Rally - 5 Star Stages

It was hot at Kames today for the 5 Star Stages Rally, both on and off track. The far end of the circuit fair shimmered in the sun and the heat, and the pace was just as hot on track.

George Auld won the rally despite clouting a tyre barrier on the 4th stage. Thereafter the Mk2's steering wheel was left pointing in a slightly different direction  to the front wheels while the front n/s corner took the brunt of the impact.

The tight confines of Kames in the dry did Derek Connell no favours in the 4WD Subaru and he finished 19 seconds behind Auld but 10 seconds in front of the awfy smart Mk1 of Willie Pollock. For somebody who doesn't do many rallies (and is hardly in the first flush of youth!) Willie's pace was a delight to watch.

Ross Pringle was fourth in the family Corsa just missing out on the podium by 4 seconds while Lindsay Taylor was fifth and Ron Walker sixth. Michael Robertson was forced out of the running when the Peugeot suffered a severe bout of over-fuelling - with the fire extinguishers having to be used at one point - and young Martyn Douglas managed to get four stages in before the turbo snapped a shaft in the Subaru.

One could have been forgiven for thinking that the bees were making gallons of honey around the circuit till realisation dawned that it wasn't actually bees, this was the drone of flat-out, 3 cylinder, one litre engines as the 14 to 17 year olds took to the track.

Ewan Tindall did the business winning the Junior event by just 7 seconds from Johnnie MacKay and Jude MacDonald. Ewan kept it clean and tidy all the way with Johnnie admitting to having the car "more on the grass than on the tar" at one point and Jude was having trouble with locking brakes. No less than 3 drivers snapped driveshafts during the day, Lewis Haining, Andrew Blackwood and Peter Beaton making family and friends have a busy time back in the sun scorched service area.

( Full report soon in the on-line mag )

Seniors Top Six:

1 George Auld/Richard Stewart (Ford Escort) 19m 13s

2 Derek Connell/Laura Marshall (Subaru Impreza)  19m 32s 

3 William Pollock/Helen Brown (Ford Escort Mk1) 19m 42s 

4 Ross Pringle/Thomas Purvin (Vauxhall Corsa) 19m 46s 

5 Lindsay Taylor/David Murie (Ford Fiesta ST150) 20m 58s 

6 Ron Walker/Dean Ross (Ford KA) 21m 01s 

Juniors Top Six:

1 Ewan Tindall/Paul Hudson (Citroen C1)  20m 57s

2 Johnnie MacKay/Gordon Reid (Suzuki Alto)  21m 04s 

3 Jude MacDonald/Michael Cruickshank (Skoda Citigo) 21m 10s 

4 Lewis Winder/Mike Baird (Toyota Aygo) 21m 48s

5 Alice Paterson/Ian Crosbie (Peugeot 107) 23m 30s

6 Andrew Blackwood/Gordon Winning (Citroen C1) 25m 21s