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Rally Report, Part 2 - Wednesday 2 June 2010 Jim Clark Reivers Rally, Sunday 29th May The Classes: Class 2 Andrew Fry won Class 2 in his MG despite severe window misting problems in the rain, and Bruce Hay was second in the Nova after passing 4 cars in SS4 and surviving a huge non-contact spin in SS6. Fraser Wilson might have done better than third had he not gone ploughing in a Berwickshire field in SS4: “I just thought it needed doing,” and that was after an earlier incident: “I nearly cleaned out a bunch of spectators in SS2, the brakes are not good!” Initially, Ian Stewart didn’t admit to any ‘offs’ till he was advised that there appeared to be tufts of grass sticking out from the Mini’s number plate and only then did he suggest that he might indeed have indulged in ‘a bit of a spin and had to reverse out’ and then admitted to a couple of wee offs in 5 and 6. (I’ll tell you. it’s like drawing teeth at times, Ed). On the other hand, Trevor Longhurst was pretty open about surviving a big off in SS2, losing 2nd gear over the closing stages and was worried about the diff getting noisier as the day wore on. But perhaps George Miller summed it up best: “I’ve had more near offs today than in all the last 35 rallies!” And Nicola Harper fulfilled an ambition when she finished in 84th place in the Skoda: “I always wanted to do the Jim Clark Rally,” she said. Class 3 Malcolm Davey got Class 3, despite a puncture in the fourth test and a spin on the final test which dented the rear quarter. Sean Robson was second and top Peugeot 205 although the brakes were down to the metal after 4 stages. Only 11 seconds behind was Garry Pearson who fought back to claim the place after a big spin on the first stage of the day just 6 corners in from the start. He landed on the wet grass and lost over a minute and a half getting back on the road. With reliability restored in the Peugeot Steven Smith was worried about others things now. Like sensitive brakes. One touch of the brakes and whole car locked up. He did the first two stages like that before getting them fixed, he caught a car in SS3 and couldn’t get past and had a small off into a garden on SS6. Graeme Sherry reckoned he was doing a passable imitation of Torvill and Dean in SS2 and had a straight on at a 90R. That was followed with an off into co-driver Ewan Leeming’s sister’s back garden in SS3 - but she was alright about it. He completed the job on the final stage when he tripped over the earth wire on a telegraph pole, and rolled. The telegraph pole was unscathed, and he finished. Blair McCulloch finished the rally with everything crossed. The Nova had a misfire at high revs and engine was getting smokey by the end. Will Harley put his Peugeot through a fence at a L9 in SS1 but got going although something was rattling underneath. He retired after the third stage. Alec Brown was lacking brakes on SS1 and 2, but put the old pads back in and the wee Saxo was much the better for that. Tony Fleming smacked a bale on SS1, but it resulted in cosmetic damage only and Gavin Lloyd was off twice in SS5, and hit a bale. Nick Thorne finished 75th and was delighted with that in his first year of rallying and first visit to the JC. As for Sarah Hunter, she was reluctant to admit it, but she did spend some quality time in a hedge in SS5! Class 4 On his first trouble free run of the season, Ross Hunter cinched Class 4 in his Honda Civic but it wasn’t without drama. The windscreen misted up in SS3 and 4 and the wipers failed: “I got a wee bit erratic at times” and then at the finish he said: “I’ll need to give Euan Duncan his driveshafts back, he let me borrow them for this.” A troublefree run from Des Campbell’s Peugeot 206 netted him second in class, although he lost the wipers in SS3 during the rain and that was scary. Allan Brodie was third and Carl Tuer wasn’t. He had crashed the MG on the Tour of Hamsterley but reckoned there was still something wrong and withdrew after two stages, and Stewart Davidson was out too almost before the rally started when the Proton’s engine went sick on the first stage. Gareth White got off to a bad start when the Citroen’s wipers failed and then had a huge sideways tank-slapper in the second test using up both sides of the road. He was in a field twice in SS3 when the rear end stepped out on the car and it did it again in SS4. “I need 4WD,” he said. Graeme Schoneville spun in SS2 and had two big spins in SS4 but still got 4th in class while Lachlan Cowan’s day out included one off in SS1 and 2 where he bent a tie road and bottom arm and got a puncture. Then he put another dent in the driver’s door when he hit the chicane in SS7 but still finished 5th. Michael Davison was 6th including a spin on SS2, and at the finish reckons he was flat in top gear more often and longer than he was at MIRA! Euan MacKay, swapped his 106’s 5th gear ratio for this event. It previously topped out at 97 mph and the change made it 126 mph: “And I’ve been using it!” he said, on his way to 7th. When James Robertson reached first service, he said: “This is the furthest I’ve ever got on this event”, but his luck held even though the Citroen was misfiring by the finish. James Thompson had electrical/fuel troubles and the 206 conked out after 4 stages and Neil Thompson got as far as the final stage before the throttle broke and he was out almost within sight of the finish. Sean Will tried to go through a bridge sideways, but the Corsa wouldn’t fit and he