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The World According to Jaggy - July 01, 2011 The Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally on the 1st of October is a new addition to the Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship, so what lies ahead for those who have never dared venture north of Hadrian’s Wall? JB was asked to write something for the Championship's Newsletter: Following In The Footsteps Of Heroes And In The Wheeltracks Of Legends Colin McRae not only supported Coltness Car Club’s rally in name, but in deed and in thought. When approached at the start to help the club get the rally off the ground, his first question was: “How much do you need?” He also promised to help as much as he could once the event was up and running and endeavoured to be there to run Course Car duties when WRC commitments allowed. In fact he only missed one event during those hectic early years. When the event moved away from its original Lanark base to Perth he was entirely supportive, especially when he heard which stages were to be used. Of all the stages in all the world, both Drummond Hill and Errochty held a special place in his heart, and Craigvinean too. Indeed Craigvinean was the scene of an epic spectacle way back in 1990. Colin had joined the Rothmans Subaru Team that year, but found time to compete on the penultimate round of the Esso Scottish Rally Championship, the Chesterton Hackle Rally. It was so wet that year that the rally lost one of its stages due to water rushing off the hill-sides and washing roads away. Other roads were under threat too, but six stages survived and McRae was fastest over four of them. No surprise there you might think, but he had a slight disadvantage. He was driving his ‘Uncle Shooey’s’ MkII Ford Escort. Forget turrets and BDAs, this thing had cart springs and a Pinto. And somehow, he had persuaded Robert Reid to co-drive. Anyway, Jimmy Girvan and Campbell Roy actually set the fastest time on the opening stage in their 4WD Toyota Celica GT4 that day, by ONE second. Thereafter Jimmy’s eyebrows got higher and higher each time he looked at the Time Sheets. This cheeky little MkII then took 20 seconds out of his Celica on Drummond Hill, 2 seconds more on the third stage and another 8 on the fourth before arriving at the start of a streaming wet Craigvinean. Watching that wee car in those dreadful conditions on that wild and wet autumnal day seared the eyeballs of anyone who was there. It was worth a drooking (drenching) just to be there. He took another 7 seconds out of the Toyota before Robert finally persuaded him to slacken off on the final stage to ensure a finish. They finished 32 seconds ahead of Girvan and a whole gaggle more of four wheel drive cars. So any time anyone mentions Craigvinean Forest I think of one man in one car. One of the first men to sign up for the Colin McRae memorial rally staged in Perthshire in 2008 was Ari Vatanen who also rates the Perthshire stages highly. Indeed I was there in 1975 when a tall, skinny, blond, blue-eyed, Scandinavian who was strikingly good looking (so I was told) turned up at the RSAC Scottish Rally in an Opel Ascona which looked as though it had been in a fight – and lost! The month was June, and the weather was snowing. In fact, over the top of Drummond Hill a blizzard was blowing eagles off their eyries and hurling spectators off their perches, and as I clung there to my favourite rock I could hear the mechanical clatter of valve bounce echoing through the windy gusts. Vatanen had already made his mark on Scotland. He was lying fifth overall at the Dumfries overnight halt, but the floor of his poor wee Ascona already looked like a giant cheese grater after a run through Ae. Not only was it letting in stoor, stones and water it was threatening to separate the front half of the car from the back. He was also having overheating problems and booked into overnight Parc Ferme with no head gasket which meant a spurt of feverish activity on the first road section the following morning. And yet, there he was with an equally bedraggled David Richards on the maps coming through the 26th stage at Drummond Hill. He was on full opposite lock and on full bump stops everywhere, but what you got was a fluidity of constant motion that was breathtaking to behold. I thought then that guy was something special. He finished 8th overall in a car which I didn’t reckon would finish a 12 car navigational! These stages conjure up so many more memories too. Hannu Mikkola’s first Scottish Rally win in 1972 in an RS1600, Pentti Airikkala’s first Scottish win in a Chevette 2300HS in ’78 and the inimitable Timo Makinen whom I took to a White Horse Whisky distillery (as part of my 'day' job) after the Scottish in 1976 – but that’s another story! And through these same forests I have witnessed the sheer talent, dexterity, finesse and speed of countless other heroes including Jim and Alister McRae, Roger Clark and Tony Pond, Russell Brookes and Malcolm Wilson, and another personal favourite, Drew Gallacher. So a visit to the 2011 Colin McRae Forest Stages should not be regarded as just another rally. Think of it as a pilgrimage, following in the footsteps of heroes and in the wheeltracks of legends, to a land where rallying and forests go together like Clark and Porter, Vatanen and Richards, or Wilson and Harryman. A land where reputations are ripened – or ruined. **** |