Full Entry List for Sunday's (5th Aug) Glendinnings
of Prudhoe Tyneside Stages Rally in the on-line mag. Not a big entry, but the
top ten looks pretty good and the next ten look pretty handy too. There doesn't
appear to be any official spectating provision as the Otterburn Ranges are
considered to be an 'active' military facility. That means that anyone who
disregards such advice may find themselves being liberally distributed around
the countryside should they encounter anything untoward in the undergrowth or
long grass - beware the shiny!
The life and times of a partially retired motoring and motor rallying journalist in Scotland. Author of the book 'The Scottish Rally Championship 1980-1989' https://fife-motor-sports-agency.square.site/
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
Monday, 30 July 2018
Rally - Scots in Finland
Sadly they
didn't win, but Reay MacKay and Keir Beaton finished 17th o/a in Finland at the
weekend in a locally hired BMW 325i. They were contesting the Vetomies Rally, a
National event within the main WRC Rally Finland three day format. The nationals
contested one stage on the Friday evening and then five on the Saturday running
between the double runs of the WRC stages.
The duo took part in the recce
last week and compiled their own Pace Notes - a first for Reay! Then they went
and watched the Shakedown stage. That proved to be a real eye-opener for the
boys. Telling spectators about the speed and seeing it on TV is one thing,
actually standing at the side of the road when the WRC monsters hurtle past is
quite another. Anyway, suitably inspired off they went. Not only did they
survive, but they finished 17th 2WD out of a field of 88 crews. It would appear
that Reay behaved himself, for once, resisting the temptation to fling the car
into the trees as so many others did!
Anyway, back at the 'other' event
in Finland, Ott Tanak scored the fourth WRC victory of his career, fastest over
the 320km forest rollercoaster which is Rally Finland. It was a particularly
poignant result for Tanak as thousands of Estonian fans had crossed the
Baltic Sea to celebrate their country’s first Finnish success since Tänak’s
mentor, Markko Märtin, triumphed in 2003.
After coming out on top of a fierce first leg fight with Mads Østberg, Tanak pulled clear on Saturday and eased through the final day. He kept some pace in reserve to win the rally-closing Power Stage and claim maximum bonus points..
Østberg fended off a final day charge from Jari-Matti Latvala to deny Toyota a 1-2 finish. They started the final Ruuhimäki speed test separated by only 2.5sec but the Norwegian held on to secure his best result for more than three years in an upgraded Citroën C3.
Haydon Paddon finished fourth, a minute behind Latvala, while Ogier was fifth
after struggling with a new aerodynamic package and shock absorbers on his Ford
Fiesta. He headed M-Sport Ford team-mates Teemu Suninen, and Elfyn Evans who
finished 7th, commenting: “It’s not been a terrible weekend driving wise and I
don’t think anyone can say that they don’t enjoy driving these stages, but for
sure seventh place wasn’t the result we wanted.”After coming out on top of a fierce first leg fight with Mads Østberg, Tanak pulled clear on Saturday and eased through the final day. He kept some pace in reserve to win the rally-closing Power Stage and claim maximum bonus points..
Østberg fended off a final day charge from Jari-Matti Latvala to deny Toyota a 1-2 finish. They started the final Ruuhimäki speed test separated by only 2.5sec but the Norwegian held on to secure his best result for more than three years in an upgraded Citroën C3.
Suninen was ordered to check in late at a time control, incurring a
20sec penalty which dropped him behind Ogier and gave the Frenchman an extra
two points in his title bid.
Craig Breen finished a very disappointed 8th after a puncture on Friday
left him running third car on the road for the rest of the weekend, saying: "It
was a difficult weekend for us, with the puncture on Friday that proved very
costly, leaving us to clean the road for two days. We nevertheless managed to
show our pace whenever the conditions enabled us to do so. It was nice,
especially, to finish with a good time on the Power Stage, which means we can
now look ahead to Germany with optimism."
Results:
Results:
1, O Tänak/M Järveoja (Toyota Yaris) 2hr 35min 18.1sec
2, M Østberg/T Eriksen (Citroën C3) + 32.7sec
3, J-M Latvala/M Anttila (Toyota Yaris) + 35.5sec
4, H Paddon/S Marshall (Hyundai i20) + 1min 35.6sec
5, S Ogier/J Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta) + 2min 15.0sec
6, T Suninen/M Markkula (Ford Fiesta) + 2min 19.2sec
2, M Østberg/T Eriksen (Citroën C3) + 32.7sec
3, J-M Latvala/M Anttila (Toyota Yaris) + 35.5sec
4, H Paddon/S Marshall (Hyundai i20) + 1min 35.6sec
5, S Ogier/J Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta) + 2min 15.0sec
6, T Suninen/M Markkula (Ford Fiesta) + 2min 19.2sec
Sunday, 29 July 2018
Questions & Answers
A number of folk have asked if the post-rally
news reports could be published sooner after each event. Yes they could, but
they won't. Simple reason, the weekly 'Motorsport
News' gets the information first. That's only right and fair as they commission
the reports in the first place. Trouble is, I always gather more information
than the MN word count will allow, which was the reason why the 'JB' website
was started. This provided the platform where more detailed and informative
reports could be published, and also the news and blethers that amuse and appeal
to us, if not the wider public.
If you want the news first, read it in 'MSN' and then get the bigger
story on JB later. On that basis I have published the Column which MSN printed
the other week for those of you cheapskates who won't buy the paper.
And yes I know it's dear, but so is a packet of crisps. At 60p a
packet, that's 4 quid for a single potato! Who's getting ripped off now? And
don't get me started that it's not the same as it once was. Get real, the world
has moved on. Irn Bru is different, pop music is weird, fashion has lost taste,
discs have gone digital, and mobile phones are simply a curse on modern life. Rallying
too is not what it once was. Apparently, that's called progress.
At some point in the future MSN will probably go on-line too, as that
is the way of the publishing world these days - and the traditionalists will be
left behind.
Anyway, here's my observations from a week back:
Saturday, 28 July 2018
Rally - Mach1 News Roundup
As ever, this event showed off
Scottish rallying at its finest with a behind-the-scenes look at comfort food, sobriety
as the ideal way to succeed, proof that water ski-ing is more dangerous than
rallying, and that in the heat of competition, thoughts turn not to winning,
but to wedding!
Final roundup of events which may, or may not, have taken place at the Mach1 Stages now in the
on-line mag:
Tuesday, 24 July 2018
Rally - Mach 1 Classes
Mach1 Stages - Class Roundup ...
That's the round-up from the six classes at the Mach1 Stages now in the on-line
mag. It's also worth bearing in mind that the end of season Cobble Shop
Scottish Tarmack Champion is decided on the basis of class scores. Unlike most
other rally championships, it's not about overall performance, but how competitors
fare against their class based rivals. That's why Ross McCallum (MG Maestro) currently
leads the national series overall on 98 points from Michael Harbour (Citroen
C2) 87 points and Martyn Douglas (VW Polo) 84 points.
News & Blethers to follow but
Class info here:
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