retired after 5 stages. I’ll leave the last word to Lachlan Cowan: “I believed the weather forecast, and bought 4 slicks last night!” That’ll teach him. Class 5 Jeff Malthouse survived a backwards ‘off’ on SS2 in his 205 to score the Class 5 win from David Phillips in another Peugeot, while Doug Logan retired his Escort with clutch failure. Class 6 Jim McDowall scored the Historic class win in Class 6 in his Avenger despite the gear knob coming off in his hand twice. He was quite chuffed at having caught two cars in SS7 and took the class from the Chevette of Tony Thompson who was losing brakes fast on the first two stages and they were gone completely after SS4, but got some pedal back over lunch halt. George Bryson was leading the class early on till he experienced a “big moment” in the third test. He had just passed another car when the throttle jammed open. “I near shit meself”, he said. Class 7 Chris Anderson was pleased with another class win in Class 7 in his Fiesta from the Fiesta of Peter Stewart who was consistently catching slower cars. He was also worried about a nosy driveshaft. Chris Abel and Will Phillip were out after 6 stages despite manually pushing their clutch-less Clio into the Duns Control, but they already been experiencing problems since SS4 when they lost 4th gear, but it was only a bolt which came out and loosened the gear linkage. Stephen Bailie hit a bale at the chicane and got a front puncture in SS3, Alan Cowan tried to take the bridge sideways in the Astra but survived that and then broke a shock absorber in SS4. Nicholas Tasker caught cars in SS1 and 2 and couldn’t get past, Kieron Renton went silage cutting in S5 and Derek Masterton crawled into service on one wheel drive when a CV joint broke but got it fixed at service. The Corsa finally wheezed into the finish like an auld leaky kettle at Duns but unfortunately was OTL. Derek called it a “steam car” as the cylinder head and gasket were also well gone by that time. Class 8 If the battle at the front was exciting the clash in Class 8 was exhilarating. Sadly, Frank Kelly’s run came to grief in a farmer’s courtyard, but Steve Bannister’s dexterity in the rain was mesmerising. He was leading the class till the sun came out and as the roads dried Keith Robathan came back at him. Robathan had earlier damaged the radiator against a chicane bale, but fought back to clinch the class by 5 seconds! Third placed Michael Glendinning just shook his head in disbelief at the pace these two were setting – but wasn’t that far off the pace himself. Earlier he said he was needing ‘L’ plates after being off twice backwards, once each in the first two stages Another Class 8 front runner who failed to make an impact was Bruce Edwards when the Darrian overheated on the first two and he later had to pull out before the engine was ruined. Ian Forgan thought the aquaplaning in SS3 and 4 was bad enough, but when the windscreen started misting up that was much worse. He also lost 3rd and 4th gears in SS5 and 6 but finished. Paul Daniel had an eventful day too: “Banner warned me about the hairpin at Abbey St Bathans – and I still spun and stalled it”, then added : ”I’m glad this is a bank Holiday weekend, there’s a garden I’ll need to go back and fix in SS6 on Monday!” A weird incident then befell him on the final stage when the driver’s door window blew out and disappeared like a Frisbee - only it didn’t come back. Nick Woodman broke his prop shaft on Saturday and it severely damaged the underside of the Escort which meant an all-nighter to get the damage repaired for Sunday. Things fell silent in Colin Hay’s Escort on S22 when Arlene was ill, an unusual occurrence so put it down to Colin’s driving! He also had a huge spin on SS4 and bent the steering. The most eventful outing must have been the third generation O’Donnell appearance. Steven was off in SS1 and crawled through SS2 with bent steering, plus wing and rear quarter damage, and needed a tyre. But the poor lad was distraught at losing his chrome door mirror! He clipped a telegraph pole in SS4 but it only knocked him back on line, then hit a post and bent the steering again on the final stage - but he finished, so that’s one for the O’Donnell family scrapbook! I’ll bet that pleased Paw and Gramps! Class 9 Having broken his Escort the previous day on the National, Martin Elsdon went home and got his ‘spare’ Escort out and won Class 9. He bent the steering on SS3 and bent a rear link on SS4: “Every corner’s a moment, we’re up and down bankings everywhere – it’s brilliant,” he said. Alan Gardiner was second first time out in his ‘new’ Mark 1 but had braking trouble over the first two till he got it sorted out – call it work in progress. He then had to change the alternator after SS4, and just to christen the new car properly, he clipped a lamp post and crinkled the rear quarter. Mike Horne was in the hunt till the 5th stage when he pulled up with mechanical trouble but had earlier encountered Kevin Ross who had spun off, but was courteous enough to let him past, so that was good of Kevin. He also had a problem with the wipers lifting off the windscreen at high speed and couldn’t see in the rain. As for Alan Hughes, he was having a whale of a time – till the third stage. It was his first time here and the first time that the Escort’s been out in nearly 10years but the oil pressure disappeared. Class 10 Although Jock Armstrong took the Hankook Group N award, Dale Robertson won Class 10, while John Morrison found it so slippy in SS2 he