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Rally News - November 30, 2009
No Room at the Inn
What a night, Jaggy was on the beer all the way – no wine and no spirits, just beer. That meant he was able to follow proceedings exceedingly well and only suffered ever so slightly on the Sunday morning. He was so mellow he went shopping with Lady B in Glasgow after breakfast, so it must have been a good night.
It was the biggest turn-out seen at an SRC Awards gala for many a year and in the days running up to the event, the organisers had to turf the display cars out of the suite to make more room for tables and guests. Over 500 revellers packed the Glasgow Marriott to greet the new Scottish Rally Champions and all the other worthies a few surprise award winners.
Hosting the affair were Big Roy Campbell and Colin Clark. Roy had flown in from Dubai (in the Middle East)and Colin had flown in from London (near France) to the international centre of Scottish rallying for the night, Glasgow. The girls looked glamorous and the boys looked – well, some had made an effort, although Jaggy did wonder if Mike Ramsay had got dressed in an Oxfam shop in a rush during a blackout! Still he was there, and that’s what counted, and past champion Jimmy Girvan was there too and promised to be back and giving the young guns a hard time next year.
There was more tartan on show than in a Walker’s Shortbread shop, and the suite was well dressed too with four screens and Demus Productions showing the film clips.
It was a long night, and with that in mind, the presentations were divided into two parts. The majority of the trophies were dished out during the first part culminating in David Bogie and Kevin Rae’s rapturous reception when the 2009 Hankook Scottish Champions were announced.
As ever, ‘the boy’ David spoke well. And as the second youngest Scottish Rally Champion since the series started in 1957, he paid tribute to a lost star when he recalled who the youngest champion was. He also paid tribute to the closeness of the competition this year and the fact that there were half a dozen drivers in the hunt from the start and the title not decided till the final round.
You know something, you can’t help hating him. Young, good looking, talented, modest, all his own teeth and coming from a nice family background, and with a promising career in deceased animal husbandry and welfare stretching before him, he makes us old guys and past-its ever so envious! Grrrr! Only kidding.
This year’s Wooden Spoon went to Andy Horne and Jim Howie – eight starts and no finishes. Surely next year can’t get any worse, can it? Iain ‘Coogie’ Urquhart, aka the Mars Bar Kid, won the Park Systems Award for his contribution to the Scottish Rally Championship and rallying in general, and that included RoS the other weekend when he helped to get them out of a hole at one point!
And as one of his last duties as SRC Chair before handing over to Neil Shanks, Campbell Roy announced the winner of this year’s ‘Colin McRae – If in doubt, flat out’ award. It went to someone who has enjoyed some notorious ‘exposure’ in Jaggy’s rally reports during the past season and therefore a thoroughly deserving winner of such an award, David Wilson.
( Pic shows Alison McRae with David and Jim McRae )
There followed a bit of drinking and dancing (and more drinking – but by goad it wis dear!) before Presentation Part II, and this was the announcement of the winner of the Hankook Junior award with a prize drive in China at stake and pre-event tuition from Mark Higgins.
If the room was silent ahead of David and Kevin’s proclamation earlier, it was as lively as Glasgow’s Necropolis ahead of this one.
There were six finalists, David Bogie, Alick Kerr, Mark McCulloch, Euan Thorburn, John MacCrone and David Wilson, but only one could win. And when the winner’s name was announced, two tables at the back of the hall erupted quicker than Loeb on Launch Control, to be followed by the rest of the gathering in vocal and clamouring support.
This year’s top Junior is John MacCrone. And if the party in Glasgow was wet, wild and wicked after that, then imagine what it would be like in the Bellachroy in Dervaig on Sunday night, and I’ll bet the ferry was rocking on the way home!
Mike Patterson of Hankook was also cajoled into uttering a few words, but he did say the words everyone wanted to hear: “Hankook will be back next year!” He added: “For 2010 we look to build on these very firm foundations and can’t wait for another exciting season to get underway”.
To say that young MacCrone was emotional is a bit of an understatement. The 20 year old’s feet barely touched the floor as he walked up to receive his award. In fact I reckon he walked across the Clyde that night to get back to his hotel – he didn’t need a bridge!
And he was still emotional later when Jaggy caught up with him: “This is truly sensational. I’ve never been in an aeroplane and never been abroad,” he said. “The furthest I’ve been is when I went to Donegal to watch Colin McRae in 2007.
Later, he was still having difficulty believing his luck: “I’m still speechless: “This is the best prize in Scottish rallying. The free rally entries is a big enough prize but getting this opportunity and going to Mark Higgins’ as well. And then in two weeks time George Donaldson is taking a few drivers to the John Haugland school in Norway and I’m included.”
( Pic: After the party comes the black coffee, but who needed it? )
But there will be tough decisions to make too, and later I caught up with ‘Uncle’ Peter MacCrone. “We all want what’s best for John to take his career on to the next step. We need to find him a new co-driver that will grow with him.” When asked if he didn’t relish the task himself, Peter was magnanimous and genuine: “Of course I’d love to go to China, but that might not be best for John and that’s the important thing now. There will have to be a lot of decisions made soon and we’ll have to talk to a lot of folk to make sure they are the right ones.”
Andy Knight was there too and has been supporting John’s progress this past year: “We’re all just so pleased for him, but after the celebrations are over comes the hard part, what to do next. We’ve all got some ideas but they’ve got to be discussed and they’ve got to be practical. They’ve also got to be affordable!” With that kind of level headed support behind him, John should be OK for next year.
And let’s not forget where he came from. It all started with the Tour of Mull Rally, then the Bear Cubs and then the Ecosse Challenge, followed by the Scottish Junior programme. All we need now is the rest of Britain to catch up.
And here’s something controversial. Maybe we should all get behind Rally of Scotland and the IRC. There are only two works teams in the WRC so just maybe the IRC represents a more affordable way forward for the whole sport. If we can get some more manufacturers involved, keep the costs under check to attract some top private teams, and get the spectators enthused, then just maybe that series can provide a few more opportunities for aspiring youngsters.
What do you think?
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