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Rally Report - June 29, 2009 RSAC Scottish Rally, Saturday 27th June
Dry and Dusty in Dumfries Well, they did it again, Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy became the first crew this year to win two rounds of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship. With four different winners from four rounds so far, the lad from Lockerbie and the boy from Bingley have become the first to get two maximum scores this year. It was also good to see young Thorburn getting a result. It should have been third, but the tie-break went the way of Stephen Whitford. And that wily old fox is still in the hunt. Jock Armstrong finished fifth which was enough to keep him at the top of the points tables although Faulkner has moved up from 8th to second. I can’t wait for the Speyside now. But by goad it wiz hoat! It was muggy too, all day, with only a hint of a breeze at times. That meant the dust was hanging in the trees. It was like driving through a giant alloy wheel sand-blasting machine. It did clear in some of the more open parts, but for the most of it the crews looked like miners while there was more stoor in the cars than on the forest roads. SS1 – Kinharvie, 8.08 miles, Bone dry, slippery, effen dusty! Faulkner was obviously up for it and fighting fit. After his Jim Clark Rally disappointment, he put that behind him with fastest time on the first stage of the day (7m 49s). “I was pretty surprised at that,” said Faulkner, “I was nearly off at the very first corner and that put me off for the next 3 miles.” Even so, he was two seconds quicker than Willie Bonniwell/Neil Ewing (7m 51s). Bonniwell was grinning afterwards, although probably not at the time: “I cocked up the hairpin. I came in a bit too hot, couldn’t get it slowed down enough, and hit a rock which pitched the car up on two wheels. I thought it was all over, but it wasn’t.” He shared second fastest with Wayne Sisson/Daniel Stone (7m 51s) while Jimmy Girvan/Mike Ramsay (7m 52s) were only a further second adrift. Despite claiming this was his first seat in the car since the Pirelli shakedown Richard Cathcart/Martin Brady were on the boil too (7m 53s) ahead of Jock Armstrong/Kirsty Riddick and Euan Thorburn/Campbell Roy both on 7m55s. As for the number 1 seed, he was 16 seconds off the pace. “We had a faulty wheel speed sensor which was sending the wrong information to the diffs,” said David Bogie, “but the biggest problem is me. After running my own Notes in Donegal I’m having trouble adjusting to organiser’s Notes again.” It wasn’t simply a confidence thing. The diffs were getting mixed messages from the sensor, so grip and drive were unpredictable. The dust was really bad in here, probably the worst of the day, but when it all cleared there were three Metros left behind. Andy Horne went off, Reay MacKay broke a driveshaft and Sandy Arbuthnott broke down. The two wheel drive boys were struggling too. Steve Bannister picked up a puncture half way through, Callum MacKenzie got one near the end and John Crawford was spotted stiffening up the suspension. “The oil gets too hot in this weather, so it softens up the suspension,” smirked the ex motorcycle racer. No’ as daft as he looks, eh? Shaun Sinclair punctured in the Lancer too, but Alick Kerr’s problem was different. He caught the stoor of one of the Fiestas before the finish. He couldn’t get close enough to see him, and the guy in front didn’t know he was there. It was a problem that would affect a lot of folk during the day. SS2 – Heathhall, 0.70 miles, Nadgery but dry The Spectator test at Heathhall proved little with Bogie and Richard Cathcart sharing the fastest time (0.58s) and a whole dose of folk on 0.59s but Malcolm Buchanan was bemused. His gear shift light was working before the start of the rally but every time he used the lights or indicators it blacked out, leaving him not knowing what gear he was in – these islanders eh, no’ used to the motor caur yet! SS3 – Castle O’er, 6.02 miles, Dry, slippery, dusty It’s a while since rally cars were in Castle O’er, but it was the Celts from across the water who set fastest time here. Cathcart was quickest on 6m 12s, but it all came to grief across the road in Twiglees when the Subaru broke down and he was out of it. Jock Armstrong and Euan Thorburn were second fastest (6m 19s) from Girvan and Sisson (6m 21s). Bogie was