thought he had a ‘toilet break’ in the middle of it! He spun in SS4 when he nipped the h/brake on too much, spun again in SS6 and then let the following car through, which then promptly spun in front of Morrison. Stephen Lockhart spun in SS1 and overshot in SS2, then went grass cutting in SS6 while Derek Campbell was constantly speechless so full of enjoyment was he on his first ever rally and what a baptism!: “I dropped it in SS4 but OK,” he said. Stuart Walker had a major woopsie on SS2 just missing a telegraph pole, but sending the marshals scattering for cover, then punctured in SS4 at which point Caroline burned her finger trying to pull a branch out of the wheel. To top it all off the front diff failed in SS6 but they finished. Donnie MacDonald was all wide-eyed and disbelieving after SS4: “I can’t believe it. I was off backwards at 80 mph and got away with it. I didn’t hit anything.” Although he did exit the stage with the exhaust trailing on the ground. Nigel Feeney survived a hard and awkward landing over a bridge in SS7 and “bent something” but kept going, although the impact did knock the ash off his fag! David Welsh survived too when he was off in SS3 and then sailed through the tape like a marathon winner in SS4. Class 11 Jim Carty won Class 11 despite a ‘wee spin’ in SS2, and damaged the front corner when he had to take to the banking to get past a slowing Hyundai. The clutch was slipping too over final two tests but held out till the finish. Kevin Ross failed to finish but had an eventful run anyway. He was off backwards at 70 mph in the rain but got away with it in SS2, but damaged the steering and lost the front air dam in SS4. The sumpguard broke in SS5 and a brake calliper came off in SS6. Richard Cook had a “wee spin on SS2” and another on SS4, this time he was off the road but landed back on it looking like he meant it and Simon Bowen smacked the front end when he sailed over a brow and the back end stepped out. Class 12 Wayne Sisson got Class 12, Ian Campbell had 3 spins in SS1, David Hughes had 3 punctures in the first 4 stages, and Barry Renwick was having his first run out in the Hyundai WRC but retired in SS4 with low diff pressure. David Hardie got a fright on Sunday morning when he started the Subaru and it dumped its sump contents on the ground. He reckoned the oil filter bowl had slackened off on Saturday and when he fired it up on Sunday morning it dumped all its oil. Once tightened and refilled all was OK, and he finished 11th overall. Jimmy Christie spun and stalled in SS1 and had a straight-on in SS2, but on the return visit to SS2 as SS4 he decided to vary it a bit and spun off at the same place but backwards this time, then put it off for good through a hedge in SS5. Chris Singer caught a car in SS2 and then had an overshoot, spun off in S4 and couldn’t get reverse, so more time lost. He was off again in SS6 and damaged the intercooler, then the turbo actuator rod bent and he was losing power over the final two but finished. Billy McClelland had his customary ‘kissing of the bankings’ on the first two stages and had a wee off in SS3 with cold brakes, but disappeared for good when he parked the Lancer on top of a banking. Lee Hastings got a puncture in SS2 but was carrying no spare on board, and finally managed to borrow a wheel from Stuart Bailie to reach service, and later had a near miss through the Flying Finish at SS3 where he had to use both sides of the road plus a little bit more just to get it stopped. Fred Davidson was delayed in SS2 when Chris Collie rolled right in front of him and had to stop but Chris and Roy Kemp were OK. Stuart Baillie had his first run out in Graham Clark’s car after his own ‘Phoenix’ repair job failed to arise in time. He had no brakes in SS1, caught and passed a car in SS3, and was losing turbo boost in 5 and 6 but finished. More to the point, he beat arch-rival Colin Gemmell who had gone gardening at a 90R. Luckily the lady of the house had left the gate open but he was right at the house before he got it stopped – and the lady just waved at him! Tommy MacKay was off backwards on SS1 and losing turbo boost. He caught and passed a car in SS3 and then put it up a banking, but got off it OK. Billy Cowe was on the verge of quitting all day but perseverance paid off with a finish. He caught a car in SS4 but damaged his suspension on the verge getting past, then he had to disconnect the rear diff and the engine lapsed on to 3 cylinders coming through SS6, but he made it home. A wide eyed Graham Roberts reckoned he had the biggest off of his life in SS6, when he went off backwards at 80 mph - and got away with it. Spectators pushed him out and de-bunged the exhaust pipe hole. All the way from Devon (that’s near France by the way) he reckoned the JC was well worth the trip. Roland Wessel retired the Lancia after the first stage with gearbox trouble. Ross Fernie got a ‘Flat over crest’ call, and it wasn’t. It went 90R and he didn’t, ending up in a field, but no damage. Jonathan Smith was in the Subaru for the second time, but was troubled by lack of brakes and a slipping clutch. Then two corners from the end of SS5 he cowped it. But one man will go home dreading a fearful slagging from club mates and ‘friends’. Richard Stewart put the Subaru on its ear - on a road section! It was just one of those silly wee accidents where the inside wheels caught a steep banking and it just flipped gently over on to its nut. No doubt the tale will gather its own momentum in the retelling. **** |