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Rally Report - March 15, 2009 DCC Crail Stages Rally, Saturday 14th March Chocks Away! Tom Morris and the Metro 6R4 go together like a Spitfire and a flying helmet. Oddly enough, that was the image that came to mind as I watched the Metro flat-out down the long runway at Crail at the weekend. That V6 wail just makes your hair stand on end. And yes, he won this opening round of the 2009 Hytorc Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship. No surprise there, then. After all, he and the Metro have been together since just after the war. They're growing old together. Even a last minute change of co-driver couldn't faze him. He's so laid back I think he sleeps standing up. Anyway, conditions were pretty good. Yes, there was a bit of moss and dampness on the first run of the day's 6 stages, but after that it was dry and sunny, although very windy, and that was before the beefburgers, onions, relish and brown sauce. SS1 - 7.9 Miles. Getting the ball rolling was Stephen Hogg and Phil Shortt. They were barely out of their jammies and into the suits ready for the 8.30 am start, but they must have been wide awake. Fastest (7m 50s) by 7 seconds from Tom Morris and Sandy Loynd. Bob Grant and Peter Carstairs were third quickest (8m 01s) but Bob was more concerned about set-up after a Winter rebuild. Bruce Edwards and Jim Smith were next (8m 03s) in the aerodynamic Tupperware box ahead of Jamie Smith and Andrew Falconer (8m 05s) in the just-finished Subaru Impreza which he 'only' started building about 2 or 3 years ago. It's so long ago now he's forgotten when he started it! But bringing a smile to the faces of the millions, thousands, hundreds, OK, the few dozen wind swept spectators, were the Wheeler brothers. Ricky has replaced the Warrior engine with a Pinto, so it's not as quick, and it's 18 months since he rallied on tar after a couple of forays into the woods last year, but the rustyness didn't show. Sixth quickest (8m 07s) in the MkII, lovely. John Rintoul was only a second behind Wheeler, but he was grappling with an unfamiliar machine. He had hired a Group N spec Lancer from KG Motorsport in Ireland because his own EVO6 wasn't quite ready yet and it lacked the bigger brakes of his own car. Or maybe that's why he was so quick! But whilst this lot were blasting around the airfield, Keith Robathan was already going for the trailer. The Escort had broken its brand new CWP on the startline of the first stage. At least Stuart McQueen was still going. He had actually got around to fixing the S1600 Puma after it broken a driveshaft at Ingliston last year, but in the absence of a co-driver had opted to take Alistair Wilson with him. When they missed the Split in the first test I would have passed up a Tunnocks' pie to listen in to the inevitable argument about whose fault it was. The resultant maximum stage penalty put paid to any class hopes Stuart had! SS2 - 7.9 Miles Wee Brucie was on a high after this one. Fastest in the Darrian (7m 31s) despite clipping a bale. "It was an 80 mile an hour chicane," he chuckled, "and the tail end just stepped out and clipped the bale." It might also have kept him in line, but it wasn't just the fibreglass that suffered, the impact had split the oil cooler, so there was work to be done. Second quickest was Morris (7m 35s) from Bob Grant (7m 38s) and David Welsh (7m 41s) at the start of a good run for the day. So where was Hogg? It was the smell of burning rubber that gave the game away. The Subaru had punctured a tyre and Hogg had dropped 20 seconds. That's a big advantage to give someone like Morris. Further down the field, Neil Ogilvie was having a blast in Gary Adam's MkII and exited the last corner on full lock. He tried to claim he was putting on a show for the spectators, but between you and me, I reckon he just clipped the tyre barrier which pitched him into a full blooded slide! It also looked as though Neil Munro had some work to do. As the Subaru pulled up into service, wisps of smoke appeared through the vents and the smell of burning followed it. Fortunately, it was only the power steering pump seal which had failed and was seeping oil on to the engine. Colin Smith sharing an Impreza with son, Jonathan, didn't get far. The Subaru holed a piston after the first runs and the last I saw of them as night fell, they were still arguing whose fault it was. Depending on which version of the story you want to believe, faither