only a second slower (6m 22s), with Steven and Alison Clark and Alick Kerr/Drew Sturrock sharing 6m 24s. So where was Faulkner the pace–setter? He was in the middle of someone’s dust cloud. He came upon Willie Bonniwell who had been off and punctured and had popped out back on to the road in front of the Lancer. It was the same old story, Willie didn’t know he was there and Mike couldn’t get close enough to get past. He dropped nearly half a minute to the leaders. “That was the bravest 27 seconds I’ve ever dropped in my life, I caught Willie’s dust and just hung on, I could even smell his rubber,” said Faulkner. But surely that was his challenge done for the day? Or was it? Apart from Cathcart, the only other one in real trouble this time was Bannister. Ethel had bent a compression strut and he had to do the next stage too with the car handling like a pig before fixing it at service. Even so, MacKenzie dropped 2 seconds to Banner because he spun at a hairpin right and had to reverse out, but Calum reported later that after just 6 miles, his tyres were totally destroyed! SS4 – Twiglees, 9.0 miles. Dry and dusty If Castle O’er was quick, Twiggers was unforgiving. First to find that out was David Bogie. Despite running behind the Historics and the 1600cc cars, the big cars were still finding a lot of loose stuff on the road surfaces. They hadn’t been swept clean. It would cost Bogie dear. The Mitsubishi went into a long, long left hander, slid wide on to the grush and tipped over the edge. Game over. It was the same for Calum MacKenzie. He just caught the loose with the outside rear wheel and he was off, snapping a steering arm in the process, so he was out too. And if it hadn’t been for these two laying down a marker, conditions would have caught out a lot more drivers. Even so, Faulkner was quickest again (8m 40s) by 7 seconds from Jimmy Girvan (8m 47s) and young Thorburn birling through there like a dust devil on 8m 48s. And I’ll tell you what, Sisson was going well in hot company, his 8m 52s keeping him ahead of Armstrong and Whitford both on 8m 53s with Kerr on 8m 53s ahead of a sheepish Jim Carty: “I spun and stalled it in there – but it was very hot!” he explained. Conditions had claimed two of the top seeds, but it could have been a lot worse. Rory Young got the biggest fright of his career (so far!). He tried to take a L5 flat and it didn’t quite work out. “That’s the fastest I’ve been down a ditch in my life,” he grinned afterwards. Ian Paterson was in the same ditch: “I kept it planted for 150 yards – it was guid!” And some folk should know better. Former Scottish Champ Jimmy Christie was still thinking about Bogie’s off when David MacFadyen called a R9 - and Jimmy turned into a L9! Fortunately, he realised quickly what he had done and turned round, but another refill of Red Bull was called for to maintain concentration levels. Sadly Shaun Sinclair’s good run came to an end when the Lancer’s gear linkage broke. So, with two stages left Girvan was leading (23m 59s) from Sisson (24m 03s), Thorburn (24m 04s), Faulkner (24m 05s) and Armstrong on 24m 06s – 7 seconds covering the top 5. Ahead lay two stages in Ae, just lying there in wait, basking and baking in the hot sun. An 8 miler and a 13 miler. A double sting in the tail. Who would you put your money on? SS5 – Ae West, 8.37 miles. Still dry, still dusty, but more of a breeze Faulkner was now on a mission. Quickest (8m 07s) by 5 seconds from Clark and Whitford (8m 12s) with Sisson a further second behind (8m 13s). Girvan was now second. His 8m 14s had dropped him a second behind the new rally leader, Faulkner. Thorburn was still in there too (8m 15s), a second down on Girvan but 5 up on Armstrong (8m 20s) who trailed out the stage with a puncture. This time it was Willie Bonniwell’s turn to disappear. Probably as a result of his earlier puncture, the hub had been damaged and there was no point in carrying on and risking it further. There were punctures galore in here, not that it was rough, it was wearing them out! Jimmy Christie punctured, Ian Paterson scattered the spectators at ‘5 Road-Ends’ and Rory Young was forced to stop mid stage to change one puncture and then got another in the next stage! SS6 – Ae East, 12.75 miles, Still dry, still dusty and breeze helping If any of you think Jonathan Lord is nice guy, think again. He saved the best, or should that be the most tortuous, to