A DREAM TEAM
TEAM Cosgrove is a humble bunch of mates, friendships forged over the years through their participation in the annual Road Boss Rally. Never taking themselves too seriously but always daring to punch above their weight. The team loves nothing more than challenging themselves and their machines on the harshest tracks the Aussie bush has to offer. Now we used to get to do this only a few times a year and clearly that would not suffice.
Now, ideas are one thing we are not short on, and given the right environment, think end of a hard day at play, beer in hand, mates around a crackling fire, you can see how things can get out of hand. And it’s happened more than once now.
So, what can we achieve if we dare to dream? What can this group who rally together from far and wide and all walks of life achieve if they put their combined talent, energy and resources together?
Well, for TEAM Cosgrove the main goal is to finish what we start. Dream Big and get it done. We are not the loudest and brashest, but we are thorough and consistent and in our unassuming way we earn respect and admiration wherever we journey.
Our latest, some would say crazy, dream? In 2021, TEAM Cosgrove will take on the FINKE Desert Race.
FINKE Desert Race - A race like no other
This event, long admired by TEAM Cosgrove member Jamie Lawson, has gained special significance for him since moving out to Alice Springs a few years ago. This town lives and breathes FINKE year-round, culminating on the June long weekend each year. This gruelling event sees teams race south from Alice Springs, covering 230km of the harshest tracks Australia has to offer, then back again the next day!
RUNS ON THE BOARD
FINKE is not for the faint of heart, but this isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve ticked off a few dreams so far in preparation.
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The Classic Outback, a 3000 km, 7-day endurance rally through central Australia (2018).
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In 2019 we competed in a round of the World Rally Championship in Coffs Harbour, well almost, if it wasn’t for the bushfires that pulled it up short.
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The soon to be 100-year-old Alpine Rally of East Gippsland in Victoria in some of the wettest conditions imaginable.
And yes, Team Cosgrove have had their two cars cross the finish line of every event we have entered so far.
Since 2018 our team has entered over a dozen events and both cars have finished every one of them! We may not sit on the podium but Team Cosgrove will always win the hearts and admiration of the spectators and onlookers as they admire our machinery, our jovial team spirit and mateship.
RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB
These other events were all great tests for our two rally cars, the ‘Dusty Devil’ and ‘The Bull’, but pulling off an event like FINKE needs something really special.
The search has been on for some time for the machine that will take us ‘there and back’, almost two years in fact. Avid car hunter, internet surfer and TEAM Cosgrove member Jordy Lawson seemed intent on providing options (so many options). Then late one night, there it was. Did it have the pedigree, the quality, the strength to deliver a finish in this great race? Could we take a 10-year-old trophy truck that needed some TLC and bring it back to its former glory? Rebuild it as good as day one? If we treated it well, would it bring us home? Well, it had been to FINKE before, in 2015. Driven by a former owner, it had taken him to Finke and home again. Surely, we had the talent within our team to repeat that result? Even better it.
And so it was we welcomed a new addition to the TEAM Cosgrove garage, the ‘THUNDERTRUCK’. We are set to take on the toughest event in the country, The FINKE Desert Race 2021.
RIGHT TEAM FOR THE JOB
Driving the THUNDERTRUCK and our 2021 Finke dream is Jamie Lawson, or as we all call him, ‘Road Boss’, best known for his own Road Boss Rally events around Australia. However, from time to time he tosses his red bucket hat aside and slides on a helmet to pursue his other passion, driving flat out in the bush!
Jamie has been in Alice for a few years now and in his quiet, unassuming way has been studying the lay-of-the-land. Not just the land but the people too, the movers and shakers in the motorsport scene, connecting with the right people in this great town. At the same time he’s been sowing seeds and subtly waving the Road Boss Rally flag, ready to be noticed when the time is right. What better way to make an impression and promote your wares than to jump right in and do as the locals do? When in Rome … Nah, when in Alice, think FINKE!
Now you know who our driver is, but what about the navigator, the guy that will saddle up, grab the panic bar and hold on for dear life while traversing this 230km run south from Alice Springs over some of the harshest tracks in the country (and back again the next day)! Well, that’s been in the works for quite a while as well, with a few well-known names among our team in the mix, including the prodigal son. Then the unplanned plan all came together. A guy with the local knowledge and mechanical background to be a great asset to the crew, a guy who also harboured the same passion to tame the FINKE, a guy with the local profile to put our team in the spotlight. Ashley Whear was our guy! He fits right in, a true Team Cosgrove kind of guy; Loves a beer and a yarn and would do anything for a mate. Our team has good history with Ash and a lot to thank him for.
STEPPING STONES
Step one was to rally TEAM Cosgrove together and make a pilgrimage to the Red Centre to finally meet our new addition, our newly adopted, to get to know him further. I’m talking about the THUNDERTRUCK, not Ash.
Our first day on the job was a few small maintenance jobs, then dress him up in full dress kit for a trial run just out of town where we could see what he had. The previous owner had not really kept up the TLC so he would not be at his best, but we went easy on him. 150km or so, a few different drivers and some joy rides and we are back on the trailer.
Now back in the workshop the brains trust discusses our plan of attack, and then the real carnage starts. THUNDER now looks more like a stripped chicken carcase than a trophy truck, but this is the price of success. We must be thorough; we must leave no stone unturned if we are to finish the toughest race in the country. We want to know every nut, bolt, seam, weld, wire, switch, sound … we need to be one entire team at one with this entire machine.
Hundreds of pieces of the THUNDERTRUCK are now being reconditioned, repaired and ordered to be replaced and our team will rally together again when all parts have returned to Alice Springs ready for the rebuild.
Even though we lost six months of planning and preparation due to COVID, our never-say-never team pulled it all together and have a timeline that not only gets the THUNDERTRUCK back together, but enough time to test, tune and be ready for June!
INTERESTING STUFF
So why are we telling you this and why do we want to share. TEAM Cosgrove has become an extension of our larger Road Boss Rally community and through that relationship we consider that everyone has a stake in our adventures and achievements. Running the THUNDERTRUCK gives us an opportunity to raise our profile and that of Road Boss so that we might attract more entrants and support to our annual rally which means we are extending the life of that event which brings us so many great mates and memories.