is over the hill and past it, while the boy is all right foot and nae brains! Laugh? I nearly wet my breeks. SS3 - 7.4 Miles Back on four inflated tyres, Hogg took his second FTD (7m 51s) of the day on the third test from Morris and Grant sharing 7m 56s, and Smith (8m 00s). Billy McLelland and John Marshall shared 8m 01s, with Marshall having hired a KG Motorsport 98 WRC spec Impreza for a one-off outing. This was no rallying comeback, it was just to get him in the mood for another season's Legends racing. Edwards was maybe a bit cautious this time (8m 03s) having by-passed the burst oil cooler and just a wee bit worried about oil temperature, but after reading the packaging found that the oil was good enough for making chips, never mind dissipating heat in a hard working engine! Jim Sharp was off the pace over the early stages, but found the cause at the end of the third test, when a brake pipe burst. SS4 - 7.4 Miles With 3 stages gone, Morris turned up the wick (7m 47s). He was 2 seconds quicker than Smith (7m 49s) but more importantly, 4 seconds quicker than Hogg (7m 51s) tying with Grant. Fourth quickest was Edwards (7m 54s) from Marshall and Ian Watson in his Lancer sharing 7m 56s, but McClelland wasn't. A power steering pipe had fractured, the same problem that halted the Lancer at Ingliston last year. So, with two runs left, Morris had an 8 second advantage over Hogg with Grant a further three adrift, and 14 miles to go, so things were far from settled. SS5 - 8 Miles Hogg (7m 58s) had a real go at the penultimate test, but 'Biggles' was now in 'Battle of Britain' mode (7m 56s). There was just 2 seconds between them on that 8 mile blast, but Hogg was on the wrong end of the difference. Edwards (8m 00s) was a further 2 seconds adrift with Jamie Smith (8m 02s) fourth fastest from Grant (8m 04s) and Shaun Sinclair sharing 8m 15s with Welsh, but Welsh was now in bother. He had lost 4th gear in the Subaru and was worried about the 'box. Two of the front runners failed to make the final stage. Smith and Marshall both opted for caution rather than glory. Smith's oil pressure had sagged and Marshall had a misfire on the penultimate test and didn't want to risk the engine. SS6 - 8 Miles The final 'call to arms' had the pilots strapping on their helmets for the last time, but few were prepared to bet against the mighty Metro. Hogg fired up the Subaru and gave it his best shot: "If it hadn't been for the puncture, who knows," he said, "but it's only a Group N Subaru and I'm driving it as hard as it will go." Edwards rose to the challenge too and both he and Hogg shared (7m 52s) - but 'Biggles' was 4 seconds faster. Victory was his! The only other driver under 8 minutes for the final run was Bob Grant (7m 58s), leaving him oddly dis-satisfied: "I don't know what to do next. Today was just a test. I've won the North of England Championship three times now and fancy something new." Sounds like Ireland is beckoning! Watson was quick again (8m 05s) getting some mileage in ahead of his home event, the Jim Clark Rally, with Rintoul finally getting in amongst the fastest times (8m 06s) ahead of Welsh, whose gearbox stayed intact, and Chris Abel in the Renault Clio. It was left to Allan McKay to raise a smile on the frozen faces of the chilled spectators. Just after the stage start he clipped a tyre barrier, which broke the steering and the Lancer went straight on at the next corner. "There were some quick boys out there today," said Morris at the finish, "that Stevie Hogg was giving me a hard time, pity about his puncture. But today was a one-off, I'm not doing the championship, I'm just going to pick and choose my events this year." At least that will give the rest some consolation! ** The Classes Bruce Edwards was top finisher in Class 4 ahead of Chris Abel's Renault Clio which just made the top ten. Ian Forgan was third in the gold Escort ahead of Fergus Gray in the wee Peugeot 206. Ray Cummings was 5th in the Astra and Drew Barker wasn't, his Astra had developed gearbox problems. Alex Lennie was on good form till he punctured, and Wattie Warwick failed to finish when the Escort's engine packed up, while Paul Stuart's Escort retired with coil failure, a puncture and then a small underbonnet fire, and Mark Stewart went out on the last stage looking for his rear window which had blown out on the previous stage, then his Escort had a wee fire too! Gary Keenan finished 8th in class despite spinning on SS2 and losing