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Rally Report - 8th September 2009

Jock Does a Merrick-ah

It was good to see Jock and Kirsty back at a rally start after the Speyside stramash. It would have been too easy just to stay at home, but that’s not his way, and he had a point to prove. And by crackey, he proved it. With Kirsty Riddick on the Notes, he regained the lead of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship on last Saturday’s Ian T Bendall Merrick Forest Stages to put his title hopes emphatically back on track.

Behind the Subaru, David Bogie/Kevin Rae kept their title hopes alive with runner-up points in the Toyota Corolla while Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy have it all to do on the final round next month. And making it a four way fight for the title, Euan Thorburn with Campbell Roy alongside did his hopes no harm at all with third place points in the Subaru.

But that was all to come. Ahead lay five stages in Glentrool and Galloway, and it was raining. The big trouble down here is the granitey, slatey type nature of the rocks. When they get wet, they get slippy, and I mean the kind of oil on top of ice, on top of ball bearings, kind of slippy. The worst part is, it’s not predictable slipperiness either, some parts grip and some parts don’t. If you want to find out if your heart is in good shape, forget the hospital heart rate monitors, they’re kids stuff compared to strapping yourself into a rally car and going rallying in Glentrool in the rain!

SS1 – Arroch Hill, 8.8 miles. Wet, slippery and raining.

It was therefore a surprise to see Scottish rallying virgin, and BTRDA missionary, Hugh Hunter setting fastest time on the opener (9m 15s) but maybe Andy Marchbank hadn’t quite filled him in on the full horrors of Scottish stages. Whatever, the Ford Focus driver took a massive 13 seconds out of Jonathan Greer/Brian Crawford in the EVO9 and Armstrong both on 9m 28s.

Bogie was next up on 9m 33s, with Thorburn a further seven seconds back (9m 40s), but only one second behind him was the Alness Hurler, David Wilson skiting the EVO4 through the woods with Keir Beaton hanging on for dear life. At this point, I would like to venture to suggest that likening Wilson’s progress to an accident waiting to happen is quite unfair, it’s more like a time bomb with a faulty clock. When his talent catches up with his ambition, Scotland will have another star on its hands!

And I’ll tell you what, Viv Hamill’s progress was every bit as impressive in this stage (9m 43s) in his Escort MkII. The fastest 2WD runner, explained: “I’m making up for my last visit over here, on the Galloway Hills in December when I went off on the first stage.”

But where was Faulkner in the EVO6? “I burst a driveshaft and went off. I didn’t have enough traction to get back out. No real damage, but well and truly stuck.” Alick Kerr was a lot luckier. When a front nearside tyre went down, it was near the end of the stage, but this was his first time in the rain with the Subaru, and Jim Carty was going quick enough to have a wee spin in his Subaru.

SS2 – Palgowan, 3.06 miles. Wet, slippery and raining.

Hunter therefore went into the second stage with a 13 second lead, but came out with a mere 3 second lead. “I was just too quick into a fast medium Left, and spun,” said Hugh, “at least I didn’t stall or I would have lost more.” Armstrong closed the gap courtesy of a 3m 13s run some six seconds faster than Davie Hughes with Bruce Harper in the EVO9, which is not as big a surprise as you might imagine, for on the longer stages, Davie needs a fag half way through, whereas he doesn’t on the short ones! Mind you, this is a private theory.

Sharing third quickest (3m 20s) were Thorburn and Wilson with Alick Kerr/Drew Sturrock sharing 3m 22s with Shaun Sinclair and Chris Hamill (EVO9), ahead of four crews on 3m 23s – Bogie, Hunter, Andy Horne/Jim Howie and Viv Hamill/Graham Henderson.

Meanwhile, David Bogie was in a quandary. “I saw Mike off, and Jock is going like a bullet, do I chase him or go for points?” Time for a family meeting, with Pop (John) offering some sage words of advice: “You’ve been here twice before, leading a championship going into the final rounds – go for the points.”

SS3 – Jenny’s Hill, 4.32 miles. Wet and raining.