the last. 12 miles of rough grade sandpaper spread with grease and coated with all the stoor he could ferry in from the quarry. Given the wear rate on earlier stages, most folks were on new tyres. Fat lot of good it did them, many were down to the canvas long before the Flying Finish boards hove into view. Whatever, ‘Goldenballs’ was on a charge, and then nearly chucked it all away. “I saw Jimmy (Girvan) off on a corner, and nearly went off on the very next corner myself,” recalled Faulkner, “We hit a huge rock in the ditch, it threw the car in the air, and all the way through the second half of the test I was just waiting for the tyre to go down. It didn’t. We were very lucky.” Girvan failed to finish, the Subaru parked well off the road, another victim of changeable road surfaces. No transition. You either had grip, or you didn’t, no middle ground in this place. Sisson therefore took an excellent and well judged second place. “I’m mighty pleased with that,” said Wayne, “a 1-2 for Arnside Motorsport – we look after Mike’s car!” Crucially, Whitford took 5 seconds out of Thorburn on the final test so that they tied on stage totals as they clocked into Dumfries where Whitford secured third on the tie-break rule. Fifth quickest on the final stage was Armstrong, finishing fifth overall. “That’s the best I’ve felt the new car this year,” said Jock, “we’re getting there.” But he nearly wasn’t, the Subaru clipped a rock coming out of a L7 and sent it sliding sideways towards a big tree. Jock braced himself for the impact but it didn’t, and he was able to calmly select reverse and get out. Rounding off the top half dozen was Steven Clark, doing particularly well since sister Alison was having her first ever run in a rally car. “The nearest I got to Dad and Steven’s cars in the past was to wash and polish them,” she said, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Alick Kerr finished seventh after replacing a wobbly rear hub at second service just ahead of Barry Groundwater. But there was a sting in the tale too. Jim Carty was off and so too was John Crawford. As ever with Crawford he got full marks for style. He hit a big rock which pulled the tyre off the rim and sent him off the road. It took him and Ian Simpson 45 minutes to get the MkII back on the road and down to the finish in Dumfries. And Frank Kelly was on for a good run, and must have been counting his blessings, till he got to the final stage. Two rear punctures! It was the same for Mike Horne. He got two as well and had to get spectators to push him out when he slid off, but he reached the finish. And just when he thought he was on for a clean run, Bannister caught Kelly’s big cloud of double-punctured inflicted stoor. In fact Banner’s only trouble free stage all day was the wee shortie at Heathhall! Some folk who don’t know any better say that your first victory is always the hardest. Not this time. That was Faulkner and Foy’s hardest drive yet, and so, for the second time this year, they sprayed the champagne at the finish. On this form, it might not be the last time either. ** Classes Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 John MacCrone was third in class and top Peugeot 205 while Malcolm Robertson got a bit wild on approach to the first stage hairpin and was nearly off on the loose. He only lost a few seconds but reckoned that was his first fault-free day in 13 years of rallying (shooot, I thought he was older than that!). Blair MCulloch got a puncture near the end of SS1 and he too was nearly off in the stoor in the last one when he missed a gear and went straight on. Luckily he was able to reverse out. Not so lucky was Garry Pearson. He had a big moment in SS1, hitting a rock on a L9. That probably weakened the driveshaft which then broke later. It was replaced, and it broke, and the third one didn’t fit. End of rally. Jordan Black was nearly off on SS3 sliding wide on the loose gravel and then nearly came a cropper on the last stage. He was so far off the road in the ditch he couldn’t see through the windscreen for branches, that close! Graeme Smith had a new 205 which was quite different from his old one, but he had day long problems with the steering. In fact, driving through the last stages felt like he had two front punctures. At least he finished – big brother didn’t! Sean Robson had a shagged rear spring, but borrowed a pair and fitted them at first