats, laughs, banter and memories buddy, Rally In Peace my friend🤘
Super cool to jump aboard for a few Supercar laps (and a few laughs) with @craiglowndes888 at Eastern Creek today. It was awesome to see (and feel) a V8 Supercar being driven on the edge, an environment and office that is so natural to the guy who makes it look so easy. Thanks Craig and @laralowndes for the experience 🫶
As a kid growing up the Bathurst 1000 was always a huge thing to me and I made the trek up there many times with my mates to witness the huge spectacle and admire the skills of those lunatics hurtling cars across the mountain in what is one of (if not the best) touring cars races in the world.
I was fortunate enough to win the Bathurst ARC rally in 2005 and spray champagne from that special podium and the whole place holds a very special place in my heart.
So it was very cool for me to take my son Kye for a quick trip up to Bathurst yesterday for some catchups with some very cool people that I’m fortunate enough to both work with and call friends, as well as show Kye some amazing pieces of history on display up there.
Thanks firstly to the legends at @gmspecialtyvehicles@chevroletracinganz Chris Payne and @jessbala0510 for the invite and amazing hospitality you showed us both. @craiglowndes888 is an absolute LEGEND in so many ways and and up there in Bathurst he is a VERY very busy guy on race week so it was awesome and so well appreciated to spend a couple of hours together in ‘your world’ have a walk through (and sit in) the race car. Seeing how it all works there in V8Supercars land was cool and to hang in the garage and watch the shootout with you, @laralowndes and the team was super super cool for Kye and I.
Best of luck to you and @coopermurray36 murray in the race legend🫡
With 3 rallies back to back to back in Australia not all going to plan here’s the quick recap;
*GR Yaris (Narooma, gravel, pace notes)
forgot to tick the 🤿 option on this evolution and drowned it in a creek🤷🏼♂️.
*Mk2 Escort (Bago, gravel, route charts)
Tyre issues but clawed back up to 6th overall
*Nissan Skyline R35 (ATR, GTR rally, tarmac, notes)
Running 3rd, drive/gearbox failure 💦
So I’ve switched hats and headed up to China in my Delegate role this week for the FIA APRC Longyou rally. This is an event I’ve done many times (and won a few times) but the word is a Typhoon 🌀⛈️ is on its way😬.
I won’t be playing any 🃏 with this run of luck🤞
The latest APRC round for me in this FIA Delegate role has been up in the Northern Sumatra region of Indonesia 🇮🇩.
Another great event with crazy enthusiastic rally fans by the THOUSANDS!!!
There is no lack of enthusiasm here by both the spectators and the organising team. I received a warm welcome and fantastic assistance from the CoC and his team, they were always very quick with the positive responses to any questions or issues raised and immediate and effective actions and solutions so I can’t thank them enough for this!
The people that came to watch the rally (and there was just crazy numbers of them were just amazing). A totally positive and friendly atmosphere and I can’t begin to tell you how many times I was asked for “photo photo mister”. We definitely took a friendly approach to the spectators and teaching them where to watch safely but I must say there was no resistance (and definitely no aggression or defiance) which was fantastic to see.
The stages were a challenge as always, especially when it poured down in the palm oil plantations on Saturday night and Sunday morning😬.
All in all a great rally and congratulations to all those that stayed on the road and got to the end, very well done and thanks for your welcoming hospitality 🫶
Free to good home;
I have an array of FIA 8856-2000 spec race gear that is no longer eligible for International events so would like to give them away to people in need running National or lower events in Australia (all good condition some only worn a couple of times).
7 x balaclavas
11 x socks
2 x tops
8 x pants
I’m in Sydney but could get them to the next ARC round or surely we know people that can get them to you
Becoming a teenager is a right of passage so as my son @k.willy11 just turned 13 a Boys Toys weekend away was a perfect mark for this occasion 🤘. I cannot thank my mate Adam Kaplan @eclipsejet550 enough for dropping into Sydney and picking up Kye and I in his beautiful 🛩️ and showing the young man how cool cool cool 😎 flying can be on our way up to Noosa. Three days of amazing hospitality (thanks also to @aleshiapenney ) food and drink, rally spectating, a ride for the young fella (and a drive for me) in a stunning 458 Ferrari, catching up with cool mates at Rally Qld and even squeezed in a short Mtb 🚴 blast on Monday before we headed home. Great weekend with great friends that all helped to make my little mini me feel special. We had a blast so thank you 🫶
Very humbling moment receiving a beautiful “Flow Tie Award” trophy presented by @jessbala0510 as thanks for our personal efforts put into representing the @chevroletracinganz and @gmspecialtyvehicles brands at this years @tattsfinkedesertrace . This one means a lot and will go straight to the 🎱 room.
Cheers to all that welcomed me into the team so warmly and played their own parts, you’re all legends and it’s great to be a part of the family👏🏼
Happy to share the Final part of the Documentary that was made on the journey @craiglowndes888 and myself took with the magnificent team of @gmspecialtyvehicles and @chevroletracinganz staff that all put in so much effort to bring this @tattsfinkedesertrace mission together. Enjoy the 🎥, we had an absolute ball playing our parts, thanks Chev team🫶
https://youtu.be/WNgn8DjR4C4?si=81O3-9o4TEbbJs_g
The Silverado ZR2 was tough all weekend at Finke, from taking out prologue and line honours to day one in record time, but unfortunately we were beaten by the Desert today.
A big thanks to the team here on the ground and back at base who’ve worked so hard on this program over the last two years. Also a big thanks to Mike Henry and the team at Rampex for their technical and race support.
#Chevrolet #SilveradoZR2 #OffRoadRacer #TattsFinkeDesertRace #CraigLowndes #GMSV #ChevroletRacing
