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Jaggy Bunnet's Rally Report - Tuesday 04 October 2011 Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, Saturday 1st October 2011 The Classes Class 2 Stephen Brown won Class 2 in his Nissan Micra from the Skoda Estelle of Colin Grant who had to do some welding ahead of the rally before the Scrutineers would allow him to start! Alex Pirie had been leading the class till the third test when the Corsa slid off the road. He was lucky to get back out, but the 7 minute time loss dropped him to third place. Not so lucky was Jim Aitken who put the MG off in Drummond Hill – and stayed off! David Cameron got as far as Craigvinean but succumbed to the slippery conditions and the 205 plunged off the road. Class 3 Proving what a well driven small capacity car can achieve in slippery conditions Class 3 winner Iain Haining finished 18th overall in his Nova over a minute clear of a down-on-form Tom Hynd: “I’ve been suffering terribly all week, “said the 205 driver, “I’ve got man-flu!” Sean Robson was third in his Peugeot by 12 seconds from the similar car of Donald Peacock. Scott Mclean took fifth in his 205 ahead of the McCulloch twins in the Nova. They were a bit off the pace after a puncture on the first stage and two damaged rims and thereafter spent the day effecting running repairs on the exhaust. Scott Erskine’s 205 was another Drummond Hill casualty when it skidded off the road, Jordan Black’s 205 retired with watery electrics and Ally Galbraith cowped his 205 in the now notorious Drummond Hill. Class 4 Class 4 winner John Boyd was hoping for better than 14th overall in his Fiesta: “We got a wrong time at the end of the previous stage,” he said, “but the time stood.” Alasdair Graham fought back to second in class after the Corsa slid off the road into a ditch on the first stage. Thereafter he had terrible problems with the brakes as the mud kept packing up in his wheels and jamming the brake callipers. Malcolm Robertson was third in the Sunbeam after a series of problems including a failed starter motor, a bad misfire in the wet conditions and failing brakes by the finish. Charlie Munro was 4th in the MkII and Willie ‘Bones’ Lawrie was fifth in the Colt but was experiencing severe misting up problems. This led to two huge ‘moments’ during one of which Michelle Falconer ‘assumed the brace position’, but got away with it and missed everything. Phil Jobson was sixth in class but spent the day looking through what looked like a steamed up bathroom window. Grant Inglis was 7th and lucky to get that. “On the first stage, just a mile and a half in, we encountered another car stuck in the road and just couldn’t stop. The road was so muddy that we just slithered into the back of it.” At least damage was minimal and he carried on. Graeme Smith was leading the class before he put his Honda off the road and Graeme Schoneville was in contention too till he smacked the Honda’s nose on a tree. James Robertson suffered an uncharacteristic non-finish in the wee Citroen when a driveshaft broke and I think Gareth White’s similar car suffered a similar fate. Whatever, they both non-finished. Kenny Hall in the Ford Puma retired with engine problems and Rob Ashwell’s Citroen broke its clutch. Class 5 Robert Paterson was a solitary finisher in Class 5 when Kenneth McRae rolled his Peugeot 309 in Craigvinean. Class 6 The hugely experienced Steve Bannister won Class 6 in his Historic spec Escort MkII from the ‘more modern’ MkII of Robert Adamson who had: “Never seen or driven in conditions like this before!” David Killin’s Kadett was third. Class 7 Stuart Macleod won Class 7 in his Peugeot 309 GTI when Scott Murray’s Honda first went on fire, then poked a branch through its radiator. The fire wasn’t bad, something hot had merely set the plastic bits and paint underneath alight so it was quickly spotted but then somehow he collected a branch through the radiator - and he claims he was never off the road. Class 8 Top 2WD, fourth overall and a Class 8 win was well earned for a delighted Malcolm Buchanan: “And all I’ve got to show for it is a dented rear wing,” said Buchanan. He was lucky though. He just clipped the logs at Junction 8 which had already caused a few cars to roll. Equally impressive was young Liam Harkness’ 11th overall in his own MkII and clinching the Scottish Juniors Championship in the process. Gordon Main was third in his MkI from Quinton Milne who lost any chance of the class win on the first stage when he punctured a tyre and damaged a brake calliper. Thereafter Quintin set about the stages purely to entertain the crowds, and according to those I spoke to, it brightened up an otherwise dreich day. Sadly Joe Price failed to finish. He was going exceptionally well and setting top 2WD times on his first visit to this neck of the woods but water in the electrics stopped play. Bruce Oag’s Escort slid off the road, Ian Forgan’s threw a fan belt and Andrew Ritchie was spotted parked up mid-Craigvinean. Class 9 Mike Horne scored the Class 9 win in his MkII from Charlie Jarrett who hit a stone and bent a rim but was lucky to escape without a puncture. Charlie was also worried about his gearbox. At the previous day’s test session he didn’t have any gears. A cleavis pin had broken and all the bits were lying in the bottom of the box necessitating a retrieval and rebuild job overnight. Ken Wood was third in the Dolomite while Matthew Robinson put his Escort off the road in the last stage. Bernie Rooney didn’t get far with the BMW. A radiator hose burst in the first stage and cooked the engine. Class 10 Class 10 was decimated allowing Shaun Sinclair an easier time than his chase for the rally lead. Mind you, the term ‘easier time’ is relative. At the end of Drummond Hill when he set the fastest time Shaun exclaimed: “You have to have large testicles to cope with the likes of that!” Robbie Head was out after two stages, Donnie MacDonald slid off the road and Andrew Gallacher broke his gearbox although his Championship Group N rival David Newall lost out too when he broke a driveshaft allowing Gallacher to re-claim the title just when he thought he’d lost it! Class 11 Calum MacLeod was a solitary runner in Class 11, but his S2000 MG sounded the business cutting through the murk of rain and mist shrouded stages. Class 12 Euan Thorburn claimed the Class 12 victory from year-long rival Mike Faulkner and third placed John Lloyd. Bruce McCombie and Gordon Murray both failed to finish and Raymond Kennedy put his Lancer off the road in Drummond Hill. But spare a thought for Metro 6R4 runner Sandy Arbuthnott. After an overnight struggle to reach the rally, he was Scrutineered and ready to go first thing on Saturday. Then on the run from the Service Park to the Start Line in Aberfeldy a cam belt broke just as he crossed Wade’s Bridge! Class Winners: **** Full Results: www.FlyingFinish.co.uk |