… RSAC Scottish Rally, Dumfries, Sat 27 June
… Bogie Bolts to Victory …
David Bogie and Kevin Rae were convincing winners of last weekend’s 70th RSAC Scottish Rally based at Dumfries. Jock Armstrong and Paula Swinscoe were over a minute behind in second place after 40 miles of stages with Jock saying: “That’s just as fast as she will go” and gave the Subaru a friendly pat on the roof.
As for Bogie, it might have had something to do with being match-fit after the previous weekend hurtling around 160 miles of Donegal tarmac in his Mk2, or it might have been down to the Fiesta’s new blue tartan colour scheme. Whatever, according to David: “Everything just clicked today. It was just one of those days when everything went right.” It’s not often you can say that on a Scottish rally.
The biggest scrap of the day was for third place with Rory Young holding off Steven Clark to clinch the final podium position by a measly 2 seconds. It wasn’t so much a smile of satisfaction on Rory’s face at the finish. It was relief!
SS1, Windy Hill, 6.39 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 6m 02s
2= Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 6m 16s
2= Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer, 6m 16s
4, Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 6m 18s
5, Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 6m 20s
6= Bruce McCombie/Michael Coutts, 6m 27s
6= Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan, 6m 27s
And so it began, Bogie scorched through Windy Hill 14 seconds quicker than Armstrong and Donnie MacDonald who dead heated over 6.4 miles of dusty gravel. On only his second outing in the Buckley prepped Fiesta R5, Rory Young was 2 seconds further back and Steven Clark another 2 seconds behind. Bruce McCombie and Desi Henry tied for sixth fastest, but almost a minute behind on that opening test was Mike Faulkner: “I did most of that test with a front puncture,” he said shaking his head. Matthew Robinson was shaking his head too, but at least he was smiling: “The first chicane in the first stage – I demolished it. It was slippy into it, the car got sideways and just went through it. Demolished. As I got it sorted out and underway I could see the Marshal in my mirror, waving. At least I think he was waving!”
SS2, Ae West, 5.98 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 5m 29s
2= Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, 5m 42s
2= Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 5m 42s
4, Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 5m 43s
5, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 5m 45s
6= Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer, 5m 53s
6= Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis, 5m 53s
It was Bogie again in Ae West with Faulkner and Clark best of the rest, tied on second fastest time. Young was only a second behind the twosome with Jock Armstrong only fifth quickest: “When we were sitting queued up at the start of Stage 1 waiting to get in I walked down the line,” said Jock, “and realised I was the only one on hard tyres. I just thought maybe I was the only one who was right, and they were all wrong, or maybe not.” MacDonald tied with Robinson for sixth fastest but this time it was Barry Groundwater who slipped up. The Evo10 overshot a corner and plunged straight on. With its nose in the sheuch and its rear wheels in the air, it was going to take more than sweeties to tempt it back out of the bog. No damage, but no further. He was joined on the retirement list by Mark McCulloch, but only after strenuous efforts at service came to no avail. The Subaru hit a rock which threw the car in the air and ripped the bottom suspension arm bolt out of the chassis. The boys were hard at it till they ran out of time, but it was the chassis damage that scuppered their chances, they just couldn’t re-attach the bolt.
SS3, Heathhall, 0.71 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 0m 57s
2= Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 0m 58s
2= Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 0m 58s
4= Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 0m 59s
4= Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis, 0m 59s
6= Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, 1m 00s
6= Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer, 1m 00s
Heathhall didn’t do much for the leaderboard, but what was disappointing was the lack of spectators. Normally the place is buzzing with folks wandering through the service area, but not this year, and that’s a worry in itself.
