Memory jogger

The next book on the ‘Scottish Rally Championship’ series will cover the period 2010 to 2019 and it will be underway shortly, but first a trawl through the files. That is always dangerous because it is so easy to get sidetracked and ends up with me squatting on the floor flicking through old reports and files. Somehow I came across some pics from 2002 – probably mis-filed!

That’s because they are motor cycle pics and they show Niall MacKenzie and Kevin Schwantz officially opening the new Medical Centre at Knockhill way back in the year 2002. That little ceremony was held ahead of the arrival of the British Superbike circus to the Fife Circuit and there are some other shots in the collection including this start line picture of Hizzy chatting with a very young looking Steve Plater. I had forgotten I had taken these and of course it kick starts the old memory box and I forget the real reason for digging up the past and get sidetracked – again!

And folk wonder why it takes me so long to write a book!

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Thought for the week

…. or the year, or maybe even eternity! Not that I wish to blight your new year before it has even got started, but current and ongoing events have raised a few worrisome thoughts inside the dark tower at Castle Bunnet. If Mr Trump does decide to invade and rule Greenland, what next?

Iceland is only a short sail away, so will that be next? And then once he’s got the whole eastern side of the Atlantic subjugated he might just fancy a bit of the western side so that he controls both sides of this Northern ‘passage’. And you know what means – the Western Isles! Of course he might well use the excuse that these islands are his own anyway since his Mother came from Tong near Stornoway.

And once the stetsons and spurs land on Lewis and Harris, what next? There is an obvious choice here – Mull. With Mr Trump hell bent on having the best and bigliest of everything, then having ‘the best rally in the world’ will be the Scottish equivalent of the FIFA Peace Medal. The annual ‘Mull Rally’ is the only Scottish event which can match the Indy 500 in terms of fame, spectacle and glamour! From there it’s just a short hop over the water on to the mainland so why not go for that and make the whole of Scotland his eastern Atlantic base?

And of course this being a democracy, King Charles will be deposed, or exiled, and a new monarch crowned - King Donald. Naturally, the new King Donald will become Donald IV as there have previously been three King Donalds of Alba who ruled the Picts and Scots 1,000 years ago so he will have ancient history on his side! And before you know it we’ll all be having to speak Yanklish.

Happy new year everyone, or should that be Happy nooo year y’all ?

Welcome to 2026 ??

Well, here go again …. another New Year …. with new hopes, new ambitions, new expectations, new dreams - and new fears.

Unfortunately, those fears are all too real. Ambition and greed continue to stalk the corridors of power in the west, the middle east and the far east. You’d think the world’s leaders would have learned the lessons of 1914-18 and 1939-45, but no, they continue to arm and train today’s youth to go and fight, shoot and kill in pursuit of a despot’s desire for more power, influence and riches. In response, the more ‘civilised’ nations have to train their own youth to go and fight, shoot and kill in pursuit of freedom from oppression. Crazy, eh?

We all must live and hope that those in whom we trust (?) to protect our way of life in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast can summon up the resolve, strength and intelligence to keep calm and carry on!

And yet life goes on. Leaving the affairs of state behind we all have our own personal hopes and fears, albeit of a much lesser international impact. We are one of the most heavily taxed nations in the world and yet the pot holes multiply, the bins overflow and litter festoons our countryside. Even worse, GPs are in hiding, hospitals can’t cope and care homes don’t care. The homeless are still un-housed, veterans ignored and poverty is still an all too common childhood affliction. And don’t get me started on the price of petrol, diesel, electricity and gas not to mention the water companies whose priority is shareholders rather than customers – they get the bubbles and we get the sewage.

Speaking of fat cats, there does seem to be a trend whereby the bigger the company, the more greedy their directors become as they pursue profit at the expense of customer service e.g. the mobile phone companies and public utilities - happy to take the cash and enrich themselves whilst insulating themselves from their customers by making it ever more difficult to complain or make contact with a considerate and helpful human being. Artificial Intelligence? – Artificial Ignorance more like!

With regard to our own personal interests, motoring and motor sport, things are no less bleak. Soon we’ll all be gliding about in Chinese electric cars that are produced for half the price of a European equivalent. They are doing to our motoring industry what the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers did to our motor bike industry. We may be a nation of innovators but fail miserably when it comes to exploiting those innovations.

On a much more sensitive front we are currently at the mercy of Forest & Land Scotland. This organisation is staffed by people who are paid from the public purse to manage the land which we, the great Scottish public own, and yet ‘they’ determine who can use it. Someone needs to tell them that “access for all” includes us rally folk and not just the lycra wearing, boot shod, binocular carrying, dog leading, bird watching and nature loving general public. We are a paying part of that general public!

Already those long suffering stalwarts who organise special stage rallies on our behalf are experiencing obstacles, poorly maintained roads, limited choice and denials of access even as the F&LS folk seek to install electric vehicle chargers in the middle of the countryside!

Will I ever hear the bark of a BDA, the growl of V8 or the whoosh of a turbo in the woods ever again? I was intending to have a wee dram to celebrate the arrival of this New Year and new hope, methinks it will need to be an awfy big dram. Who was it who said “things can only get better”? Was it really ‘D:Ream’, or was it a politician?

May you all have a safe, successful and enriching 2026 - regardless of the limitations, penalisations and restrictions being imposed on us by those who are paid by us to keep us safe, housed, clothed and fed.

Happy New Year, eh?

Post-Christmas Quiz Answers

Well, that caused a teeny weeny wee bit more head scratching than the previous pre-Christmas quiz, but here are the answers for those of you who may still be stumped by one or two. But since most of you got most of them right, maybe I should come up with something a bit more testing, or maybe not - that might just give you more of a headache than a New Year hangover!!