It was Armstrong again in the third stage (4m 46s), but by only a second from Hunter (4m 47s), with Shaun Sinclair raising eyebrows once again (4m 54s), third quickest ahead of Greer (4m 55s) and Bogie (4m 57s). With all eight cylinders firing well, Andy Horne was in the hunt too (4m 58s) in the 6R4, ahead of a gaggle of cars sharing 4m 59s including Thorburn, Kerr, Wilson, Seamus Donnelly/Damien Duffin (EVO) and Dale Robertson/Paul McGuire (EVO9).

SS4 – Poultrybuie, 15.62 miles, Wet and showery.

On the basis that you should leave the customers wanting more, the two last stages were long ones with everyone working up to the challenge. First came the 15 miler at Poultrybuie, or Black Loch for the old timers. The rain had eased, but it was still treacherous underfoot, and even more treacherous undertyre. However, the biggest challenge was keeping a tidy line, hooking wheels over edges could incur punctures on the razor sharp stones.

Jonathan Greer took a big breath on the start line and let fly. His 15m 31s was pretty impressive, some 9 seconds faster than Bogie (15m 40s) but Armstrong was on fire, 7 seconds quicker than the Irish visitor (15m 24s), impressing the hell out of a jubilant Teg Sport boss, Stuart Newby who was amazed at just how much speed he was carrying through the corners.

Equally impressive was Subaru newcomer, Alick Kerr with 15m 43s, taking a whopping 16 seconds out of Thorburn (15m 59s), and Sinclair wasn’t far off the mark either with 16m 01s. Hunter was well off the pace, but the reason was easy to see, two tattered tyres on the same side of the Focus as it limped out of the unforgiving terrain.

But if he thought that was bad, Steve Bannister had three punctures and two wrecked wheels! At least he got out of the stage, Andy Horne didn’t. Earlier he had been troubled by a sticking gearshift: “If it doesn’t get any worse I’ll be fine,” said Andy. It did and he wasn’t. He slid off on a Left 7, got back on, and then in common with every other rally driver since the wheel was invented took off like a rocket to make up lost time and paid the price. He went off on a Right 7 - and stayed off.

SS5 – Glentrool, 12.83 miles. Wet-tish, but dry!

In my book anyone doing this one in under 13 minutes is a hero. And there were 8 of them today. It’s the crests you see. You either commit to them and go fast, or you chicken out and stay safe – me? I’d have trouble cycling it, let alone driving it.

Anyway, going into the final stage Armstrong led Greer by 33 seconds with Bogie a further 9 seconds behind. Hunter was still holding fourth, despite his troubles, ahead of Thorburn who had only a second in hand over Kerr after his superb run through the previous test.

Perhaps in anticipation, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out, and part of me would like to think it was because someone rather special upstairs wanted to have a look at what was going on down below. Many of you probably won’t know, but one of Jaggy’s original heroes, Drew Gallacher, had his ashes scattered over a certain stretch of road in Glentrool, and I reckon the big man would have been taking an interest.

Showing no sign of let-up, Armstrong led the pack. His 12m 27s was seven seconds faster than Greer’s 12m 34s and clinched a memorable victory, while Thorburn rose to the challenge too with a scintillating (12m 38s) ahead of Sinclair (12m 47s), Bogie doing what he had to do (12m 49s), Barry Groundwater/Jude Wylie (12m 55s) in the EVO9, Jim Carty/Ian Fraser (12m 56s) and Donnelly on 12m 57s.

Once again, Hunter succumbed to the razor sharp edges and dropped well out of the top ten places. The drier conditions also gave Frank Kelly a chance to shine and he finished top two wheel drive on the day in 13th place.

The result has however, left the Hankook title chase delicately poised. Faulkner has now dropped his two scores while Bogie, Armstrong and Thorburn have only dropped one. In theory, there’s little to choose between Faulkner and Bogie winning the title, but both Armstrong and Thorburn are still in with a chance.

**

The Classes

Fraser Wilson took an early lead in Class 2, and then promptly lost it in the second stage. “I rolled it,” he grinned, “there’s little damage, but it was right into a bog!” Greg Pollock therefore took the win in his Corsa from Peter Taylor who punctured in the 4th test and then punctured the spare on the road section. In third place, Allan Galloway was chuffed, it was his first run out in three years.

Craig Rutherford knocked the tracking out when he hit a rock in SS1. The Nova missed the first two rocks, but clobbered the third one! Later on he broke a front shock absorber, and fuel trouble in S4 which he had to stop and fix. Two cars passed during that time but he still finished 4th in class. Trevor Longhurst was nearly off twice in SS1 but just managed to keep the Rover on the road much to the delight of spectating crowds – well love to show off don’t we?

