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Rally Report - 10th August 2009 Gleanor Oil And Gas Speyside Stages, Saturday 8th August Bombshells and Bogeymen David Bogie and Kevin Rae won the sixth round of the Hankook Scottish Championship, the Gleaner Oil and Gas Speyside Stages, after a hard fought duel with Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy. Both drivers have now won twice this year, and with two rounds to go it’s anyone’s guess where the title might go. Prior to the event, there were five drivers who still retained realistic hopes of winning, but in the high speed world of rallying disappointment and disaster are constant companions. Euan Thorburn could still strike lucky if the gods favour him, but Jock Armstrong and Jimmy Girvan are virtually out of the running. The weather this time was glorious. It was shirtsleeves all day, although the dust was nowhere near as bad as it was last month in Dumfries. SS1 & 2 – Cooper Park, 1.4 miles. Dry, tarmac. The short, twisting, ribbon of tarmac that wound its way round Cooper Park in the centre of Elgin City proved very little in the grand scheme of things, although it did prove one thing, and that was that Steve Bannister could lay down the longest, blackest, burniest rubber off the start line. The huge crowd of spectators must have thought the Russians had landed, but no, it was just Yorkshire’s finest in a MkII. Steve and Louise Sutherland actually set fastest times in both stages with 50 seconds dead for the first run and 48 seconds for the second run. Behind them, six crews shared second fastest on the first run with a 51 second pass and four shared second fastest on the second, again, once second slower than the Malton Missile. On the very first stage, Shaun Sinclair found he had no handbrake, the first time he tried to whip it on and Sandy Arbuthnott broke his throttle pedal. He stopped at the end of S1 where Peter Garrow was marshaling and asked if he had any tools in his car. So he got it fixed before S2. David Wilson punctured a tyre on the first one and with no spare had to do the second run with three air-filled tyres and one without. After two stages, Bannister led the rally, but ahead lay 44 miles of the Forestry Commission’s finest. Let battle commence. SS3 – Tauchers Wood, 2.64 miles. Dry, marbly and slippery. If we thought Bannister’s performance provided an upset to the established order on the first two, imagine the thoughts at the end of the third stage. Alick Kerr and Drew Sturrock were fastest (3m 00s) from Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy, Jimmy Girvan/Mike Ramsay and Euan Thorburn/Campbell Roy all on 3m 01s, while Jock Armstrong/Kirsty Riddick were on 3m 02s and Andy Horne/Jim Howie 3m 03s. Running first car on the road proved costly for David Bogie. “It was horrible in there. It was all marbly and loose, just no grip,” he said after dropping 7 seconds on the fastest time. SS4 – Craigend Hill, 8.87 miles. Dry. There was more grip in Craigend though, and Bogie eked out a 3 second advantage (8m 53s) over Faulkner and Armstrong both on 8m 56s. Thorburn was only a second adrift (8m 57s) ahead of Girvan (9m 04s) and David Wilson/Keir Beatson (9m 07s) with Alick Kerr still in the hunt on 9m 08s despite a wee overshot and then he clattered a log, but without damage and no puncture. Bogie was a wee bit fly in here, he hung back this time to let others sweep the road, and that proved costly for Faulkner. He clipped something and knocked the tracking out. There was also a racket coming from underneath and he thought he had damaged something so it knocked his confidence to push. Then the noise disappeared so it may only have been something trapped in the wheel. Third fastest in the third test, Andy Horne was parked up – again. He had replaced the battery and alternator before the rally, but it was flat after the first two tests. A push start saw him through the third test, but the electrics failed in the fourth and the V8 Metro was out. Arbuthnott was now out too. The coil pack had failed, and Snowman Rally winner Reay MacKay had “the biggest near-accident of my life short of going off” when he emerged with tattered front bodywork, but at least his Metro was still going. Dale Robertson was all ready to sell the EVO9 after S3, but after S4 he was better pleased, saying it’s totally different to his old EVO6. Steven Campbell was losing brakes which meant he was