Pic 11: Was he a better chef than driver? Or is he just sprinkling a little hash over the service crew’s breakfast?

    The jury is out on that one but at least Gordon Boyd didn’t poison anyone, although anybody passing his entourage whilst he was cooking often commented on the strong whiff of Castrol R in the air.

Pic 12: A prime candidate for ‘The Fast & Furious’ franchise back in the day, but sometimes, just sometimes, the trees got in his way!

    The picture is of course, Alastair ‘Fletch’ Fletcher who was awfy quick in a Mk1, but sometimes, just sometimes, it didn’t finish a rally in the same physical shape as it started.

Pic 13: The fresh faced youngster will be easy to spot, but who is the co-driver who has fallen fast asleep on the job?

    Aye, this one was too easy. He may be a bit older these days but Andy Horne still looks just the same (must be Grecian 2000!) but the guy fast asleep (kidding on he’s concentrating on his maps!) is co-driver and some time rally CofC, Andy Jardine.

Pic 14: Two well known co-drivers appear to be hatching a plan, but who is the concerned driver keeking over their shoulders?

    Ian Wilson is the driver on the right and asking John Bennie if he has a digital watch. John says he has and points his left hand digit at Stewart Merry who tells him the time from his own wrist mounted timepiece.

Pic 15: Who is this rehearsing for the pantomime ‘Sleeping Beauty’, or could it be ‘The Mousetrap’, or is he just catching flies?

    Youngsters, eh? Mark Grierson (son of Mad Murr) can’t keep up with the demands of an exacting parent.

Pic 16:  Who is this quaffing Super-Bru, the best go-faster drug in the business?

    Another easy one, it’s the Sackmaker himself, Alan Dickson taking a deep swig of his preferred tipple of happy juice, Irn Bru!

Pic 17: Looks more like a ne’er do well (on remand?) testing door handles on parked cars to see if they are locked!

    This one was a bit more tricky, and caught out quite a few folk, but this sprightly sprog is in fact Keith Morris who could maybe do with some Grecian 2000 these days himself, eh?

Pic 18: His 1600cc motor thought it was a two litre job!

    It’s the slow talking, fast farmer himself, Davie Elder. Remember the Starlet and the Mk2?

Pic 19: Easy one this, but they look awfy serious – deciding who is buying the cairry-oot and who is gaun fur the chips!

    John Baird on the left and George Gauld on the right were easy spots, but the guy in the middle confused a number of folk. It’s Gordon ‘Safety’ Smith from Alford.

Pic 20: Who are these two trendies discussing shampoo and conditioner, or is it thatch and weather-proofing?

    Just love this fotie of two guys apparently advertising head-mounted coir door mats, the bristly kind for cleaning boots at the back door of the hoose after a session in the garage and on sale at your local Woolworths store - ask yer Maw and Paw! Gordon Boyd on the left and Robin Hamilton doing the Tom Selleck impression on the right.

Pic 21: Changing places. Seat swap, but who are they?

    They haven’t even started the rally and already they are bickering. That is regular co-driver Suzanne Smith on the left giving Fred Bell a serious talking-to before her debut as a driver!

Pic 22: The odd couple, but the one in the co-driver’s seat really is odd, the driver is the sensible one!

    Another easy one, or maybe not. Donald Smith is the full fat figure in the full-face helmet being driven on this occasion by regular co-driver Rachael Argo.

Happy days, eh?

And there are more memories here:

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Moulsdale Foundation

An eye-watering and jaw-dropping day out …. The location this time was the Moulsdale Foundation on the north side of Glasgow and the occasion was the latest of their monthly openings. Usually the cars are the stars but this time they had to share the limelight with the first family of Scottish motor sport, the rallying McRaes.

It’s 30 years since Colin, and Derek Ringer, won the FIA World Rally Championship at the end of a long and arduous season which tried the patience (and hair-loss?) of a certain chap called David Richards, but it also justified the faith and belief that the Prodrive Subaru Rally Team boss had in the young firecracker from Lanark. It also cemented Colin’s name in Scotland’s motor sporting hall of fame.

It’s also worth noting that Alister McRae, with David Senior, clinched his first British Rally Championship title in that same year in 1995, a title which father Jim has won a record five times.

And so it was entirely fitting that the Moulsdale Foundation hosted this ‘Rally Forum’ on this thirtieth anniversary with three generations of the rallying McRaes in attendance, because joining Jim and Alister on the Forum panel was Max ‘Poster Boy’ McRae. Bearing in mind the sensitivities of such a mixed throng in the audience the ’boys’ were (almost) on their best behaviour although some stories had to be left untold, but no doubt these will continue to be whispered through the trees for years to come when and wherever rally fans gather.

Over 2,600 visitors walked through the doors today and every penny generated on ticket sales goes to charity. The Moulsdale Foundation has contributed millions (over 36 at the last count!) to a variety of worthwhile charitable causes over the years and the intention is to continue that quest – so keep an eye open for future monthly ‘open days’ some of which will have special guests as an added attraction, like today.

The venue itself is well worth a visit and represents one man’s very personal and eclectic collection of two, three and four wheeled vehicles which has been collated over 35 years or more. Everything from Raleigh Choppers to Ducati Monsters, Bubble cars to Formula 1 racers, and from road cars to rally cars. This is not just a motoring or motor sporting tribute, the venue is a cathedral to the motor car as a personal conveyance and competition weapon. There’s something there for everyone who simply likes cars and motor cycles, and pedal cycles!

The next such event will be held on the 1st of February 2026 and will feature the first family of Scottish motor cycle racing – the MacKenzies, with Niall, Tarran and Taylor taking to the stage.

Moulsdale Foundation

Max McRae Motorsport Alister McRae Motorsport

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