Saturday 2 May 2015

Rally - Photo finish



Rally finishes don’t come much tighter than this. Dave Weston and David Bogie were tied on identical total times as they crossed the finish line of the Granite City Rally in Aberdeen. A faster time on the final stage gave the win to Weston making it two wins in two weekends at opposite ends of the country having won the Somerset Stages Rally (near France) last weekend.

Jock Armstrong was a lonely third but was lucky to claim the final podium position: “It was a Crest into Left,” said Jock, “But I thought it was Crest into Right, and I was all set up for the right when Paula shouted at me. We went well through the tapes, but it was OK. Call it a brain fade moment.”

Mike Faulkner was fourth “with one trip down a firebreak trying to catch Jock” and Steven Clark and Bruce McCombie rounded off the top half dozen. Sadly Mark McCulloch lost out on a possible top six when the Lancer broke its transmission: “Just going round a hairpin going from third to second, it lost drive. No warning.” Clark was luckier though: “We lost brakes 3 miles from the end of the last stage,” but made it while McCombie was looking better pleased with himself after a good afternoon run “we pushed on a bit better, it wasn’t the cleanest or tidiest of runs, but it was quicker!”

Resorting to the Rally Regs revealed that in the event of a tie, the faster time on the final stage would resolve it. and Dave Weston are continuing their nail biting duel at the head of the Granite City Rally and with 6 (out of 9) stages gone, there is still just ONE second between them.

John McClory finished with a big stick poking out of the radiator: “Don’t pull it out,” he shouted, “we’re scared it will leak!” but claims he doesn’t know how it got there.

Not quite last driver home but Sue Hynd finished her first forest rally as a driver: “On the first forest stage, six corners in I got wedged on a log pile, said Sue, “I hated all the forests stage after that – but I loved the last one. I’ll be back out on the Jim Clark.”

The voice of a long suffering husband (who prepped the car) was heard from the co-drivers seat: “First I’ve heard of that!” Marital strife, doncha just love it.

(Note: Didn’t manage to get into the winners circle to interview the winners hence no quotes, but will try later!)

Leaderboard after 9 (of 9) stages:
1, D Weston, 40m 27s
2, D Bogie, 40m 27s
3, J Armstrong, 42m 12s
4, M Faulkner, 42m 36s
5, S Clark, 42m 53s
6, B McCombie, 43m 13s
7, S Sinclair, 43m 45s
8, B Groundwater, 43m 49s
9, A Horne, 44m 27s
10, F Wilson, 44m 51s

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