Rally - Condor moments

Just when you thought the Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge was all but over with 3 rounds to go and Johnnie Mackay in the driving seat, Lewis Haining and Andrew Blackwood show up with other ideas. At the Memorial Gardens Stages Rally earlier today Haining took the win and top points with Blackwood finishing second and title favourite Mackay finishing third.

There was little Mackay could do about the opposition, Haining was on a mission and Blackwood joined in. Haining led from the start but it took a couple of stages for Blackwood to start reeling in the second placed Mackay. Ollie Hunter wasn’t that far off the pace by the end of the six stages  but kept clear of Cameron Davidson and Amy McCubbin.

1, Lewis Haining, Skoda, 58m 28s

2, Andrew Blackwood, Citroen, 58m 50s

3, Johnnie Mackay, Suzuki, 59m 11s

4, Oliver Hunter, Peugeot, 59m 51s

5, Cameron Davidson, Nissan, 60m 51s

6, Amy McCubbin, Skoda, 62m 50s

In the senior event, Ian Paterson took the win after early leader Ian Forgan had to withdraw after four stages with a faulty oil pressure switch. Then Iain Sanderson dropped out of the top three when his Escort broke a bottom arm stranding the car mid stage.

That meant Alan Wallace finished second with Greg Inglis getting third place, third time out in his Lotus Exige. Graeme Rintoul was 4^th in his Fiesta ahead of Cameron Stout and Gareth Dalgleish.

1, Ian Paterson, Subaru, 48m 57s

2, Alan Wallace, Mitsubishi, 50m 37s

3, Greg Inglis, Lotus, 51m 53s

4, Graeme Rintoul, Fiesta, 53m 21s

5, Cameron Stout, Subaru, 53m 50s

6, Gareth Dalgleish, Subaru, 53m 51s

There will be a full report later in the week in the on-line mag and I’ll let you know when it is posted. That should also set up rally fans for Round 7 of the 8 round Junior 1000 series at Kames on Sunday 23^rd. On to-day’s showing that would be well worth a visit.

Can Mackay hang on to his lead, can Haining take control at the top, can Blackwood surprise them both? Oh, and there’s another treat in store for visitors to Kames next Sunday, the competition debut of a car that could be the future of rallying. I’ll tell you more shortly.

Meantime, full results at: www.Scotresults.co.uk