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Rally Report - March 22, 2009 Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally, Saturday 21st March Revenge of the Cones Jimmy Girvan and Mike Ramsay walked away with the win on the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally on Saturday, but it was an odd one this, as it was Willie Bonniwell and Neil Ewing who took top points in the Hankook Scottish Championship. That was because this second round of our national series was also a counter in the Pirelli Gravel Championship. As such, the National A competitors (all 14 of them) started their rally on the Friday night doing two stages, before the National B runners (94 starters) joined them on Saturday morning. At the end of the rally, Bonniwell's Friday night times were subtracted from his total where it was revealed that he beat 'the winners' by ten seconds. David Bogie and Kevin Rae were second overall, but if it hadn't been for 'cone penalties' then Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick might have made a difference. And that surely was the most contentious point of the rally, the use of cones to mark the chicanes rather than larger physical barriers. This was simply down to the cost of carting stuff into and out of the stages for chicane erection, but some of the cones were tied together. Hitting one or two often had the effect of dragging down more, and at 10 seconds per cone, it could end up being a costly penalty, as quite a few found to their cost. SS3 - Ogre Hill, 7.37 miles. Dry. The sun was bouncing off the bonnets as the cars left Jedburgh, but right from the start, Girvan was in trouble. The Subaru had no 6th gear, but there was no noise from the gearbox, so fingers crossed and off he went to set fastest time (7m 20s) on the first stage although that was 3 seconds slower than Willie Bonniwell competing in the other 'class'. The unmistakable wail of the Metro announced Andy Horne and Jim Howie's second quickest time (7m 22.8s) from Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy in the Lancer (7m 24.6s) and Jim Carty/Ian Fraser in the Subaru (7m 34.2s). Fastest 2WD on the opener was Calum MacKenzie/Alan Clark in the Escort (7m 34.9s) followed by Armstrong first time out in his new Subaru (7m 35.5s) but happy enough with that. "The usual," laughed Jock, "we were all set to get the car finished in time to have a bit of a test, but we didn't, I only drove it for 5 miles before we brought it here." David Bogie was 7th quickest: "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm feeling rusty. That's the first 'proper' gravel rally since the Bulldog", referring to the fact that last month's Snowman was not a proper gravel rally! Even before the start, Snowman winner, Reay MacKay was changing plugs and fuel regulator, but he still had a misfire through the first stage while Dale Robertson was nursing a slipping clutch right from the start with little prospect of having enough time at service to change it. At least Joanna Wickham got her Subaru fixed. Over the first two stages it was overheating and lapsing into safe mode, but the crew fixed it at service. Frank Kelly lost 2nd gear and Mike Horne disappeared, the Escort stuck fast in a ditch. SS4 - Redesdale, 7.79 miles, Dry. It was Girvan again in Redesdale (7m 48.9s) from Bogie (8m 01.5s) while Armstrong tied with young Euan Thorburn/Claire Mole on 8m 07.2s. Reay MacKay had managed to sort out the misfire (8m 10.3s) although it still wasn't right and Mike Faulkner looked a bit sheepish at the end despite a good time (8m 10.9s). "I was off in there. There's a L7 at the end of a flat in 5th straight and I was carrying a bit too much speed!" And then came the telling comment: "It's a bit I know!" Well, he'll know it a lot better now. Andy Horne was the same: "but I only crashed a wee bit", he smiled, while young Dave Weston had a big spin at a chicane and ended up facing the wrong way. Rory Young only half spun at the same place while Craig McMiken smacked the front end in a ditch. John Rintoul had a wee off as well, while Davie Hughes lost a chunk of time with a broken front diff and Fraser MacNicol took a page out of Mike Faulkner's book. He was off at the end of the long straight too, but got back on under his own power. Not so lucky was John Morrison. A rare mistake had the Lancer plunging off the road and no chance of getting back on. In the 2WD class, MacKenzie paid the price for a too-enthusiastic approach to chicanes and wiped one out incurring 70 seconds worth of penalties while John Crawford was struggling with a misfire: "It's OK at the start of the stages but half way through when you start lifting off the power, it just won't get back on it." And MacKenzie wasn't the only cone attacker. Jim Carty had a real go, doing a good impression of hurling his Impreza down a bowling alley - strike 7 for JC! Both Armstrong and Faulkner claimed three, Buchanan got two and Girvan and Dale Robertson each had one away. As for Bonniwell, his 7m 50.4s was only a second and half down on Girvan, so the hunt for Hankook points was still on. SS5 - Harwood, 14.87 miles. Dry. Girvan punctured in Harwood, dropping over 20 seconds to Faulkner (14m 38.9s) who was fastest from Bogie (14m 44.6s) and Armstrong (14m 47s). Thorburn was next (14m 51.9s) from MacKay (14m 55.8s) and Horne (14m 59.7s) the only other driver under 15 minutes for the 15 mile stage, so it was quick in there, even with 7 chicanes! Despite