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Jaggy Bunnet's Rally Report - Monday 05 September 2011 Protune Remapping Merrick Stages, Saturday 3rd September Faulkner’s Fighting Finishing Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy had to fight hard for their Protune Remapping Merrick Stages victory last Saturday. There was no David Bogie or Jock Armstrong, but Faulkner had to fend off the fast and furious attentions of the likes of Euan Thorburn, Robbie Head, Jonny Greer and Wayne Sisson, and they all had their dramas along the way. In fact, there little to choose between any of them until the fickle finger of fate poked its way into the mix. SS1, Craignell – 8.89 mls, wet, but grip available. The rally started badly for Thorburn: “The turbo pipe came off in the first stage,” he said,” so that was that!” Well not quite. Having dropped to 37th place overall, Thorburn got his head down to begin the fightback to the front. Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy therefore set the marker for the day’s opening test (8m 31s) from Jonny Greer/Dai Roberts (8m 43s) with Robbie Head/Claire Mole on 8m 48s. “I caught Euan about one and a half miles from the end of the stage,” said Robbie, “but he saw me coming and pulled over so I didn’t really lose much, but it was a distraction.” Wayne Sisson/David MacFadyen (8m 52s) were next up from Stephen and Kevin Lockhart who shared 8m 53s with Chris Collie/Lisa Watson, and ahead of Dougal Brown/Lewis Rochford on 9m 04s. And even though he wasn’t amongst the fastest times, Jim Carty was smiling, because he had survived despite an aborted attempt to take a bridge sideways: “It was either hit the bridge sideways and fall off, or miss it and go straight on. We went straight on then just reversed out!” SS2, Jenny’s Hill – 4.33 mls, wet, with a slippery sandy/shale surface in places. Mindful of his costly mistake on the Speyside, Mike Faulkner was in determined mood, but 3 miles into the second stage: “We were keeping it neat and tidy and everything was going well till a downhill 7-Left,” said Faulkner, “it was muddy, wet and narrow and we just slipped off the road.” He smacked the driver’s side pretty hard and Peter had to take one of his shoelaces off to tie the driver’s door shut! It was only panel damage, but Robbie Head was now on his tail just 8 seconds behind. Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton therefore set the fastest time (4m 34s) by a single second from Head (4m 35s), and Jonny Greer adapting to his heavier and longer Mitsubishi Lancer after months in the Fabia S2000, third quickest on (4m 42s). “I haven’t been on gravel since the Pirelli,” said Greer, “and although it would have been nice to use the Fabia, it was still getting some work done on it, so I had to use the ‘old girl’ here for this one.” Sadly for the ‘old girl’, she smacked her rump on one of the notorious Glentrool crests and damaged the rear suspension, but Greer’s team were quickly on the case. Faulkner salvaged fourth fastest (4m 44s) despite his mishap, but springing a bit of a surprise in Galloway was Chris Collie, fifth quickest (4m 46s) and making folk wonder if he had soaked his breakfast Weetabix in Irn Bru and stirred it with a Mars bar. Wayne Sisson was sixth quickest (4m 47s) but the Lancer was showing signs of overheating. Sadly, the promising Stephen Lockhart was out: “500 yards from the end of the stage, the engine died,” said Stephen, “a fuel pipe fracture and all the fuel had drained out. It must have been a stone but had we just got over the crest of the fill we might have coasted through the finish and kept going.” No such luck! SS3, Glentrool East – 5.54 mls, damp. With a sniff of possible victory in the air, Head pressed on, setting fastest time on the third stage by two seconds from Thorburn, but more importantly, taking five out of Faulkner. It was Head’s first fastest stage time of the day (5m 30s) from Thorburn (5m 32s) and Greer (5m 34s) with Faulkner (5m 35s) just feeling his way again after his bump. But Thorburn was looking worried again: “The diff pump is not working. Air is getting in and we can’t find the leak,” he said, “it’s making the handling ‘interesting’ to say the least.” Sisson was still there (5m 40s) and so too was Collie (5m 42s). SS4, Glentrool West – 8.22 mls, damp. It was Thorburn again (7m 52s) on the fourth test by two seconds from Faulkner (7m 54s) who was four up on Head (7m 58s) with Greer still hanging in there on 8m 00s. Sisson was now having to switch the anti-lag off to try and stop the Lancer overheating: “I think the head gasket is either going or gone,” said Wayne, “we’re losing water and the temperature is rising all the time.” Still his 8m 11s time kept him fifth quickest ahead of Donnie MacDonald/Keir Beaton and Andrew