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Speyside 2010
Andy Horne (pictured) was fastest on the first short stage in Cooper park, and equal fastest with David Wilson on the second run.
Then the rally went into the forests, David Bogie finished his weetabix and was fastest on the next five stages. Horne entered Clashindarroch, the penultimate stage, trailing Bogie by 23 seconds, but crashed out (or maybe retired mechanical, reports differ), allowing Bogie to relax a little.
Mike Faulkner was quickest on the final stage in Whiteash, but David Bogie/Kevin Rae made it three Speysides in a row, winning by 50 seconds from Jock Armstrong/Kirsty Riddick.
Finished 10th overall
This Rally always gave out good vibes, voted best in the Scottish Championship.
Great organisation and attention to detail by Clerk of the Course Neil Shanks (a Rally Navigator of
course) starts with a blast round the local Cooper Park (tarmac) just to settle us in, then off to the
forests of Speyside which are always fast and flowing.
Stages 1 and 2 may have been dominated by the Metro of Andy Horne, but our claim to fame was to
match David Bogie''s times and despite 9th equal stage times we were 20th overall.
Stage 3 Tauchers Wood was a slippy sandy chug for less than 3 miles, but it flowed and ma driver
was enthused……
Stage 4 Long Bank was a bit of Clashindarroch Forest, and over 7 miles of the same slightly heavy
going, and we were catching the Mk2 Escort in front. These unorthodox Scandanavian flicks we were
trying (we refer to them as Belgian flicks) may be making a difference!! Going into first main service
for a wheel wash and a coffee we were lying 24th overall.
Stage 5 Balloch should’ve been an 8 miler, but car 25 Wullie Henderson went off and hit a tree
and knocked himself out so the stage was stopped with us on the countdown…… I heard he and his
navigator are OK, though the stage was cancelled. We led the convoy on a shortcut through the woods
only to arrive at a gate and nae bleepin key. Fortunately, we’d half a tool kit in the boot, so wi a pair o
vice grips and some sticky black plastic I broke out and hued a couple o’ claes pegs in case of our next
emergency.
Stage 6 Gartly Moor was a long road run as a result for little competing mileage. Only 5 miles of
rougher but flowing stages showed we were a bit slower with no ditches visited, but we were still
luvvin it with no issues for the service crew other than relieving their boredom.
Stage 7 was 14 and a bit miles of Clashindarroch for real. The stage condition was amazing
considering some of SS4 was being used. We were goin like the Bells o’ Hell and caught the Escort
in front of us this time. The die hard forest rally regulars will probably know most of that stage off by
heart, and though we were 44 seconds behind David Bogie, we were a satisfying 19th fastest for the
stage and now lying 18th overall – wijye believe it.
Progress!!
Stage 8 was an absolute fleeeeeeee. We must have been a bit "chicken" with it being the last
stage n all - we’d love to do that one again now we can believe the notes at 100mph indicating long
straights wi kinks with not so many tight bits. We were too close to the gate posts at the 90 right near
the end of the stage, but more importantly Reay McKay in his WRC Scooby leap frogged us into 18th
place overall leaving us within our top twenty target at 19th ………..and only 20 seconds away from
16th !!!!
A finish, and in one piece. Of the 114 cars started, 90 finished. That’s a healthy percentage!
An encouraging result for us after our lacklustre season so far, and after a car wash we’ll be ready for
the Merrick .
JR
Had climbed to 22nd by the end of SS7 Clashindarroch, but went off in the last stage. Game over, please insert £400 coin.
An update from Scott:
Hi Lock
No we didnt crash, We had a moment where we ran off the road into a ditch but we got back out and kept going. But the gear box decided it didnt want to go anymore and started sound like a wheelie bin rolling down a hill full of glass. Then the car grounded to a halt, with no gears apart from reverse.
I didnt think the organizers would of been to happy with me finishing the rally backward, specially when I was having a hard enough job doing it forwards haha. It was a good day tho and brilliant stages.
Cheers
Scott
Started 58th, finished 58th and 5th in class 8.
That makes two events in a row they have finished on their start number - is there a award at the end of the season, or something?
Did not start.
50th overall, 3rd in class 4.
Gleaner oil and gas Speyside stages - First SRC podium for cmr!
Whilst it was show time as normal for Scottish Rally Champion David Bogie who claimed another victory, it was all change in class four. With the higher powered civic challenge cars having problems throughout the day the door was wide open to clinch valuable championship points. Lachlan and Stuart pushed on despite an intermittent alternator problem, lack of power and an increasingly crunchy gearbox! The first two stages were short blasts in Cooper park in the centre of Elgin attracting a healthy crowd which witnessed Lachlan and Stuart post two fastest class times on their prefered surface. The rally really started in the forests around Elgin in which the team tried a new set up and techniques which didn''t work. Setting poor stage times we reverted back to the old set up and set out to make up time. Despite the car problems we posted consistent times and were rewarded with a third in class and celebrated our first ever SRC podium!
Full report
Cooper park hosted stage one and two. At 0.7 of mile each time this is a venue at which the rally cannot be won but can very easily be lost, as one crew who hit a bench and retired found out! We posted two solid times in front of a strong crowd putting us first in class four.
A quick ten minute service allowed us to change tyres but was not enough time to investigate the alternator warning light and lack of power. We set off to stage three with a different gravel set up than normal and a new approach to my driving techniques.
Stage three was wet and very slippery, the new set up was not working in these conditions! As a result of attending a Hankook training day changing gear earlier was something I was trying out to see if it would improve my times.
We moved on to stage four which had a different surface and slightly more grip on offer but the stage time was nowhere near the class leaders and it was back to service to reset the car and my driving style.
Stage five was cancelled and as always we were concerned for the crew involved but we later learned they were ok after being cut out of the car.
Arriving at SS6, Gartley Moor, we were concerned we had lowered the car too much after driving through some of stage five which was very rough but found stage six a lot smoother. Changing back to our old set up we posted forth fastest in class but now revving the car harder I was really noticing a lack of power which I had been concerned about in stage one. The gearbox was becoming crunchy but there was nothing we could do about this, so I had to take my time changing gear in the interest of finishing.
The 14 mile stage seven was the longest stage by far and we stopped the clocks forth fastest in class again. We managed to settle into a good rhythm but the lack in power was apparent when pulling out of corners, we had managed a clean run this far and decided to just relax realising there was nothing we could do about the problems at this late stage of the event.
Stage eight was a shorter blast and let me see just how fast we could throw the car into the corners trying to make up for a lack in power. Crossing the finish line we had no idea we were third in class and headed off to the trailer park to head home.
Arriving back in Elgin we received a few congratulatory texts for our third in class which was a present surprise after what felt like a rather subdued day. (Not even anything for my dad to do in service which bewildered him!)
With two rallies next month we hope to find our missing horse power and collect some solid points for the championship in our first season on gravel after our season just picked up!
Next event:
Hankook Merrick Stages, Saturday 4th September
Regards, Lachlan Cowan CMR Rallying Web:
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