being in a 'different' rally, Bonniwell was still mixing it with the Hankook runners (14m 41s) but his rivals were finding it difficult to keep tabs on his times. It was to be Horne's final run of the day however. After service, the Metro pulled up on the roadside heading towards the penultimate stage with a serious brake problem, and it was also young Weston's final stage, although he failed to finish it, when the Subaru slipped sideways into a hole at the entrance to one of the chicanes. Despite stalling on the startline of the stage, Kris Tennant caught a car in the stage, and when he punctured a tyre and bent the wheel, Stephen Lockhart slid off and got stuck in a ditch for 8 minutes. As for Frank Kelly, he now lost 3rd gear while compatriot Eamon McCrystal snatched himself a couple of cones, while Donnie MacDonald and Dale Robertson each had three over. SS6 - Hyndlee, 5.98 miles. Dry. (Used on Friday night) If anything, the final two stages were better for having been swept by the National A runners the night before. But was that enough to explain the fastest time setter on this stage? The clocks showed it was Malcolm Buchanan and Ian Nicoll in the Escort MkII (6m 07.1s) from Girvan (6m 08.9s) and Thorburn (6m 11.4s). Bogie was only half a second behind (6m 11.9s) with Faulkner (6m 12s) and Armstrong sharing 6m 13.2s) with Carty who was getting back to some idea of the pace after a year away from the wheel. MacKay had to lift off when a bolt fell out of the front diff, but this stage marked the end of Crawford's run when the Escort went off and he ended up facing back the way he had come, but it was only panel damage. And maybe Buchanan's time wasn't wide of the mark after all, Bonniwell's time of 6m 03.1s would have been the fastest Nat B time had folks bothered to look. SS7 - Wyndburgh Hill, 7.49 miles. Dry. (Used on Friday night) Girvan nearly threw it away when he had to take to a ditch after a late call into a R7. He was carrying more speed than Richard Noble. It was the only way he was going to slow the Subaru down. Still it was young Thorburn who took fastest (7m 28.1s) from Girvan (7m 29.4s) and Armstrong (7m 32.7s). Faulkner was maintaining his good form (7m 33s) ahead of Bogie (7m 36.4s) and Young (7m 41.5s) while Donnie MacDonald was fifth fastest and delighted to have finished his first Border! Don Murray spun his Subaru on the last corner, but only because he saw the TV cameras, and Donald Campbell made it over the line despite his Subaru's gearbox getting noisy and the engine losing power on the final test. The 2WD mob were still hell bent on world domination. MacKenzie went off but after a couple of toots on the horn, the spectators rallied round and got him out. Frank Kelly was off for a couple of minutes too and had trouble getting out because he was still minus 2nd and 3rd gears. On the other hand, young Alasdair Graham was keeping out of trouble although a broken bonnet pin on the Escort on the final stage was allowing the bonnet to flap around alarmingly. The Finish Even as the cars were gathering at the finish ramp back in Jedburgh, the front runners were still unsure of Bonniwell's position, but his 7m 17s on the final stage clinched the top Hankook SRC points. Even so, the records will show that Girvan and Ramsey won the National B Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally. As usual at a rally finish these days, Girvan looked about as calm and composed as a virgin at a vampire party. After the obligatory phone call home he stopped to have a chat. "I missed not having sixth gear," he said, "but it didn't really slow us down much, although we had a couple of near misses during the day. When we got that puncture I didn't dare back off and on the last corner I had to throw it really sideways to try and get it round, but we still chased the spectators into the trees." With the ebullient Girvan in this form, he'll be hard to beat this year, but Bonniwell's impressive performance will have undoubtedly given him a confidence boost and both Bogie and Faulkner were looking good too. The fight isn't over already, it has only just started! ** The Classes With only one entry in the class, as long as Andrew Benn finished, so he did and he won Class 1 in his Astra. Craig Rutherford and Derek Forsyth won Class 2 in the Nova by 5 minutes from Fraser Wilson. He was lucky though, he had a big spin in the second stage and then in the third he had to back off at one point when he was catching cars because he couldn't see where he was going in the dust, and then on the final stage lost the use of 5th gear. Wilson's runner-up position was slightly less dramatic with a spin in the first stage and he just missed skelping a chicane in the second test. Andy MacDonald was third in his Nova. But he too caught a car in the long one and couldn't get past for the dust. Fourth was Alec Brown on his first forest rally on the mainland. The Muileach had done the wee Mull before in Dad's Sunbeam but now he was being let loose on the mainland. But when the exhaust fell off on the first stage and again on the third he blamed his Dad's welding rather than anything he had done. An entirely believable excuse knowing of Donald's prowess (or lack of it!) with the welding torch. As for Mike Rae, the MG fell off the road on the long one. Malcolm Robertson and his Missus (Sarah) clinched Class 3 by just 11 seconds and were lucky to do so. The Sunbeam was all over the place on the first two stages till the