losing chunks of time at the chicanes and Jimmy Christie found a log across the road and was committed. The Lancer skipped over it without damage. Malcolm Buchanan bent a tension strut rumbling over the same log, but despite his early burst, Steve Bannister muttered: “I’m just not on it. 6 weeks out of the car. It’s slippy out there, but it’s more to do wi’ me.” SS5 – Balloch, 6.38 miles. Dry. Bogie and Faulkner tied in Balloch (6m 24s), but third fastest this time were the number 11 seeds, Shaun Sinclair/Chris Hamill on 6m 27s. Thorburn was 2 seconds adrift (6m 29s) but ahead of Girvan (6m 30s) and Armstrong (6m 31s). Thorburn was lucky. He overshot a downhill slippery bend and had to reverse out. He later reckoned that he might have tried to have a go at corner, but discretion was the better part of valour this time. David Wilson had a huge moment too. “I was pushing really hard,” he said, “it landed on its nose after a 100 mph bump in 5th gear. I thought I was going to die!” He’s only a boy, what does he know? Frank Kelly heaved sigh of relief when the Flying Finish boards hove into view. His alternator had failed but he made it to the road. SS6 – Gartly Moor, 4.97 miles. Dry. Bogie made a break in Gartly (4m 46s). He was 9 seconds clear of Faulkner (4m 55s) but young Thorburn was only a second behind (4m 56s) with Armstong and Girvan tying on 4m 57s and Kerr still maintaining his pace with 4m 58s. At the end of it, Faulkner said: “I’ve got nothing left, I’m using all the road, every corner and ditch. I can’t drive it any quicker.” Armstrong was pensive too: “I’m pushing too hard, I’m making silly mistakes.” Meanwhile the laidback Bogie was exuding confidence: “On the longer faster stages, that’s where the times are, you have to be committed.” Armstrong, Girvan and Thorburn were now locked in a fierce fight for third place, although Girvan was making light of his sore ribs, cracked when he tumbled off the road on the Scottish: “I only feel it when I’m out of the car,” he quipped. Meanwhile Donnie MacDonald’s Lancer had gone for a tumble. “It didn’t feel too bad at the time,” said Donnie, “when it stopped, I selected reverse and drove back out. It was only when I got back to service I realised how bad it was.” Bad? If he had turned up at a Mitsubishi dealer they would have done him a deal under ‘Scrappage’ terms. After a heroic effort and miles of duct tape, the lads had him back on the road. It must have been a bad bit. Jimmy Christie nearly went off at the same point, although Steven Campbell’s time loss was less dramatic. A turbo pipe came off and he had to stop and put it back on, tying it in place with a bootlace. And it wasn’t Frank Kelly’s day either. He came out of this one with a puncture. SS7 – Clashindarroch, 14.35 miles. Dry. With confidence restored in conditions and car, Bogie sizzled in Clash. His 13m 26s was a full 21 second faster than Armstrong (13m 47s), but more crucially 22 seconds faster than Faulkner (13m 48s). Thorburn was the only other driver under 14 minutes for the test with 13m 54s and well ahead of Girvan (14m 07s) and both Kerr, complete with puncture, and Wilson tying on 14m 10s. John Rintoul was beaming at the end of the long one. He had started the day using up old tyres, but bought new ones for last two. “What a difference,” he gasped. SS8 – Whiteash, 4.80 miles. Dry. Both Bogie and Faulkner were now pretty well consolidated in first and second places going into the gravel encrusted Scalextric track that is Whiteash. Everyone loved it except those who got carried away! So it was no surprise to see Girvan topping the time sheets in his final flourish of the day (4m 25s) but third place was still to be decided and Armstrong claimed that with (4m 28s) ahead of Kerr and Wilson (4m 29s), with Bogie on 4m 31s and Faulkner sharing 4m33s with Jimmy Christie/David MacFadyen, and Thorburn splitting these two with 4m 32s. Faulkner found himself running first on the road here as the others had scattered, and had a wee spin because of the loose surface, but he was still pleased with his performance: “I knocked my pan in today trying to keep up with David!” he said. Reay MacKay managed to finish inside the top ten: “I was right off the road in that last one. I couldn’t keep it in a straight line today at all, even on the main road it was wandering, so something is up.” Shaun Sinclair slid off and rattled along a gatepost managing to ding all