ABDC 2018: The Inside Line

Bringing ABDC to life

The Blue Duck Inn is where the story of Australia’s Best Driver’s Car in 2018 comes to life.

It’s a quaint, remote, old-fashioned eat-and-sleep stopover at Anglers Rest, on the Omeo Highway in the Victorian High Country.

But there is no rest time for the motoring.com.au crew when the ABDC caravan rolls to a halt after a slimy sprint over some of the toughest roads of this year’s quick-car contest.

It’s another stop-and-swap spot during five days of intense and intensive assessment.

Even so, there is an overdose of adrenalin as car after car rolls in from the punishing run, and the stories begin.

“Wow. That was incredible,” says Sam ‘Hollywood’ Charlwood, as he steps from the Nissan 370Z NISMO. He quickly lifts the bonnet to check the oil as the temperature gauge in the cabin has been reading into the red.

“I think I’ve cooked the brakes,” says trail boss Matt Brogan, watching smoke rising from the front discs on the Audi RS 5 quattro.

Everyone has something to question or something to report and there are giant smiles all round, none broader than the one on the face of two-time Targa Tasmania champion Greg Crick.

“That Lexus. What’s it called again, the LC? It’s unbelievable. I never thought Lexus could build a car like that,” he says.

Me? I’m keeping quiet about the punishment the Kia Stinger has received during the recent romp.

But Feann Torr gets me going as he slides into the South Korean contender.

“What’s happened to these brakes, PG? The pedal is down on the floor,” he says.

Um. Er. I’m the rookie on this run, so I confess.

“I might have pushed it a bit,” I reply.

>>Get all the 2018 Australia's Best Driver's Car results here

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Full-focus required

The Omeo action is as tough as it gets for any car and driver. The road is rugged enough in full-focus sunshine, but we’ve just been through everything from drizzle and sunbeams to black clouds, thunderclaps and heavy rain.

The grip level is just as changeable, from fully dry to fully slick, and it’s fascinating and informative to hear – and sometimes see – the cars and drivers coping with front, rear and all-wheel drive in everything from the humble Suzuki Swift Sport to the high-calibre BMW M5 and Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4MATIC+.

“That was tough,” says Marton Pettendy, in a masterful understatement of his time in the Subaru BRZ.

Even former game show host Glenn ‘Gift Shop’ Ridge looks shattered after sprinting the Mazda MX-5 RF Limited Edition; and he’s completely match fit after arriving directly from driving his Mazda RX-7 SP in Targa.

Brogan is soon reminding everyone to update their review logs and move to the next car as we head for Harrietville and the overnight stop that will put the full stop to Wednesday.

It’s been like this since 0630 on Monday morning on a week where ABDC mixes great cars, brilliant roads, track action and great company with the challenge of driving and rating 14 cars that sit at the top of the pile for four-wheeled freedom and feedback.

We’re on the road just after 0700 and I’m surprised that Brogan has found so many enjoyable roads so close to the kick-off from the Carsales headquarters on Punt Road in Melbourne. I’m even more surprised when he takes a wrong turn after less than 50km at the head of the 14-car queue. Blame the fog!

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Enter The Luke

Day One is mostly focussed on the straight-line testing at Wangaratta Airport, before the focus shifts to Winton Motor Raceway for track laps, then three days of real-world on-road running in the Alps.

Which brings us to The Luke.

He is Bathurst winner Luke Youlden, who is also a two-time National Motorsport Champion, a driver trainer with Porsche and a master of extracting the maximum from any car. He is a ripper bloke who is sharing this week – there is no superstar treatment as everyone has a ‘roomie’ on the road – with his father, and fellow Aussie champion, Kent.

“I taught Luke to drive when he was 12. I graded a track around a paddock, took him for a ride to show him the way, and away he went. He was straight onto it, no mistakes, fast like crazy,” Kent recalls.

Things are tougher for The Luke at Wangaratta, on a slippery surface which provides comparable runs but nothing to threaten the record books. But then real life intrudes on the testing as an air ambulance circles and lands. A humidicrib is unloaded to collect a baby in need of critical care in Melbourne and ABDC seems a secondary distraction.

Once the Winton work is done on Tuesday evening, and The Luke is replaced by Gift Shop on the driving roster, the car caravan heads north and upwards into the twists and turns through Tawonga Gap, Mitta Mitta, Fall’s Creek, Mount Beauty and Oxley.

These are great roads with great cars and the process of picking the ABDC winner is the ideal antidote to autonomy.

No-one is talking about radar cruise control, lane-departure systems or autonomous emergency braking as the days and roads unroll.

Instead, it’s about power and torque and grip and feel. And smiles.

More smiles per mile

The smile factor is emerging as the biggest decider between the different cars, as drivers come to grips with the various challenges and rewards. Some prefer the security of front-wheel drive, others like the challenge of old-school rear drive, and there are plenty of supporters for the all-paw grip in the M5, E 63 and RS 5.

But not always.

“Too much car, not enough road,” says Nadine Armstrong, only half-smiling as she steps out of the M5.

“This is a mouse that roars,” says Pettendy, grinning broadly after romping with the Swift Sport.

Late on Thursday there is a minor hiccup with a puncture in the Honda Civic Type R. It’s down to a lousy road and there is no drama or damage, but – after the inflator kit fails completely to do its job – the car is out of the contest until a spare tyre and wheel can be shipped from Melbourne.

Apart from a cracked screen in the Mazda MX-5 it’s the only significant damage on ABDC, although there is inevitable wear and tear on things like brakes and tyres and front bumpers over the gritty and twisty roads.

“I need to drive the Type R, I’m writing about it,” says James Whitbourn.

“I need to drive it too,” says Crick.

Until then, the Targa champ goes sprinting in the Hyundai i30 N and reports back on a car he believes he is brilliant.

But that triggers an earnest conversation about the qualities of a real driver’s car.

“Can a hotted-up hatchback compare to a proper sports car,” asks Pettendy.

“And what about those big GTs? They are great on autobahns in Germany but are they real driver’s cars on these roads,” says Bruce Newton.

It’s a discussion and argument that flows back-and-forward for a couple of days, until the ABDC convoy rolls into Mansfield for a final team meal and the start of the discussions on the winner. Drivers are completing their assessment sheets, adding and subtracting from individual scores, looking to see how everything rates on their personal scoreboards.

R Division? Or Camp Alfa?

As the voting talk gets serious there are two camps, one favouring the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV and the other for the Honda Civic Type R, split almost evenly. There are opinions both ways, arguments in favour and against, as the crew each has their say.

Except for one: Crick has gone missing and he’s pacing up and down the pavement in an earnest conversation on his mobile phone.

I cannot resist eaves dropping and, as I catch the chat, it seems like his massive enjoyment in the Alfa Romeo is not enough to win his vote.

“Yeah, now, about the price you gave me on a Civic Type R?,” he says to someone senior at Honda Australia.

“Can we lock that in and get my name down for a car,” Crick says, smiling just as broadly as he had at the Blue Duck Inn.