service. Then a rear wheel bearing collapsed after SS4, but that was fixed to ensure 3 finishes from 3 starts. Duncan Campbell managed to restore his Peugeot to full throttle after replacing the throttle sensor at first service and suffered an intermittent power loss in the last stage while David Crozier and Kirstie Marshall had a rewarding run. Kirstie only got her first licence the day before! Class 4 Expected front runner Mark McCulloch had a short rally. He was off on the first stage, going straight on at a dust shrouded bend. Ruary MacLeod, has eventually decided to do something about his Honda’s habit of opening the tailgate mid stage. When it happened here, it sucked all the dust in! So now he has an incentive to fix it. He also had a slight off on the last stage at the hairpin in the dust cloud and was beginning to lose gears but at least he finished. Billy Davidson in another Honda went ditch hooking too but survived. Clive Anstey in the Proton was in a right fankle at the end of the first stage when the steering column dropped in his lap and when trying to re-adjust it, got the wiring caught in the clutch pedal. Ian Bendall finished despite a visit to the boondocks on the last stage. He went straight on at a L7 in the dust, but got back on. Class 5 Alan McMorran who was lucky to survive the final stage when he had three wheels in a ditch and just one on the road for 85 yards. The temp gauge wasn’t working either so he had to keep checking under the bonnet to make sure it wasn’t boiling. He also put new tyres on for the last two stages – what a difference, he has been using part worns for years! I don’t think Rhona Mackin has quite got the hang of this rallying lark yet. No broken finger nails or skint knuckles, her idea of car prep is a wash and a polish. And a smile for everyone every time she pulls up to a halt. Class 7 Class 8 Hamish brown had a new 2 litre Vauxhall ‘redtop’ in the MkII to replace a 1600 cross flow and was really impressed with the torque. He made a mistake coming out of the hairpin in SS1 when it was still in 3rd gear and it still pulled away. He must have been getting too cocky as well, he was up on 2 wheels at the hairpin in the last stage! Class 9 Class 10 Stephen Lockhart had a wee off at the hairpin in SS5 and the car wouldn’t start at SS6 and then the turbo failed, but he finished. Stuart Walker nearly didn’t finish, but a Land Rover pulled him out of the shrubbery in the last stage. He says Caroline showed a leg and the army boys had to stop! Class 11 Class 12 At least he fared better than David Wilson who was off at a R9 in SS1. He slid down a bank but managed to reverse out, then caught a car in the stoor. He finished his day by giving a tree stump a mighty whack with the o/s rear. Something was bent, but he still finished 12th. Mike Grant was going for a finish. He had put it off on the first stage for the past two years so getting through the first one was therefore an achievement. On that basis, finishing the rally was a miracle. Fraser MacNicol had a touch of déjà vu. When the brake pedal went to the floor on a R8 in SS1 it dropped the back end over a banking – just where he cowped last year. But he finished too. Gordon Alexander finished despite the exhaust shearing off at the manifold and did the middle two stages on 2 cylinders when the ignition pack failed. Brian Watson (he still has the Quattro) appeared in an EVO8 for the first time, but the gear linkage came off 3 times in the last stage although he is still pleased with car. Jim McDowall had a huge spin in SS6 (and no I won’t use the old joke about not going fast enough to have a spin) and was still chuckling at the finish ramp, so it must have been a scary one. Chris Collie lost the intercom, lost 3rd gear in SS5 and 6 and thinks the headgasket is weeping and the temperature is sky high. Otherwise an uneventful day! And Joanna Wickham had no problems on an event for the first time this year. Result! ** Fiesta Sporting Trophy Kris Hall was back at the top of the results sheets for the first time since the opening round in March, although Kyle Orr still leads the series but now jointly with Matt Edwards. Three points now cover the top five! By the end of the fifth test, Hall’s tyres were wrecked and he was forced to splash out on a new set for the final test. “I didn’t want to throw it all away,” said Kris, “but we still got a big fright when