The big question was how did it get in?
In a rally and a race, the windows must be up. But it wasn't a terribly big bee. Probably a teddy bear bee. Or as we call them in Adelaide, Amegilla Asaropods.
But, despite the cute name, the teddy bear bee is more deadly than the inland taipan, the box jellyfish and the cone shell. Combined.
Not helpful that I was steering around a corner called very dangerous in the pace notes at 115km/h. It was helpful that I had my racing gloves on whereas Mick, as navigator, had his hands exposed and thus very attractive to a death bee as a handy place to inject its stinger into the skin of an unsuspecting older person.
We did what any experienced team competing in the 2024 Adelaide Rally would do. We screamed like girls, boys or others.
But then I noticed the burning smell. At that moment I was relieved, thinking that smoke soothes bees and makes them lose interest in pushing their hollow, thorn-shaped organs into the skin of a navigator. But then my left foot started causing me a lot of pain and I realised the smoke and smell were coming directly from my thin leather FIA-approved racing shoe which was pressed against the metal covering the gearbox.
There were obvious choices. Despite the speed and the tarmac road, I could take a lead from Captain Larry "Titus" Oates who, on his way back from a fairly unsuccessful trip to the South Pole, opened the door to the tent he and his mates were sharing and said, "I am just going outside and may be some time". Or I could move my foot; man, woman or other up and continue to the end of the stage.
To spoil the ending for you, unlike Titus Oates, Mick and I survived, we recorded a top 10 finish and got to spill a few Coopers with Rio Tinto director Dean Dalla Valle, former Foster's exec and Retromotive owner Zach Hegde, the Donald Trump of pace notes Bernie Webb and lots of Ferrari owners. Overall winners were the team of Alex Rullo and Smoothline pace notes co-founder Steve Glenney.
In the best news since 2022, Targa Tasmania will be back next year. One of the world's great motorsport events around some of the world's most beautiful country, the rally will start in Hobart on November 16.
Moving on to F1. Leading up to next weekend's booze and car fest in Las Vegas we are going to give you some helpful hints on what to do and where to stay. You'll be pleased to know Michael Jackson is still going strong at the Mandalay Bay, as is David Copperfield at the MGM Grand.
jc@jcp.com.au