Gallacher/Phil Sandham and Mark McCulloch/Craig Wallace who all tied on 8m 21s. SS5, Glentrool South – 4.41 mls, damp. Things couldn’t have been much closer in the fifth test where Faulkner and Head tied on fastest time (4m 05s) with Thorburn (4m 06s) just one second behind the pair of them and closing fast on third placed Greer who dropped a bit of time in here with a puncture (4m 24s) and fourth placed Wayne Sisson (4m 10s) ahead of Mark McCulloch (4m 15s). There was another queue for sixth fastest which comprised Collie and Gallacher and this time joined by David Newall/Peter McLean on 4m 16s. This was Newall’s first appearance in the top six fastest times: “I just keep making silly mistakes,” said David, “I’m trying too hard and over shooting or sliding too much. I’ve got to beat Andrew Gallacher for DMack Group N points and he’s going well today.” Meanwhile Gallacher was busy fixing his petrol tank: “We ran over someone’s exhaust in there and we think it holed the tank, but we just drilled it out and put a bolt in it, and it seems OK.” Donnie MacDonald’s rapid run came to an abrupt end in here when he crested one of the notorious Glentrool crests just a shade too quick, missed the approaching bend completely and buried the Lancer in the undergrowth. There was little damage. But they were stuck fast. Ian Paterson was luckier. He got a puncture 3 miles from the end but was able to drive out without stopping. SS6, Black Loch – 12.35 mls, drying out. Faulkner was credited with the fastest time (11m 16s) through the longest stage of the day, and admittedly it looked a bit suspect on the time sheets, but that all became academic later. Thorburn rounded off his day with 11m 55s from Head (12m 02s) and Sisson (12m 20s). Gallacher’s impressive turn of pace continued, sharing 12m 41s with the 4WD Peugeot 206 of Liam and Francis Regan 12m 41s, while Jim Carty/Ian Fraser scored 12m 42s. David Newall was lucky. He finished but he had slid off the stage: “And then just banged it into reverse in a hurry to get it out. It broke the gear and there’s bits rattling around inside the ‘box. Luckily we finished.” Collie was lucky too. He punctured a front tyre, but kept going and finished the test with no tyre and no wing! John McClory was another to finish with a puncture. Shortly after that, things came to a premature close when the Lancer of Dougal Brown and Lewis Rochford went off on the outside of a downhill left hander. According to Lewis: “The car started sliding on the bend but the head gasket was blowing so when Dougal went for the power to pull himself round there was nothing there. We fell over the edge, out of sight of the road. A couple of cars had passed by the time I got up, but I flagged down Mark McCulloch and the stage was stopped.” When the rescue services arrived on the scene a helicopter was called and Dougal was taken to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, but fortunately, the prognosis was much better than it looked at the time, and in fact, Dougal was released on Monday albeit with his arm in a sling, but he still hasn’t told me whether it was his supping arm or the other one! Everyone after that was given a Notional Time, some benefitted and some didn’t, but that’s the way of rallying, safety comes first. Prior to the stage Greer had been on course to finish third, but: “I spun in there,” he grinned, “and the engine was too hot to fire up quickly. It cost me third place.” And yet again we had a tie for position with Thorburn and Sisson equal third on times. Sisson got the final podium place due to his faster time on the first stage when Thorburn’s turbo pipe blew. In fifth place and scoring his best result on a Scottish Championship event was the fast improving Andrew Gallacher: “I had to beat David Newall today to get the DMack Group N points,” said Gallacher, “but a burst exhaust on the fourth stage had me worried till I got to service.” Equally committed was Chris Collie in sixth place and evidence of his commitment was apparent at final service where the service crew was pulling turf out of the wheel spokes and wheel arches. “I had a couple of wee offs,” explained Collie, “but notice, it’s all on the co-driver’s side!” Greer’s last minute drama dropped him to seventh just in front of Liam Regan with Jim Carty ninth, while rounding off the top ten was Mark McCulloch. Just missing out on the top ten was the top 2WD runners Peter Taylor and Andrew Roughead in the Renault Clio. They were actually on course for a top six finish till the Notional Times were applied. The accident put a dampener on Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy’s celebrations, but everyone cheered up a bit later on when better news was received from the Hospital. Results: **** Full Results: www.FlyingFinish.co.uk |