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Rally Report - Tuesday 23 March 2010 Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally, Saturday 20th March What a Difference a Month Makes Ahead of this year’s Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally, competitors might have forgiven themselves for thinking this would be a doddle after the ice-slicked, snow-covered Highland forest tests a month ago. Silly thought, eh? This was Kielder. Britain’s largest man-made forest complex and land of the lost - as far as rally cars and crews are concerned. But it wasn’t conditions that caused the biggest upset, it was the results at the finish. Scoring his first win on ‘home soil’ Dave Weston won the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally in Jedburgh with Ieuan Thomas in the hot seat. There was another surprise in second place. Shaun Sinclair and Chris Hamill took top Hankook points as Weston hadn’t registered for the Scottish Championship, being more content on setting up the Subaru ahead of next week’s Bulldog Rally in Wales. And just to round off a weekend of wonders, Alick Kerr now leads the Scottish Championship from Andy Horne. And they say that fairy tales never come true! SS1 – Hyndlee, 5.98 miles. Raining, wet, slippy and muddy. Late entry Jonathan Greer made his presence felt from the off. Co-driven by Suzanne Wright he was fastest on the first stage (6m 03s), two seconds quicker than young Weston (6m 05s). Sinclair also showed he was up for the fight with third quickest (6m 09s) by a second from last year’s championship runner-ups Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy (6m 10s) who had already broken a driveshaft in the first stage and had to run the next without it. David Bogie/Kevin Rae were well off the pace with an ill handling Lancer (6m 16s), but their sole purpose for entering the event was to sort out the suspension ahead of the Bulldog and various set-ups were tried on every stage. Wayne Sisson/David MacFadyen were trying big brakes for the first time and Wayne reckoned he had to get his head round this as he was consistently slowing up too early, but his 6m 16s wasn’t too shabby. Neither was Steve Bannister/Louise Sutherland’s 6m 16s too shabby, in the Historic spec MkII, especially in such guttery conditions! As for Jock Armstrong, he was already a spectator. His Scottish Championship lead disappeared on that opening test when the Subaru broke its gearbox. SS2 – Bewshaugh, 8.87 miles. Raining, wet, slippy and rubbly in places. Weston showed his mettle in the second test, a 9 miler at Bewshaugh (9m 29s). With a mischievous grin, he recounted:“It was marbly and slippy in there, I nearly slid off at one point! I like it when it is wet and slippery.” He was 11 seconds quicker than Sinclair (9m 40s) who had Bogie (9m 45s) on his tail with Greer and David Wilson/Drew Sturrock sharing (9m 47s). Having missed out on most of last season, Stephen Petch and John Richardson were giving the Hyundai an airing and were quickly on the pace with 9m 49s. Faulkner still hadn’t given up, but the din from the diff inside the car was worrying the crew. SS3 – Falstone, 8.91 miles. Raining, wet and slippy. Petch emphasised his returning pace with fastest on the third test (9m 08s) but by only a second from the tying Weston and Bogie (9m 09s). Sinclair was still there, only a further two seconds behind (9m 11s) with Sisson on 9m 15s and Faulkner still clattering away on 9m 17s but clear of Alick Kerr/Neil Shanks having a bit of an ‘off day’ with the Subaru (9m 21s). Alick couldn’t put his finger on but there was something up with the car. Greer was now in trouble. The Mitsubishi was misfiring, even after a change of plugs and fuel pump, and it wasn’t revving. More fortunate was Jim Carty. He thought the Subaru’s front diff had gone and limped out of the stage, but it was only the hydraulic pump and it was fixed for the afternoon, but he had already dropped a minute to the rest. Andy Horne slowed up a bit when he thought something was wrong with the DAM Metro, but it was only the wheels getting clogged up with mud and rubble. Sadly, David Wilson’s quick run ended abruptly in here and Walter Henderson found another Kielder ditch in which to unintentionally park his Subaru too. And here’s a funny story. Rory Young got a puncture but the tyre wasn’t damaged! A rock had punched a hole through the inside of the alloy rim! SS4 – Redesdale, 13.69 miles. Dry, still wet and slippy. Ahead of the 13 miler in Redesdale, the rain stopped and the sun almost came out, but the pace did not let up. Greer was finally forced out, this time when his gearbox broke, and Faulkner too was forced to call it a day when the diff failed completely just a mile from the stage finish. There was no stopping Weston though. His 14m 36s was 5 seconds quicker than Petch (14m 41s). Sinclair (14m 47s) had 5 seconds in hand over Wayne Sisson (14m 52s) with Bogie still sorting out his suspension but slowed by a puncture in this one (15m 01s). Andy Horne/Jim Howie finally got into the top six times (15m 04s) ahead of Bannister (15m 06s) still giving the 4WD lot cause to wonder how he does it. And despite his second quickest time on that stage, Petch was going no further. At the end of the stage, the crew found the subframe had broken. SS5 – Wauchope, 6.08 miles. Dry, wet, not so slippy but cut up in places. The final stage was more or less a re-run of the first and despite