John MacCrone took Class 3 from Colin Smith, but Smith was still well pleased after sourcing a replacement cylinder head follwing his Speyside troubles, while Garry Pearson was third on his first rally drive in the rain!

First non Peugeot home, was Blair McCulloch’s Corsa despite losing its exhaust and getting stuck in third gear for most of the final stage. Iain Haining didn’t even make it out of the first stage, his Nova suffering either electrical or fuel trouble. Charlie Munro had to stop the MkII and change a puncture in S4 and Tam Brown in Peugeot had ignition troubles which hampered progress.

Mark McCulloch was lucky not to get stopped by the Polis, for he did most of the rally with no exhaust at all, after ripping it off at the manifold in SS1. However, he managed to avoid the long arm of the law by trickling quietly between stages and then opening it up in the woods. By heck, it sounded good for a Corsa! He actually won Class 4 using a system of hand signals, because the broken exhaust drowned out the intercom, from Stuart McQueen using his Ford Puma for the first time in the woods. He punctured in S4 and his wee arms and shoulders were fair knackered at the end of it.

Alex Curran was third and won the ‘sympathy vote’ after appearing at the finish with a large white bandage on his right wrist. He had earlier whacked a rock with the Corsa which bent the front suspension, and the steering wheel kicked back on his wrist. Alasdair Graham retired on the third stage due to faulty electrics which got soaked when he went through a huge puddle on the first stage. James Roberson continued to curse the C2 after his ST, but by the end of the final stage was almost starting to like the wee thing. So the relationship is improving.

Ruary MacLeod is getting cocky in the Honda. The newcomer hit a pothole and punctured the front right which threw him into a ditch but he kept pedal to the metal and popped out again. Event sponsor, Ian Bendall thought he was out when the bulkhead split in the Corsa, but there was enough metal left to gets some bolts through it and carry on. Alex Curran nearly went off in SS2, but don’t think for a minute he was going too quick, his windscreen had misted up!

After his Scottish Rally troubles, Alan McMorran was delighted with his Class 5 win, while Mike Dymock had a lonely time winning Class 6 in the Chevette even with punctures in stages 3 and in 4.

Class 7 was again the domain of John McClory in the Honda while Graeme Schoneville hoping for a bit of better luck and had hired an Andrew Wood Honda Civic. Unfortunately he changed his car, but not his luck. A fuel pump failed.

Nigel Feeney had his third finish in a row despite a puncture in S4 in the Focus and Peter Stewart rumbled over somone’s lost exhaust in SS2 which damaged the Fiesta ST’s gear linkage.

Frank Kelly survived two punctures on the first stage to win Class 8 from Mike Horne after initial class leader Malcolm Buchanan broke a throttle spring in the second test and finished third ahead of Steve Bannister. Chris McCallum picked up a road penalty when he was waiting for his oil pressure to come back up in the hot and bothered MkII after S3 before going into the long one so that scuppered his hopes of a result.

Young Alasdair Graham appeared in yet another car, winning Class 9 in a 2.4 litre MkII, as he struggles to make up his mind what to do for next year.

Top Group N and Class 10 winner was Jonathan Greer from Euan Thorburn and Shaun Sinclair who was lucky to finish when the clutch thrust bearing failed on last stage causing a few shrieks and clunks – from the transmission, not from the crew!

Seamus Donnelly was lucky to finish too in his EVO when the clutch failed in the last stage and Donnie MacDonald’s EVO was looking good after he bowfed it on the Speyside. He slid off the road in SS2 and that dented his confidence especially after his bump last month.

Dale Roberson had a puncture in S4 and spun at hairpin in the last test and he lost the use of 3rd gear as he approached the finish. Craig McMiken’s improving pace in the EVO9 suffered a setback with a puncture in S4, while Stephen Lockhart well pleased with 18th o/a in the EVO6. He was lying 24th going into the last stage and had a big push to get inside the top 20.

Kris Tennant was trying a softer ECU in the Subaru and had reverted to non servo assisted brakes to try and get a more consistent pedal. He broke driveshaft in S4, which sent him six yards down a ditch in the last stage and then got puncture.

