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Jaggy Bunnet's Rally Report - Tuesday 06 September 2011 Protune Remapping Merrick Stages, Saturday 3rd September The Classes: Class 2 With a new bottom end in his Nova after its blow-up on the Speyside, Alex Pirie took the honours in Class 2 from the Nova of Craig Smith, despite the gearstick coming out in Smith’s hand in SS2, while Jim Aitken was third first time out in his newly acquired MG ZR. Mark McCleary in the Nova and David Coleman in the Skoda didn’t make it out of the first stage. Class 3 Iain Haining won Class 3 in his Nova which still features his ‘temporary’ gearbox repairs from three events ago as he still hasn’t found a new gearbox for the long suffering Nova. Blair McCulloch survived a scare when a front wheel bounded off into the shrubbery at the end of the second stage and they only reached service by fitting wheels studs from the other three Nova wheels to the spare! Apparently one of the spacers had broken so they replaced it and fitted new studs. Sean Robson was third but looked as cheerful as a kicked puppy. “The misfire’s back, it won’t pull over 5000 rpm, the coil’s knackered and the throttle pedal was sticking,” he said. Sorry I asked. Donald Peacock was an untroubled fourth ahead of Tom Hynd who was hampered by a dead intercom (which seems to be happening quite a bit of late, but then it’s the wife on the other end. Methinks it could be just an excuse!) but he also had a puncture at the start of SS4 and that cost him a chunk of time. Nick Thorne started quickly but seemed to lose concentration as the event wore on and finished sixth in class, but fourth Peugeot 205. Graeme Sherry didn’t finish, this time the engine let him down in the first stage. Class 4 Six seconds separated the winning Ford Fiesta of John Boyd from the Honda Civic of Graeme Schoneville in Class 4, but Alasdair Graham dropped out of the chase when a wheel came off the Nova. Regular front runner, Malcolm Robertson was fourth having lost time in the first two stages with a bad misfire which was traced to a kink in the fuel pipe, so that was easily fixed. Gareth White had a good run into fifth in the wee Citroen with Jim Robertson’s wee Citroen right on his tail. Gary MacLeod was 10th in class but the mud on Will Rogers’ ovies gave the game away: “We went off in SS4, and I had to get out and push.” But then that’s what co-drivers are for is it not? Graeme Smith finished even further back: “We went off in SS5 and took a maximum.” Class 5 Alan McMorran took Class 5 in his Peugeot from the Escort of David Cameron. Class 6 Andy Kelly scored something of a surprise win in the Historic Class first time out in his Escort MkI. Given the smiles at the finish, Andy would have been pleased to just to be there, never mind get a result, he was so full of the joys of Historic rallying. Steve Bannister had been leading but punctured a tyre in the final stage finishing just ahead of David Killin in the Kadett and George Bryson in the other MkI who was still shaking from a ‘huge’ moment in the final stage. Class 7 Peter Taylor took the top 2WD award in his Clio and was on course for a high top ten finish, maybe even top six, before the incident on the final stage (and the Notional Time) and had to content himself with the Class 7 win ahead of Sam Heath in the Civic Type R. Class 8 Quintin Milne took Class 8 in his Escort MkII from the similar car of Liam Harkness with Kenny Moore’s outrageous ‘red-top’ engined Hillman Avenger in third place. Malcolm Buchanan finished a lowly fourth: “We had a puncture in SS2 but drove out on it and we also had a fuel problem to sort out, but then in SS4 we had to stop in the stage to change a another puncture.” He didn’t actually swear but he came close. Class 9 Michael Horne won Class 9 in his Escort MkII from the V6 engined Dolomite Sprint of Ken Wood, but the Sprint was suffering from trouble with its front suspension struts. As ever, the bold Woody had a cure. The struts were bending, so Ken was giving them a half turn every time he stopped so that they would bend back the way, thus staying straight. At least that was the theory. Kieron O’Kane was third in class and somewhat relieved to finish. The CWP in the Ascona was knackered and noisy and he had already had a puncture in the first stage. Class 10 Andrew Gallacher won Class 10 despite his troubles (see main report) from John McClory who punctured on the last stage and John Morrison with these two tying for second place, but McClory getting it on the first stage time. This was nearly a repeat performance of the Speyside where they finished one second apart! David Newall was fourth and Fraser Wilson fifth. Class 11 Jim Carty was a lonely finisher in Class 11, but he nearly beat himself on the very first stage of the day when he had to evasive action up a firebreak to avoid an angry bridge! Class 12 Mike Faulkner added the Class 12 pot to his Merrick winner’s trophy with Robbie Head second in class ahead of Wayne Sisson and Euan Thorburn. Calum MacLeod was pretty pleased with tenth in class but reckoned there was a lot more to come from his new MG S2000 while both Paterson brothers, Ian and Stuart., had punctures during the day. Matthew Calderwood retired on the first stage when he “pit it aff” and Colin Gemmell got stuck in SS2 with electrical failure and Lee Hastings retired in the same stage. Ecosse Challenge Sean Robson had to overcome numerous niggly problems to win the 205 Ecosse Challenge from Donald Peacock and Tom Hynd who punctured a tyre on the fourth test. Jordan Black retired with a broken driveshaft and Graeme Sherry broke his engine. Graeme Schoneville scored maximum points in the Honda Civic Challenge from Duncan Campbell and Gary MacLeod who was third after a wee ‘off’ in SS4. **** Full Results: www.FlyingFinish.co.uk |