four panels in one hit, but kept the foot in: “I would have finished up in the ditch if I hadn’t clattered the gatepost. It was a tactical decision, ditch or gatepost!” Tactics? Luck more like. Dale Robertson was sorry to see the end of the stage too: “I was really getting the hang of the car by the end, but when I saw Armstrong slotting in behind me at the start that put a bit of added pressure on.” Jimmy Christe put on a spurt towards the end and managed to demote Steve Bannister to 10th while Malcolm Buchanan celebrated the close of play by spinning, and then he stalled it. And just when things were looking settled, the bombshell was dropped. At post event scrutineering, Jock Armstrong was excluded from the final results. His rear diff adjudged not to be the homologated Group N part. Jock accepted the decision, but to say that both he and Kirsty were distraught is an understatement. The exclusion moved Thorburn up to third and mathematically keeps him in the title race, although Bogie and Faulkner now share the driving seat. ** The Classes Last minute entry, Stephen Murray won Class 1 in his Peugeot 106. “I just got married four weeks ago and didn’t think I would have enough money left after the wedding to do the rally.” A quarter of a mile from end of the last stage, he made a stupid mistake (he said) when he slid into the trees, but speccies pushed him out. Class 2 winner was Craig Rutherford in his Nova by over a minute from Fraser Wilson who spun on the hairpin in S3. The car reared up on two wheels but didn’t tip over, and then he found a broken driveshaft at service. He also broke a shock absorber and finished with a crunching gearbox. Mike Rae finished too, despite a noise coming from the diff in his MG ZR. Willie Stuart took Class 3 in his Sunbeam from Colin Smith in the Peugeot. Smith’s second in class still stands as it was a championship matter that cost him the points in the Ecosse Challenge (see story below). After the Granite, Charlie Munro built a tunnel through the floorpan for the exhaust to try and protect it from stones and ditches. He said it was like having a 4kW heater inside the car. He tried it out too, going off into a ditch I mean, and it worked, it didn’t pull the exhaust off although species had to come and push him out. More theory planning required here, methinks. Blair McCulloch had a crankshaft pulley come off S7 and had to do the last stage with the drive belt off, and still managed a half spin and a stall. Bruce McCombie was lucky to finish let alone win Class 4. “It was just so stupid. I went off nose first into the trees in the fourth stage and had to get spectators to push me out. They pushed me right across the road into the ditch on the other side!” There was no damage, except to his pride! Mark McCulloch pedalled the Corsa as hard as he could, but he couldn’t prevent McCombie’s Puma taking 32 seconds out of him in the 15 miler to regain the class lead. Alasdair Graham’s new exhaust mounting rubbers caught fire and sent flames up the gearstick at the end of S1. Bad enough, but worse was to come. Sitting on the startline of S3 he felt something in his pocket – the service van keys! Dohhh. He also lost 1st and 2nd gears at end of S4 when 2 bolts in the linkage worked loose, and then suffered a misfire over last two stages. Bill Davidson had a spin on S1 and then did his Good Samaritan act towing a car out of S4, but couldn’t see him for dust. He got pulled over on the road for trailing an empty tow rope! Tich McCooey backed off in S5 to avoid the big chuckies and stones then tore a tie-bar off in the long one when he rumbled over a stone. At first he thought it was just a puncture but finally had to stop and retire. Euan MacKay had to endure a Turkish bath when the engine started to run hot, so he had to run with the heater on all day to try and keep it cool. Now it needs a rebuild before Mull. Scott Grant hit a hole in S4 in the wee 206 which threw it across the road but got away with it and Sean Will had two punctures in S7 and a spin in S8. Jonathan Smith broke a Peugeot driveshaft in the final stage, but still managed to win Class 5. Walter Aitken’s MkI took Class 6 and he was ready for a beer at the finish after working up a sweat in the long one. Mike Dymock retired with fuel pump failure. John McClory’s Honda won Class 7, but it was damaged. He tore a wing mirror off the co-driver’s door. “I was just trying to wake him