SS4, Twiglees, 8.92 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 8m 34s
2, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 8m 48s
3, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, 8m 53s
4, Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 8m 57s
5, Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 8m 59s
6, Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer, 9m 01s
Once the scene of huge queues and lines of cars parked up on both sides of the road, Twiglees was an altogether quieter place this year with spectators denied access to the junction which comes close to the B723. These new ‘safety rules’ have a lot answer for, eh? It was spitting with rain and damp underfoot at Eskdalemuir, but it was Bogie again from Armstrong (having changed to softer tyres) ahead of Faulkner and Clark. Rory Young was only 2 seconds down on Clark and 2 up on MacDonald who was still keeping tabs on the front runners. The stage was in good fettle and it’s also pretty quick, as Freddie Mine found out. Both Freddie and Martin Forrest are OK, but the Lancer took a sore one. The car slid so far off the road it couldn’t be seen and it took some hard knocks before coming to rest in the trees. Hopefully it won’t be so bad once they get the bodywork off.
SS5, Castle O’er, 5.89 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 5m 58s
2, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 6m 04s
3, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, 6m 09s
4, Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 6m 12s
5, Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 6m 13s
6, Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer, 6m 14s
Across the road in Castle O’er there was a decent crowd of spectators, although well back from the stage, but they were able to see the only driver to score a sub-6 minute time for the stage. Bogie was 2 seconds under the 6 minute barrier and Armstrong was a mighty 4 seconds over it. Faulkner’s fightback continued with a time 5 seconds slower than Armstrong and that was despite a deflating tyre near the end of the stage, but: “It didn’t cost me any time,” said Mike. He still completed the stage ahead of Clark, Young and MacDonald with Donnie commenting: “Normally I don’t like this stage. I don’t know what it is, I just don’t like it – but I liked it today!” Some folk can be so contrary, eh? John Rintoul’s Hyundai struck trouble in here, and although he made it back to service, there was something up under the bonnet and he called it a day.
SS6, Ae North, 5.89 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 5m 43s
2= Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 5m 49s
2= Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 5m 49s
4, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, 5m 52s
5, Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 5m 55s
6= Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer, 6m 00s
6= Bruce McCombie/Michael Coutts, 6m 00s
It was Bogie again in Ae North, but Young matched Armstrong for pace scoring equal second fastest time ahead of Faulkner and Clark. Donnie MacDonald shared sixth fastest time with ARR Craib series leader Bruce McCombie making the top six fastest times for only the second time on the day after a too cautious start. As for Fraser Wilson, he was heading home, or maybe he wasn’t. The Lancer got itself stuck in a ditch after sliding off the road just beyond a forestry bridge. And bang went a possible top ten finish.
SS7, Rivox, 6.60 mls
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae, 6m 46s
2, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, 6m 51s
3, Steven Clark/Chris Williams, 6m 52s
4, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe, 6m 54s
5, Rory Young/Allan Cathers, 6m 55s
6, Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan, 7m 02s
As the crews headed towards the new stretch of road at Rivox on the northern side of Ae for the final stage, Bogie had a 57 second over Armstrong, but there were just 5 seconds between Young and Clark.
Bogie and Armstrong didn’t back off much, but there were still two drivers between them at the finish of that final blast. Faulkner was second quickest from Clark’s Evo5 with Young finishing behind Armstrong. Clark managed to snatch back 3 seconds from Young, but it wasn’t enough losing out on the final podium spot by 2 seconds. At the finish, Rory was delighted, but was quick to say: “Steven really deserved to finish third. He was driving that old car far quicker than it should go, I was just lucky.”
Clark therefore finished fourth but Faulkner’s fighting fifth was typical of the man: “I had to beat Bruce (McCombie) today to keep my championship hopes alive, so we got something out of it. That puncture this morning sums up the story of my rallying career – if – if – if … ”
MacDonald rounded off the top six after a strong and steady run with no heroics finishing ahead of Robinson and McCombie who started the final stage in the positions – McCombie/Robinson. “I screwed up,” said Bruce, “I don’t know what went wrong. It turned in OK then just went straight on and I spun, then I just got too ragged trying to make up time.” As a result he lost a place but no more points as Robinson isn’t registered in the Scottish series.
Shaun Sinclair finished a disappointed 9th overall: “I don’t know what was up today. I don’t think I drove badly but the times just weren’t there.”
