A bit of drama and panic with flat tyres and broken belts getting to Carnarvon, but we managed to finish the stage thanks to the support of other teams who stopped to help us out when we were in a bit of strife.

We left Gascoyne Junction on the 24th headed towards Exmouth, and it really was a bugger of a day. About 100km into the stage, we found our oil was low and we risked doing more damage to the vehicle if we kept going, so we got towed in. Unfortunately, that meant we had to cop the brunt of a lot of penalties. Today, we were lucky to have one of our great supporters from Titan Australia donate an engine to us so we could replace the one in the buggy. We’re crossing our fingers that everything will be alright from now on after this fairly significant repair! So although we didn’t compete today, and we had to surrender in yesterday’s stage, we came into this race wanting to finish it and we still expect to do that.

Great news today – Rex was driving and I managed not to soil the inside of my helmet!!

Made it to Gascoyne Junction today, which is where our bivouac is for the next couple of days.

Got into Murchison tonight after a pretty interesting day. Well, we started off alright but things escalated quickly as I (Jim) started to feel a bit crook thanks to Rex’s rough driving (“yeah, alright, it was rough terrain, mate” – Rex). When Rex drives it’s very, very rough! And I had a lot of trouble trying to hold me stomach together…I started strong and I felt really good during the morning and then I started to feel car sick and eventually it had to come out...it wasn’t a pretty sight. I was destroyed! So we got the chopper in to come and pick me up for a rest. I was very appreciative of Rex because I was thinking ‘I can’t let him down, I’ve got to stay in here’! (“But I told him his mum would never forgive me!” – Rex)

Today, we started at Ginger’s Roadhouse in Perth ready to head up to Geraldton. We had to do the prologue today and we’re happy with how the buggy’s feeling. A few mechanical issues here and there – a problem with my (Jim’s) throttle on the steering wheel that we managed to sort out so thank God I don’t have to be a passenger for Rex for the rest of the week!

I’ve managed to make a living driving cars all over the world as an international rally champion. Motorsport has always been in my blood and I have great memories of tearing up my family’s property in Victoria when I was a teenager. I chased the thrill then, and to this day everything about my sport still excites me.

We had the opportunity today to take the buggy down to Forrest Place in the Perth CBD to promote the Count Me In message. We were also there to help launch the National Disabilities Services WA’s newest initiative – Make My Day, Don’t Take My Bay.