up,” chortled John. Nigel Feeney scored another finish after another trying day in the Ford Focus. He had to do S3 on slicks because the mechanic had gone off with the wrong wheelnuts in his pocket – guess who was buying the drink that night? Steve Bannister finished top two wheel drive runner in 10th place overall and won Class 8 from Frank Kelly who ended up “having to recycle old tyres” just to reach the finish. And full marks to Arlene Reid who became unwell while co-driving for Colin Hay. He was all for pulling out, but Arlene said ‘No’, and they finished 6th in class. Alex Grant snapped his throttle cable S1 and was caught out by a double chicane in S4. He hit a log pile with the front offside – that’s the driver’s side to you and me, so he’s got something to learn yet. Bruce Oag was using his old gearbox after the new one broke on the Granite and he hasn’t got round to fixing it yet. Having just bought the ex-Willie Stuart MkII, Garry Dickson took it out on Thursday night to find it had no brakes so had a last minute panic before the rally. Nigel Crawford’s odd looking, rear wheel drive, Vauxhall engined, Ford Fiesta won Class 9. He was off in the last stage, but got it back on and finished ahead of Donald Booker’s BMW which had a bit of a clunk in the driveline somewhere as he neared the finish. Stuart Glendinning said the Sierra’s rear suspension was sh*gg*d out. It was squatting on its tail all the time like a dug with diarrhoea. That caused it to wear out the rear tyres and it was tail happy all the way. Then it broke both engine mountings and he lost a further 27 mins on a road section with electrics. That’s rallying, eh. Top Group N runner and Class 10 winner was Euan Thorburn from Shaun Sinclair and Dale Robertson who felt he was now getting the hang of his new EVO9 after his previous EVO6. John Morrison was off the pace with brake problems to begin with then had a front puncture on the last stage. Kris Tennant said: “I was too slow in S4. I knew there was a tricky bit in there and was waiting for it, but it was further in than I thought!” Second time out in the Lancer, Douglas Brydon clipped a log pile on S4, approaching a downhill left hander. He couldn’t slow it down enough, but got away with it, although it cost him a rear bumper. He reckons it’s easier to drive than his old 205, but he wanted a finish on his first gravel outing with the car. Peter Taylor spun and stalled in S4 and knocked the anti roll bar loose. He also had no centre diff for the last two stages, but he thought his first visit to the Speyside stages was ‘awesome’. Stephen Lockhart retired after S3 when a driveshaft broke and he didn’t want to risk doing stage S4 like that. Scott Murray had a wee off in the dust on S7 and dinged the rear quarter, but fuel pump troubles cost time early on. Mike Faulkner took Class 11 and Warren Fairbairn didn’t. First time out in a 4WD car, the Lancer started losing power in S6 and there was oil under the bonnet. Retirement beckoned courtesy of turbo failure. Class 12 was busy, but David Bogie was in command from the off. Lucky to make the start was Barry Stephen. The diff failed on its way into Scrootworks and it took till 5 am to get it fixed, then a driveshaft failed on the way to Cooper Park. He took a grinder to it, fitted it back in and carried on. He finished although the gearbox was jamming between 2nd and 3rd gears he had to be gentle and slow to reach finish – that’ll be a first then. John Rintoul was using 18 inch wheels on slicks for Cooper Park then switched to 15s and forest tyres for the woods, but forgot to alter the suspension and the car ground to a halt with the wheels rubbing on it after they left Elgin – silly boys. Fraser Louden was relieved to make first service. It was the first time he had managed it this year – even the service crew were surprised to see him and didn’t have the stuff out of the van. He reached the finish after a ‘stupid accident’. It was so slow, into a hairpin left, when he slid off into the trees. But he regained the road with little damage done although it was the same side he damaged on the Granite. David Welsh brake had brake fade in S4 – using them too much, he reckoned, and Gordon Alexander lost all boost after hitting something on the road in S4. Charlie Jarret had just finished repairing the Lancer after the Granite, but was still trying to get used to it after the Escort. Mike Grant lost a tyre off