Rounding off the top ten was Desi Henry giving his new Skoda Fabia S2000 a shakedown ahead of Ulster but suffered a day-long gear selection problem caused by a faulty potentiometer. This meant he had no gear display and therefore didn’t know what gear he was in most of the time so was being ultra careful. Still, he was happy with his seat-time. Job done.
Top two wheel drive runner on the day and just losing out on a top ten placing was Chris McKnight after a hard fought battle with Steve Bannister, the two Escort Mk2s finishing 28 seconds apart but separated by Niall Henry’s Impreza.
And that was the 70th Scottish Rally. Next year it steps up to the new 2016 British Rally Championship, but will it also be a round of the Scottish Championship? We’ll have to wait and see.
RSAC Scottish Rally, Dumfries, Sat 27 June
Final Results:
1, David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Ford Fiesta R5+) 39m 29s
2, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe (Subaru Impreza) +1:05
3, Rory Young/Allan Cathers (Ford Fiesta R5) +1:26
4, Steven Clark/Chris Williams (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) +1:28
5, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) +1:55
6, Donnie MacDonald/Andrew Falconer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) +2:01
7, Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis (Ford Fiesta) +2:30
8, Bruce McCombie/Michael Coutts (Mitsubishi Evo 9) +2:34
9, Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Skoda Fabia S2000) +3:13
10, Shaun Sinclair/Chris Hamill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) +3:16
11, Greg McKnight/Chris McKnight (Ford Escort Mk2) +3:39
12, Niall Henry/Damien Duffin (Subaru Impreza S9) +4:00
13, Steve Bannister/Louise Rae (Ford Escort Mk2) +4:07
14, John Wink/John Forrest (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) +4:15
15, Scott McCombie/Kevin Sim (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) +4:16
16, John Morrison/Peter Carstairs (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) +4:18
17, Ian Baumgart/Mike Dickson (Subaru Impreza) +5:08
18, Chris Collie/Mark Fisher (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) +5:21
19, Brian Watson/Abi Louden (Mitsubishi Lancer Wrc) +5:22
20, Iain Wilson/Keith Riddick (Subaru Impreza N12) +5:25
21, Robert Harkness/Michael Curry (BMW 316i) +5:38
22, Willie Stuart/Neil Ewing (Ford Escort Mk1) +5:44
23, Lee Hastings/Helen Brown (Subaru Impreza) +5:45
24, Scott Grant/Stewart Hurst (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) +6:05
25, Martin Craik/Steven Brown (Subaru Impreza) +6:08
26, Charlie Taylor/Alan Ward (Ford Escort Mk2) +6:41
27, Garry Wilson/Scott Young (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) +6:47
28, Adam Milner/Roy Jarvis (Ford Escort Mk1 Mexico) +6:52
29, Alex Curran/Heather Grisedale (Vauxhall Corsa) +6:54
30, Pauric Duffy/John Higgins (Ford Fiesta R5+) +6:57
Class1: Andy Struthers/Pete Weall (Citroen C2) 53m 31s
Class 2: Thomas Gray/David Wilson (Toyota Yaris) 49m 12s
Class 3: Charles Blair (Vauxhall Nova) 48m 25s
Class 4: Alex Curran/Heather Grisedale (Vauxhall Corsa) 46m 23s
Class 5: John McIlwraith/ (Ford Escort RS) 47m 13s
Class 6: Steve Bannister/Louise Rae (Ford Escort Mk2) 43m 36s
Class 7: Caroline Carslaw/John Duke (Ford Fiesta ST) 50m 00s
Class 8: Greg McKnight/Chris McKnight (Ford Escort Mk2) 43m 08s
Class 9: Robert Harkness/Michael Curry (BMW 316i) 45m 07s
Class 10: Robert Harkness/Michael Curry (BMW 316i) 43m 47s
Class 11: Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 41m 24s
Class 12: Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe (Subaru Impreza) 40m 34s
Class 13: David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Ford Fiesta R5+) 39m 29s
**
RSAC Scottish Rally – Class roundup