By Barry Lindsay

Round 4 of the SG Petch Championship was a new round for 2018 and was a little further than most we were used with, ourselves included. The Dunoon based event consisted of 8 stages. Three Spadeadam cars made the start, two-wheel drive cars ran first on the road so myself & Caroline Lodge were seeded at 107 which was 7^th car on the road. In the 4WD Rory Young & Allan Cathers were at 7 in the R5 Fiesta then John McIlwraith at 18 in the Subaru, looking for points in the Scottish championship Subaru Cup.

Following a hectic driver’s briefing which saw 2wd crews running to their cars in order to make the MTC (Spadeadam don’t do running a brisk walk uphill was fast enough). Stage 1 Rory & Allan got 5m 00 which put them into a 6 sec rally lead. John got 5m39 then us with 6m06. Happy enough as it was 2^nd in class but already 17sec of the class pace. A ‘Quick’ road section to SS2 where Rory & Allan were again quickest with 3m24 adding 7 seconds to their rally lead. John getting 4m04 then myself and Caroline on 4m 18 dropped us to third in class, only issue was the back suspension bouncing on the fast, bumpy sections. Almost straight into SS3, a massive uphill start didn’t help the 206. Dropping to 4^th in class with a 6m24.

John got 6m12 but Rory & Allan were out. A puncture caused them to get onto the edge and pulled into a ditch. Continue reading →

By David Garstang

Well it’s been a while since I last wrote something so this may take some time, and it starts back in February.

I had been waiting for an appointment for a minor operation on my nose and I received a letter in the post saying the operation was to be on Thursday 26^th April which was OK as it was an in and out operation in a day. This still left time to prep the rally car for the 1st May bank holiday weekend when I would be competing on the Berwick Classic. So the day of the operation arrived and I duly arrived on the ward for 7:30 am as instructed to wait for my operation I finally went to the operating room at 5pm. Apparently the operation went successfully but I was not wanting to wake up from the aesthetic and my nose was constantly leaking lots of red fluid, so the hospital staff suggested that I stayed on the ward for the night, luckily I was allowed home at 11:00 the following morning and my designated driver arrived for me at 3pm after gossiping with friends and forgetting what the time was. I was also instructed not to bend over too much and not to do any lifting for a week. Bang went prepping the rally car or so I thought. Continue reading →

By Allan Cathers 

After our promising run on the Argyll Rally a couple of weeks ago came to nothing. We picked up double front punctures on the third stage while leading the rally by 13 seconds and the car was beached in a ditch while trying to drive out slowly in Road mode.

Anyway we decided to try the Nicky Grist Stages which is a BTRDA round based in the heart of mid Wales. This was only Rory’s second time in Wales and his first time in the classic Wales Rally GB Stages of Route 60, Halfway and Crychan, although over the years I have competed there many times with some success, however the last time was 2002!

We were using a Dommy Buckley RSC prepared 2018 Ford Fiesta R5 as usual backed by Scottish Christmas Trees. Continue reading →

By Nigel Harkness

After the Jack Frost stages Vinnie the corsa was still in once piece, so Helen and I decided to get our passports out and have a go at the Grant Construction Stages at Knockhill. It had been years since I’d been there, and Helen had never done an event there. Scrutineering was on Saturday and as it was an early start on Sunday we thought we’d make a weekend of it. It was a lovely, leisurely drive northwards, over the beautiful new Queensberry crossing, and we arrived at Knockhill in glorious sunshine, both of us hoping that it was going to be like this all weekend. It was a new experience to scrutineer, sign on and then enjoy a gentle stroll around the stages. All 3 ½ miles of up and downs, with more gravel/mud than I’ve driven on in my life before and chicanes made of truck tyres thrown in for good measure. Have a go at moving those if you dare!

We then staked our claim on a bit of the service area and when I finally managed to tear Helen away from Vinnie (“I’ve never left him alone on his own before.”) We headed to our overnight accommodation, where it seemed half the other competitors and officials were also staying. We all arose, pretty much at the same time on Sunday morning too, to be greeted by -8ºC, followed by lots of frantic de-icing. If only someone could have de-frosted the circuit! It was very white out there. Vinnie was very frozen, though the generator and a 2Kw fan heater soon thawed him out. Continue reading →

(McGrady Insurance Stages 2018 at Bishopscourt Race Circuit.)

By Allan Cathers

It’s been a frustrating time for Organisers, Marshals, Competitors and Rally fans alike due to the unusual weather conditions and the “Beast from the East”. After a long layoff from Rallying, since early September 2018, Rory and I hoped to kick start the season with two local favourite Rallies, the Malcolm Wilson and the Border Counties. Unfortunately it was not to be, as both rallies had to be cancelled due to the adverse conditions generated by the “The Beast”.

What could we do? The answer was simpler look for another event that would fit in and not be affected by extreme weather. So we had a good look at various calendars and Dommy (Buckley) suggested the Mayo Stages Rally over in the far west of Ireland on 10^th and 11^th March. It is run solely on Achill Island comprising of 3 x closed road stages run three times on the Sunday with Recce and scrutineering on the Saturday. Unfortunately this wouldn’t fit in as Rory needed to return home on Sunday evening due to business and family commitments and this was not possible. Continue reading →