Douglas Brydon was back out in the EVO6, but broke a driveshaft in S2 then caught a car in S4 which smashed his windscreen, and Stuart Walker, retired the EVO9 at the end of 4 with no gears.

Jim Carty was the only finisher in Class 11 when Martin Cairns spun once in SS1, and broke his gearbox.

Jock Armstrong added the Class 12 trophy to his laurels ahead of David Bogie and Alick Kerr. Barry Groundwater was again on the pace, but ripped a tyre in SS2 even though he was trying hard to avoid the boulders! Ian Paterson’s hopes were wrecked with a puncture in the Subaru in SS4 which he had to stop and change, then got another one, but drove out on it.

Martin Craik was losing power in the turbo. He had a new one at home but no time to fit it before the rally while Charlie Jarrett had a big spin in SS1 and then retired in 3 with a leaky head gasket. The exhaust in Brian Ross’ EVO3 started to fall off in SS1 and was all gone by SS2 while Lee Hastings’ Subaru got stuck in 3rd gear in SS2 and he retired. Stuart Paterson was another retirement when he couldn’t get the timing right on the Subaru.

Donald Murray punctured in the Subaru and cracked the exhaust in the last stage while things for going fine for Brian Watson for the first few hundred yards of the first stage, then the steering column pulled out of the floor and landed on his lap!

Tommy MacKay in the EVO3 had a puncture in SS2, then two more in SS4 and had a wee off after his second one while Mike Grant had a puncture in the last stage but that was the least of his troubles (see the News/Gossip section at the end of the week).

Fraser MacNicol had to re-fix the EVO2’s radiator which was waggling about, plus the driver was suffering from a bout of food poisoning although he refused to lay blame because it might have been the canteen at work! Or considering where he works, the restaurant and not canteen! These bankers lead a charmed life.

And finally, Roland Wessel had his first run out in his immaculate, restored Lancia Delta, but stopped to check a rattle in SS1. He thought it was a driveshaft, but it was only a loose exhaust flange. He put it in a ditch on the last stage, on the co-driver’s side naturally, but there was no damage to the car - and Malcolm was OK too!

**

Brick & Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge

Both front runners in the 1600 class had their troubles to contend with. John MacCrone struck a rock in the first stage which damaged the front suspension, but brake problems later on in the event were more of a concern. Even so he finished over 40 seconds clear of Colin Smith who punctured in the first stage, but fought back to keep young Garry Pearson in third. It was Pearson’s first experience of wet gravel!

Duncan Campbell took fourth placed points and struggled through the last stage with a misfire caused by either dirt in the fuel line or water in the fuel, while Steven Smith was able to finish fifth only after some severe applications of a heavy hammer to straighten a bottom arm which was bent on a rock on the first stage.

Jordan Black finished despite losing his back brakes, but his car still needs to spend a long time in the body shop. Another problem was the fact that the engine was rocking backwards and forwards under braking and acceleration so he needs to check out the engine mountings – or it might just be the shell flexing!

Graeme Smith solved his initial misfire when he found a broken spark plug and solved a later problem of constantly blowing fuses by simply fitting bigger, beefier ones and David Crozier finished with a wobbly wheel after whacking a rear bottom arm! Sean Robson got 1.5 mls into SS1, when the brake pedal went to the floor and the car fell on its side in a ditch.

Euan Duncan scored top 1.9 points when Jonathan Smith was stranded in the first stage with an electrical fault.

**

Final Results: Ian T Bendall Merrick Forest Stages, Saturday 5th September

1 Jock Armstrong/Kirsty Riddick (Subaru Impreza N11) 45m 18s
2 Jonathan Greer/Brian Crawford (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9) 45m 58s
3 David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Toyota Corolla WRC) 46m 22s
4 Euan Thorburn/Campbell Roy (Subaru Impreza) 46m 36s
5 Shaun Sinclair/Chris Hamill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9) 46m 60s
6 Alick Kerr/Drew Sturrock (Subaru Impreza) 47m 21s
7 Seamus Donnelly/Damien Duffin (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO) 47m 26s
8 Barry Groundwater/Jude Wylie (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9) 47m 40s
9 Davie Hughes/Bruce Harper (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9) 47m 52s
10 Donnie MacDonald/Paul Beaton (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9) 48m 06s

**

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