By Barry Lindsay

Dunfermline CC organised the fourth round on the North of England tarmac championship on the old Ingliston Racetrack now the Highland show ground. A damp morning welcomed five Spadeadam crews to the event. The first stage still damp but with drizzle I opted for Intermediates on the rear and slicks on the front knowing the abrasiveness of the track it would eat front tyres. 11th fastest was a steady setoff with 8m 36. Barrie Thomson & Jerry Hettrick running intermediates got 8m 55, just 2 seconds behind was the Slick shod Corsa of Geoffrey Harkness & Caroline Lodge with 8m 57 and they had passed on stage the 206 of Nigel Hepburn & Fiona Gourlay who got 9m46. Richard Clark & James McWhir in the 205 getting 9m 45.

Stage 2 was a repeat and the weather wasn’t drying up. We pushed a bit more getting 8m 27 which moved us to 3rd in class. Geoffrey & Caroline lost time finding it slippier getting 9m08. Richard & James also improved to 9m 32. Nigel & Fiona dropped a bit with 9m 57. Barrie & Jerry got a maximum for missing the split but basically were passed by the class leader Chris Greaves on his second lap and Barrie followed him the wrong way at the split.

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By Barry Lindsay

Round 4 of the SG Petch ANECCC championship was the Brick & Steel Border Counties. Based in Jedburgh with a very compact route with four stages totalling 40 plus miles in Wauchope & Keilder forest. Four Spadeadam crews entered the event with upto 1600 cc and historic cars running infront of the main field brought out a lot of 1600 cars. Peter Taylor & Andrew Roughead were seeded at 107 in the Fiesta R2 fresh from his strong performance at Epynt the week before. Phil Jobson & Jerry Hettrick were at 111 in the MKII, Barry & Michael Lindsay, brought the 106 out on a very rare outing into the woods, were seeded 120.

In the main field Allan Cathers was with Rory Young in the Evo at 17.

Crews left Jedburgh via the back roads as the A68 was closed that weekend bringing them to Wauchope. Rory & Allan were quickest of the Smc members with 7m 35 (16^th fastest overall) Peter & Andrew were the fastest 1600 with 7m 59. Barry & Michael struggled with a wrong rear suspension setting making the backend bounce a lot got 8m 28. Phil & Jerry got 8m57 despite a quick overshoot which saw the MkII temporarily disappear up a slip road. Continue reading →

By Caroline Lodge

Late last year team ‘Mull Daves’ decided to have a crack at the Grizedale stages, unfortunately, but rightly, the event was cancelled so we focused our efforts on a run on the Malcolm Wilson Rally.

Dave has never done this event before and it’s a while since he last competed on a forest event, but we got our entry in and plans got under-way. It would be interesting to see how the Grizedale roads were after having a ‘year off’.

Other SMC members out were, Phil & Caroline Jobson and Peter Taylor with Paul Hughes in the navigators seat.

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By Caroline Lodge

I’d not sat in Snowy since ‘the washing machine experience’ of the 2009 RAC,  but was quick to say ‘Yes’ when Phil asked me to navigate on the Riponian Rally this year. Would I suffer from flashbacks, or post traumatic stress disorder? Would I be reduced to a quivering wreck once inside the car?

Would I heck, I was going forest rallying in a rwd – Bring it on!

The threat of snow over the weekend was causing a bit of concern regarding tyre choices, Roppa and Boltby stage were only just accessible on the day before the event. However the forecast was correct and there snow started to go before the rally started. There was a loop of 6 stages all to be done twice in a reasonably compact route between Thirsk and Helmsley.

After answering messages from our fans we made our way to the first stage – Boltby, that went quite well, a nice 4.1 miles to get back into the swing of things. However it was very, very slippery, this was how the rest of the stages were going to be that day. Snowy was running well, and we got a good time – second fastest in our class. Then onto Wass, with lots of spectators, a quick 2.3 mile loop. Just under 2 miles into stage we negotiated a K right  over crest and became passengers as Snowy struggled to grip coming out of the corner, we were up an two wheels and heading sideways towards the bank (navigator’s side as usual). Somehow we got away with that and made it to the finish with only the front nearside tyre hanging off, as a result of the incident. Phew

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By Barry Lindsay

The 2011 Jack Frost rally will be remembered for quite a while as the one that had all the tight chicanes! Events on Croft in the passed have had a few chicanes in the middle of the long straights but this year the put very tight deep chicanes on the corners. The event didn’t have the same support as the Xmas stages by either competitors or spectators. 72 crews lined up on the damp January morning five of which were from Spadeadam. Barry & Michael Lindsay were highest seeded at 10 in the 106. Chris Taylor & Stuart Egglestone brought out the front wheel drive RS2000 at 19. Geoffrey Harkness & Caroline Lodge were at 33 in the Corsa followed just behind at 36 by Barrie Thomson & Jerry Hettrick in a 106. Richard Clark & James McWhir were back at 70 in a 205. Richard having recently bought back Simon’s old 205 to do a few events for a bit of fun. (Standard at the moment but wait till he gets the S1600 and sequential box put in!!)

Above: Richard Clark & James McWhir

For the first stage Barry & Michael had just decided to gamble in soft slicks when the damp drizzle turned to rain. The found out how wet it was at the second corner! A very big slide which was held by powering through but this put them way to quick into the next sequence and they ended up facing the wrong way against the barrier. Barrie & Jerry did very similar but they ended up in the gravel  trap, luckily they drove out. However the stage ended up being cancelled due to timing issues.

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By Phil Jobson

There’s always a fine line between going as quick as possible and exceeding the limit of adhesion ie going off! The fact is, though, that on the 2010 Roger Albert Clark Rally, 16 of the 22 stages were covered in snow with ice beneath, but with an occasional patch of gravel showing through. In those circumstances, that limit of adhesion is constantly altering. It’s like playing a game of tennis with two people moving the net up and down all the time.

Above: En route through the Scottish Forests

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By Barry Lindsay

The Christmas holidays annually mean time for a freezing at Croft. True to form this year had been colder than ever, severe frosts, and a few inches of snow met the crews for Scrutineering. Pre event checks were done on the bank holiday Monday and the track had a couple of inches of snow on it, and more was forecast overnight. The Tuesday morning dawned wet; the snow had turned to slush but with ice below.

Jemma Bellingham was the highest seeded of the Spadeadam Crews, sitting in with Ryan Champion in the Subaru at 3. Barry & Michael Lindsay were at 17, Geoffrey Harkness & Caroline Lodge at 31. Barrie Thomson & Jerry Hettrick were on there first event together and were a late entry at 98.

Above: Jemma Bellingham & Ryan Champion

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