his bootlid. He had fitted an Atlas axle to the rear end of the Manta, but he was able to prove that the aerodynamics were effective - when the bootlid flew off, it landed safely and softly right way up! Ricky Wheeler won Class 3, but interest was centred on the battle for second place. Gordon MacKay and Iain MacKenzie had a real old ding dong in their respective Peugeot 106s. MacKenzie got off to the best start, 12 seconds quicker than MacKay. By the final stage MacKenzie's lead had been reduced to 2 seconds, but at the end of it, MacKay had secured the runner-up position by 3 seconds. Kevin Monaghan was fourth in his Corsa from Chris Haw in the Peugeot 309 with Gordon MacKay's older brother, Euan sixth in a Peugeot 106. Chris Anderson's Puma just made the final stage and no more, thanks to 'pushing power'. When the clutch failed, the service crew pushed him down to the final Control and he somehow got off the start line. David Conley's rapid BRM Avenger was sidelined when a suspension bracket broke off the rear axle and Hannah Cessford's Honda was halted when a large hole appeared unexpectedly in the engine block! A similar affliction also curtailed Neil Thompson's outing in his Nova. But spare a thought for Willie Rae. He had earlier lost the keys for his tow-car cum service vehicle. For all we know he might still be stuck at Crail! Steve Ross won Class 2 in his Nova, but second placed Steven Irwin was lucky to finish at all. The team looked as though they were out when it limped into service with a broken differential, but the service crew was having none of it. The unit was stripped out and repaired in time for stage 3. Equally fortunate was Pete Gibson. A driveshaft pulled out on the Nova in the first stage and cost him over a minute and a half. He dropped to 78th place overall, but fought back to finish 36th o/a and claim 3rd in class. James Millar was fourth in his Fiesta ahead of Jamie Stewart in a borrowed Peugeot 205, because his own new 205 is not quite ready yet. As for Graeme Smith he finished 6th in class in what started the day as a Peugeot 205, but by close of play looked more like a dismantling project in progress. The reason for that was the arrival on the scene of Number 3 Smith son, Frazer, who shared the car with middle brother Graeme. So whilst Dad and Jonathan were arguing over who broke the Subaru, the younger two were knocking corners off the Peugeot. Somehow it survived, and the newcomer scored 8th in class, just over a minute behind his brother. Former champion Tracey Louise Muir retired on the fourth stage when the engine seized. The Peugeot 106 was actually lucky to make the start after they had to rebuild the engine following last month's North West Stages at Blackpool. However, first job of the day was to repair the suspension after two stages, and the multi-tasking co-driving husband Gary had to get underneath the car to weld up the bottom arm. But on stage 4, when the oil light came on, Tracey switched it off. Garry Johnson in the Proton might have fared a little better had he not "missed a Split or two!" and William Harley introduced his Dad, Bill Harley, to the gentle art of rallying. First time out as a co-driver he finished the day learning a new trade, panel beater! The biggest surprise of the day was further down the field where Grumpy Motorsport had entered a Citroen Saxo. The surprise had nothing to do with the fact that Ian 'Ginge' Logan, the 'Grumpy' part of Motorsport, was there. No, the big surprise was his non-grumpy daughter Carin, an entirely pleasant and agreeable young lady! Even when her wee Saxo head butted a bale on second last stage she was all smiles and full of non-grumpiness. In fact, nothing like Pop at all! It was only her third rally, but she and Michelle Falconer finished top all-lady crew. Stephen Thomson won Class 1 despite spinning on the 5th stage which cost him 8 seconds to second placed Lachlan Cowan, who had earlier stopped to put out an underbonnet fire, but the Nova driver held off the Peugeot 106 to clinch the class at the finish. Iain Stewart's Mini was third with young Kenneth McRae on his third ever stage rally just missing out on the trophies with fourth. And when Kenneth was asked later about the chicanes, he said: "What chicanes? By the time I got there all the big cars had bashed the bales out of the way - there was nothing but loose hay!" ** Results - DCC Crail Stages: Class 1 Note, Full results: www.strc.co.uk/crail09 * * * * * |