lads found that the n/s front strut insert had packed up and fixed it at service. There was more drama on the third test with the rear end this time and then on the final stage the exhaust manifold broke. Graeme Schoneville was lucky too. The Peugeot stopped suddenly on the roadside on the way in to first service, but after switching over the ignition pack it fired up again. However, that wasn't the problem and after replacing the fuel pump at second service the wee Peug was fine. It was obviously a day for luck in this class because Colin Smith was third despite an off in the early stages and then on the long one he was catching a car when he missed a corner in the dust and went off. Fortunately he only damaged the front panel and bent the number plate. Fourth was Dougal Brown, but he had been 7th after the first two stages till he got on the pace later, and Ross Chalmers was fifth despite breaking a wheel in the final test. Schoolboy (well, he really does look that young, or is it just me getting that much older?) Gary Pearson was sixth, having been warned not to mark the new paintwork by Dad, Monty, despite stopping on the road section after second service to fix the throttle cable. But his botched up job worked and it lasted the final two stages. The real pace setter in this class was former 'Bear Cub', John MacCrone. Had it not been for a 4 minute road penalty, the class would have been his. Blair McCulloch was 8th first time out with an LSD fitted to the Nova: "It means I can carry more speed through the corners knowing I can pull myself out faster at the other side." Scott Murray was a bit off the pace. He banged it up on the first stage of the Border last year, so a cautious start was called for this time and he finished 11th in class just ahead of Sarah Hunter on her first event. Unfortunately, Sarah cowped it on the first stage, but the car was fit enough to finish. Carl and Rob Tuer had Class 4 well sewn up in the MG ZR, giving themselves a shakedown ahead of their home event, the Jim Clark. Even a rear puncture for the last six miles of the long one failed to dent their 2 minute lead. Second in class was the Corsa of Mark McCulloch, gradually getting to grips with the car after the Peugeot. It was his first time on proper gravel, after the Snowman, with the car so he was experimenting with suspension set up and tyre pressures. Brake fade on the first stage and an alternator belt coming off on the second were minor problems. Peter Taylor was third despite overshooting a chicane in the second test and had to reverse out but he was nearly caught out by a R8 which came up very quickly in the third test and survived that one too! Fourth placed Alex Curran had a sticking throttle over the first two stages, but it got better as the day progressed and Ian Bendall could think of nothing better to complain about than his service crew - long suffering son Callum and friends! Sixth in class was the best Stewart Davidson could hope for after a puncture on the first stage when the Proton went straight on and got stuck in a ditch for 5 minutes. And then the service crew got lost, so he had to borrow petrol from Jock Gray at service to keep him in the rally! Ruary Macleod was 7th overall on his first ever rally driving a LHD Honda and just aiming for a finish and the experience. Billy Davidson was another newcomer who finished despite going off on the first stage. He is actually a business colleague of one John McClory Esq who persuaded the ex motor cycle racer to have a go at this rallying lark, so he hired a Proton from Andrew Wood. I don't think the experience has frightened him off. Watch this space as they say. First time out in a 1.9 car after last year's 1.6 machine, Euan Duncan and Jake Dickie were first in Class 5 in their Peugeot and Jonathan Smith wasn't. He had parked it in the sheuch on the first stage while Jonnie Thorburn retired his Peugeot after two stages when the manifold gasket failed. Second in class were Rhona Mackin and Christine Brown in the Escort, but by the close of play the engine was making noises it didn't have at the start! Not that this bothered the girls of course - that's for the menfolk to sort out. Alan Hughes and Mike Scrimgour won Class 6 from Walter Aitken and Carin Logan although Hughes was unable to switch the Escort off because the starter motor wasn't working, while Walter, the honed, fit and ultra competitive athlete that he is, was spotted having a fly fag between stages! Having recovered from their nocturnal manoeuvres in the dark the previous evening and extricated the Honda from a mid-forest hole, John McClory and David Hood won Class 7 from the similar car of Peter Mayland and Peter Carstairs on Saturday. James Robertson was third in the Fiesta after a rock jammed in the rear wheel. I dare say Steve Bannister and Louise Sutherland were slightly surprised to win Class 8 in the BDA powered Escort, but when Calum MacKenzie clattered the cones at a chicane the resultant 70 second penalty put paid to his class hopes. Top 2WD car in 9th place o/a was the Class 9 winning Escort of Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan from the similar cars of Mike Stephenson and Geoff Wilson. It was Bogie from Thorburn and Armstrong in Class 10 with Faulkner taking Class 11 from Carty and Steven Campbell, while Class 12 was Girvan's from MacKay and Willie Jarman. ** Final Results: Note: Full results on - www.tynecomp.co.uk/Results/MSA_gravel_09/border * * * * * |