the passage of 100 cars and the appearance of some rougher areas, conditions were still regarded as better than the morning run. And looking more like a title threat than ever before, Sinclair got his first fastest time of the day (6m 24s). He was only a second faster than Weston (6m 25s) but it put his own championship title hopes well and truly back on track. Sisson too was delighted with third quickest (6m 32s), but he had to share that third quickest time with Steve Bannister (6m 32s). Banner’s face cracked into a toothy grin when he saw the time: “I was right pleased with that, two seconds quicker than Bogie and me old mate Kevin!” And his overall seventh place might have been a lot better had it not been for a puncture on the second stage of the day. Despite a troibled day, Kerr scored a 6m 33s ahead of Bogie (6m 34s) and Horne (6m 36s) getting among the quick times again. Alick Kerr finished fifth overall but couldn’t explain his lack of pace. There was something wrong with the Subaru but he was never able to put his finger on the fault and as a result lost the confidence to attack more. And maybe that was good thing given the treacherous surfaces. But perhaps sporting the widest grins at the finish were Andy Horne and Jim Howie. The gratifying growl of a Metro in full flight lightened the hearts of all those who heard it through the forests. That’s two starts and two finishes for the new engine. Progress is being made. Barry Groundwater was eighth but the Mitsubishi was down on power for some stages and Dale Robertson was ninth complete with a blowing manifold, but he had still been quick enough to knock the rear bumper off. Completing the top ten was John Morrison whose car trailer is now sporting the legend ‘Save the Tour of Mull – the Best Rally in the World!’ It was Weston’s rally, but relative newcomer Sinclair now leads the Hankook series - and his confidence is rising. And here's a worrying thought for the title chasers. I asked Shaun what his secret was and he said: "I came to this late and reckon I've got a couple of good seasons in me. I spent the winter getting the car right although we didn't get a good run on the Snowman becuase of conditions, but the car is right now." And another secret. He's spent the winter months doing a bit of training. Looks like he's getting just a bit serious, eh? The Classes In his present one-man bid to resurrect the 1 litre class in Scotland, Jim Aitken took his second successive class win on the Border and he would have been further up the leaderboard at the finish were it not for wee bit of a wobbly on the fourth test. Lucky escape, the ditches are bigger than the Micra! Fraser Wilson won Class 2 in his Nova after changing the rear shock absorbers at service. Mike Rae was second despite losing gears in the MG during the day and Trevor Longhurst got no further than the first stage when the clutch failed. Old hand Malcolm Robertson won Class 3 in his Sunbeam from Kielder first-timer Andy Stretton who had spent recent weeks converting the 205’s rear axle to disc brakes with a hydraulic handbrake purely for this event, and reckoned it was worth it. Blair McCulloch lost his brakes in SS2 but must have got them sorted out ‘cos he caught and passed a car in SS4 pr maybe that was because he still hadn’t any brakes! Only kidding. Mike Stuart retired the Sunbeam when he bumped the front end. It didn’t look bad from the outside but the radiator was pushed back. Greg Pollock retired in SS2 with a misfire, followed by low oil pressure and Ralph Barclay was off in SS2 and then off again in SS4, but this time for good. Class 4 fell to the Tuer brothers in their MG from the fast improving Alasdair Graham, but his Nova is showing its age. Co-driver Kenny McGuire reckons he crushed three vertebrae after a severe compression at the end of the long straight in the 4th test, but apparently Alasdair didn’t seem to mind too much! He also had to keep tightening up the front balljoints which kept slackening off in the rubbly bits. Euan Duncan was well pleased with third in the Honda but Stewart Davidson was dragged to a halt when the rear wheels packed up with mud and stones jamming them against the callipers – a problem that afflicted many cars during the day. He managed to get some speed up in SS4 and although he had lost out on a place he was glad to have finished an event that has been so unlucky for him in the past. As for young Peter Taylor, he had a dismal day. The Fiesta’s rear wheels kept clogging up with mud and pebbles dragging the car to a halt countless times. Although the same problem afflicted many cars it seemed particularly bad on the wee Fiesta. James Roberson had his first failure with the Citroen when the cam belt broke on the second stage. Sean Will’s isolator switch was blowing fuses so he had to ‘hot-wire’ it direct to the battery and then had a big spin in SS4 going backwards into trees - but went between the stumps not over them! Euan MacKay had a puncture in SS1 and but had to stop and change his second puncture in the stage on SS5. David Cameron’s Class 5 win was helped by Jonathan Smith’s early demise when the Peugeot expired in the second test. Peter Smith won Class 6 despite head-butting a small tree with his Opel Kadett. His excuse was unusual: “That’s what you get with a RHD car driver in a LHD car taking a big cut!” Point noted Peter. Richard Hill might have posed more of a threat but his gearbox broke in the first