rim in S1 and had to do S2 like that too as he didn’t have a spare, then had a front puncture in S5. He was off in the last one, just missing a gatepost as he slid past. Brian Stephen slid into a banking on S5 and damaged the front bumper when he lost his brakes and Fraser MacNicol had a fright at the end of S3. The anti-lag wouldn’t switch off. He had a look at service and decided not to risk it, so didn’t use it for the rest of day. Tommy MacKay caught the rear end on a chicane in S4, because he thought it was just a single chicane – not a double! He was also in a ditch on the last stage one but got out and finished. Alisdair Reid had a misfire on the first two tests in the Sapphire but it cleared itself and he was just dead chuffed to finish his third rally. Brian Watson might have to do something about his wecht – he says he ran out of puff in the long one! After losing his brakes in S6, Donald Campbell made a temporary repair to do 7, but they went again in S8. Mark Alexander had a gearbox fire in S7 and had to get out of car pretty smartly. He had another fire in S8. It’s a new gearbox so he’s puzzled by the problem. ** Brick & Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge At the finish, Colin Smith had a 15 second lead over John MacCrone to take maximum points, although both had their troubles to contend with. Smith had a misfire in the third and fourth tests and tried everything at service to cure it. The culprit appeared to be a wire which was shorting out so it was wrapped with insulating tape and off they went, while MacCrone had an exhaust blow from the second stage which got progressively worse as the day went on. He also went off on the last stage. That was probably to do with the puncture in Clash and he tried to make uplost time on the final run. He said later that on reflection should have settled for second! Ross Chalmers was third, but only after repairing a split vacuum pipe with the wind screen washer tubing from the service crew Land Rover. And according to both Ross and co-driver Peter MacInnes, they were both at fault for the spin in S5. Teamwork eh? And Ross McLeish survived a last stage ‘off’ to claim fourth: “I was just pushing too hard to try and snatch third,” he said. Graeme Schoneville’s luck continued its downwards spiral when he had a misfire in stage 4 which got worse through stages 5 and 6 and the car finally ground to a halt in 7. Steven Smith’s rally came to an abrupt end in S4, at the foot of a steep banking and Jordan Black rolled his Peugeot into retirement! Craig Whyte’s exhaust clamp came off, causing the sytem to rattle about, but didn’t break and later on he had to keep the engine running as it would refuse to start up on the key. Young Graeme Smith earned a few grey hairs after big tank slapper at the end of S5. He also had clutch problems and wasn’t getting gears cleanly. Then on the last stage to had to stop and change a front puncture on his own – in case Lee brokea fingernail or two! Luke McLaren, bent a wishbone on S7 and Duncan Campbell said he had no power between 2000 and 5000 rpm: “It was like driving a Type R!” he said, then had a puncture in S5. David Crozier slid off on S4 and beached it on logs. He and Kirstie tried to lever it off themselves with other logs and it took ages. Scott MacLean broke his front suspension on the last stage and Martin Scott broke his gear linkage on S5, but ‘borrowed’ a bit of fence wire to fix it. Gary Inglis turned right into a junction where the tape had been torn down, but on-the-ball Adam Korzepa spotted the wrong direction and they didn’t lose much time In the 1.9 class, it was Jonathan Smith’s turn to score maximum points after his roll on the Scottish. He broke a driveshaft on the last stage, and needed spectators to push him back on and then handed the broken bits in to him. Euan Duncan retired on the fifth test when his engine overheated and died. And then came the second bombshell of the day. Colin Smith was excluded from the class following post-event scrutineering. According to Championship Co-ordinator David Barlow: “There was a technical infringement which is now subject to a Steward’s Inquiry.” Again, it appears to be an innocent mistake, but Colin and Craig were both shocked and dismayed. ** Final Results: Gleaner Oil & Gas Speyside Stages, Saturday 8th August 1 David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Toyota Corolla WRC) 42m 47s Class 1: ** |