the brake pedal sank to the floor half way through, although it came back towards the end.” Craig Breen had been lying fifth early on: “I eventually got into the swing of things and pushed on. I was pretty chuffed to get 2nd after that.” Matt Edwards finished third: “I was trying hard but the times just weren’t there. Third Fiesta is good, but I expected to be closer to the other two.” No doubt we were all hoping that Stevie Brown would gub the visitors, but it wasn’t to be. He punctured on the first stage and that left him coming from behind all day. Even with one fastest time and 2 second fastests, 6th Fiesta was the best he could do. At least it sounded better than 11th after the puncture. It was the same for John Boyd. He was off in SS3 for 4 mins so that left him chasing too. Mark Donnelly survived two overshoots on the final stage to take fourth ahead of Kyle Orr who just couldn’t get confidence in the Notes all day and admitted to having the car’s arse in a ditch in Castle O’er! Depending on your point of view, Harry Hunt, is either brave or silly. He broke his leg 3 weeks ago, but took the cast off to do this! Unfortunately, he struggled with his new co-driver’s Manx accent (only kidding) although his leg was OK at the end of it. Ross Forde lost his brakes in SS1 when the pedal went to floor half way through. This is the third event he’s had problems with that. So he thinks he now needs to look into it. Yup, I’d agree with that. Thomas Watson on his first season rallying and first time in Scotland was fair pleased with his run even with a spin in SS4. He said the stages were nearly as good as those at home in Wales! Ghislain de Mevius (Gregoire’s boy) had his first acquaintance with Scotland, Scots and Scottish forest roads. He was none too sure at the start but by the finish he was really getting the hang of gravel and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the weather. Naturally, I told him it was like this all the time. But here’s a thought, his Belgian co-driver was reading the English Notes in French – wonder if that was a special order from Lucky Sturrock? ** Brick & Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge With 2 stages to go, John MacCrone had a 1 second lead in the 1600 class over Colin Smith. Both were trying. MacCrone had a wee off up a firebreak in S3 while Smith was worried about fuel starvation. Over the final two stages, MacCrone took 10 seconds and 7 seconds out of Smith to clinch the win. “I just wasn’t as on it this afternoon as I was this morning,” said Smith, while MacCrone commented: “I knew I had to save something for the two long stages at the end.” Scott Erskine survived a cracked subframe at Heathhall, welded up for the final two stages, and also admitted to a “couple of wee overshoots, I was going that hard!” Both Graeme Schoneville and Garry Pearson broke driveshafts and didn’t finish while Ross Chalmers broke his suspension. Euan Duncan was top 1.9 Peugeot 205 points scorer when Jonathan Smith rolled his, prompting someone to wonder if he fancied the coachbuilder’s daughter – and needed a regular excuse for visits! ** Historic Steve Magson finished the rally with no starter motor and a split manifold, but won the class from young Alasdair Graham first time out in BDA powered MkII ahead of Charlie Taylor who needed some emergency refettling on the road side when the engine stopped dead after the first stage. Bob Bean had to change a clutch, so with road penalties he was well out of it at the finish although he enjoyed the stages. Robin Shuttleworth said this was his 15th finish in a row. No’ bad for an RS2000. The word numpty springs to mind here. I don’t know why that should be, but Mike Dymock and James Crichton were as black as the Ace of Spades at the finish. Mike had drilled holes in the Chevette floor to let the water out on Scottish rallies. But guess what? He forgot to fill them in before the Scottish. There was more dust in the car at the finish than a whole series of spaghetti westerns. ** Land Rovers Steve Partridge won the Land Rover class after a day long tussle with Duncan Lilwall, the two just 21 seconds apart at the finish, while Paul Wright took a different approach. He won the competition to rescue other competitors. He pulled out three stricken crews while nursing a clutch problem of his own. ** Final Results: RSAC Scottish Rally, Saturday 27th June Class 1: **** |