stage, losing 2nd gear and getting noisier. Tony Thompson had a problem with either a halfshaft or hub but he struggled through the final two stages to get a finish. Simon Moore won Class 7 in his Renault Clio which he had just finished ahead of this year ‘s Clio Challenge in the BRC. In testing the previous weekend he smashed the diff so it was a mad scramble to get it rebuilt for the Border for another test ahead of the Bulldog. Not far behind all day in the Fiesta was Peter Stewart. Steve Bannister finished top 2WD car despite a puncture in SS2, and won Class 8 but scoring his best result for some years was Sam Orr in the ‘Y’ reg RWD MkIII Escort. Colin Hay was third despite no heated w/screen for the first two when it was raining and because of that was nearly off on a L6 over crest in SS1, then lost 5th gear in SS4 and 2nd gear in SS5. Frank Kelly was fourth and lucky to be there at all. Had it not been for 9 burly blokes, his rally would have ended in a wet ditch in SS2. Mike Horne was off too in SS2 and took a Maximum but eventually got out and got back on the road. Not quite so lucky was Malcolm Buchanan. Where he went off there was no one around to help! Dave Weston won the Group N Class 10 from Sinclair and Bogie. Dale Robertson was 4th ahead of John Morrison and Rory Young while a huge spin in the long one cost Donnie MacDonald crucial seconds. Colin Gemmell is still running forest suspension on his Subaru but he again won his personal battle with local rival Lee Hastings. Nigel Feeney is getting to grips with the Subaru but a split oil return pipe on the turbo cost him his anti-lag system. Jim Carty survived his earlier problems with a win in Class 11 from Alasdair Graham who had a misfire and still managed to catch the car in front on the final test. Wayne Sisson clinched a more encouraging day with a win in Class 12 from Kerr and Horne. Douglas Gilbert had no turbo boost all day but his co-driver made up for it. He was sick four times in 5 stages, but he stuck at it! Lee Hastings smacked a log pile in S3 and bent a wishbone while Joanna Wickham had no turbo boost all day and just sat back and watched the view on the uphill bits as the Subaru lost all sense of urgency whenever it encountered a hilly bit! Peugeot/Honda Euan Duncan and Peter MacInnes launched the Brick and Steel Civic Ecosse Challenge in style with a convincing category win on the Border Counties. In the popular 205 Ecosse Challenge, Sean and Iain Robson turned in a dominant performance to finish first 205 Challenge car on their home rally. Duncan and MacInnes finished 25 seconds ahead of the runner-up Honda crew of Graeme Schoneville and Phil Coulby. Euan had lost around one minute when the Honda’s heated windscreen broke on the second stage, causing the driver’s side of the windscreen to fog up and limiting his vision somewhat. He also survived a front left corner impact which shattered the windscreen washer bottle and crumpled the wing. Graeme also struck something with the left hand front corner after which the brakes were sticking on although he was better pleased with his pace on the final two stages where he was only half a second a mile off the pace of the front runners rather than 2 seconds a mile earlier in the day. Grant Inglis and Robert Gray ended up third in the Civic class after Ruary MacLeod slid into a ditch on the final Wauchope test. Ross Hunter ruined a good run with a slippery off on the mud at the logging in the third stage and it took ages to get the car out but a rear calliper had been sheared off, probably due to those stones clogging up the wheels! Grant Inglis finished third Civic first time out in a FWD car after his RWD Escort, but will reserve judgement on an opinion for now. The son-and-father Robson pairing led the 205 class from the off, building up a lead of more than a minute by the time they reached the final control at Jedburgh Abbey. Clouds of steam in the car during SS2 initially caused concern but they reckoned they must have overfilled the radiator because after their sauna, it was fine. Jamie Watson and Stephen Williamson took second Peugeot spot despite struggling with gear selection that was either caused by clutch problems or worn synchros and then on the final stages had a misfire at the top end of the revs and nearly dropped off the road twice in the final stage. Steven Smith and Russell Fair were delighted to clinch third after a day fraught with teething troubles for their freshly built car even though they were having to back off on the longer straights because the car’s rear end was developing a mind of its own. A brake pipe also burst on the 4th test which meant they did SS5 with no brakes so they were dead chuffed to be third after their problems. Garry Pearson and Kirstie Marshall initially suffered windscreen wiper motor failure then spent five minutes off the road on stage four until spectators pushed them off the grassy mound on which they were breached. David Crozier had a misfire in SS3, but thought it might simply be down to low fuel, Jordan Black spun between the logs in SS3 so neatly he couldn’t have done it better if he’d tried but it was tightly wedged and difficult to get out. Graeme Smith lost his clutch and the steering was getting heavier but fared better than David Richard who slid off in SS2 and got stuck! Results: 1 Dave Weston Jnr /Ieuan Thomas(Subaru Impreza) 45m 44s ( Full results available at: www.nersresults.co.uk ) **** |