Rally - Book Launch

The Book … Not so much an ‘official book launch’ more of a convivial gathering amongst like minded souls and friends, but Coltness Car Club is hosting an Open Night on Monday evening, November 6th and all are welcome.

This open invitation is being extended not just to all CCC Members but to all other car clubs and even to non-club member rally fans who wish to come along.

The principal reason for this open night is to allow rally fans to get their hands on the first copies of the book “Scottish Rally Championship 1980-1989”.

I will be there in person with the first copies, hot off the press, for sale at 35 quid a copy. No discount, no free gifts and no special offers – the money’s needed to help finance the next book in the series!

A word of advice. Best bring cash – I have invested in one of those infernal portable card terminals which supposedly takes debit/credit card purchases but I haven’t been able to try it out for real! Hence the pricing simplicity, no odd numbers or odd pence sums!

The venue is Dalserf Bowling Club, Ashgillhead Road, Ashgill, Larkhall ML9 3AF. Drop in any time from 7.30 pm. The Club is licensed to sell alcoholic refreshments if you’re not driving but also has both leaded and unleaded Irn Bru plus a variety of other soft drinks, and boatles of waatter if you must, so you can sit and have some craic with like-minded folks.

The village of Ashgill is easily accessible heading east from Junction 8 on the M74 at Larkhall.

There’s a set of traffic lights on the A71 between the Motorway and Garrion Bridge but turn right at the lights towards Ashgill and most certainly NOT Larkhall!!

Those coming from the east would most likely use Garrion Bridge (over the River Clyde) on the A71 but there are planned roadworks on the bridge from Oct 30^th.

One other thing, if you haven’t been to a CCC club night before you will drive past the entrance to the Bowling Club at least once before you see it. So dinnae worry, we’ve all done it! It’s a tight left on to an unsurfaced narrow road between the first and second wee hooses. There’s a fairly big car park at the foot of the lane on the right with access to the Bowling Club entrance from there.

If you can’t make it on the night, full details will be published here on Tuesday 7^th November of how to purchase copies on line at £40 incl P&P 

Please note: Any early critics of this publication will have to remember the author is on ‘home territory’. If you inadvertently upset one Coltness bear, you upset them all. Be warned, stay safe.

Lock Horsburgh, 1947 – 2023

Scottish motor sport suffered another sad loss earlier this week (Monday 23^rd) when Lock Horsburgh passed away. The shock all the greater because it was so unexpected as he was last seen as busy as ever on the Isle of Mull at the Mull Rally – as usual – just four weeks ago. It is said that no-one is indispensable and whilst that may be true, there is another saying that some folk are irreplaceable. Lock Horsburgh was such an individual.

His is not a name which will be instantly recognised by many folk within Scottish motor sport but all too familiar to those who organise and run clubs and events throughout the country.

A founder member of Glenrothes Motor Sport Club which celebrated its 50^th anniversary last year, Lock was a Marshal, Stage Commander, qualified Radio crew volunteer and event organiser as well as club committee member and a long serving and valued member of the Scottish Association of Motor Sport Clubs (SAMSC) committee and latterly sat on the Motor Sport UK Regional Committee. His contribution to the sport is quite simply incalculable.

As secretary to the SAMSC he was also able to bring other skills to the role. He founded his own Lomond IT Services Ltd company almost twenty years ago which offered a bespoke software development and support service for all sizes of business as well as local government and housing associations. As such he was well placed to design and maintain the SAMSC website, no mean feat for such a disparate and diverse organisation.

Interested in motor support from an early age he got involved in the road rally and navigational rally scene in the 1970s both as navigator and driver. In 1981 he registered in the Scottish Rally Championship as a co-driver while continuing his own interest as a driver first with a Mini and then a 1300cc Vauxhall Nova. Even when he stopped competing as a driver he continued as a co-driver both on navigational and special stage events.

His competition appearances started to dwindle in the early 2000s as his marshalling and organisational duties assumed an ever more time consuming role, particularly the role of Chief Marshall for numerous events, not just for his club but many others. Assuming responsibility for sourcing and managing dozens of volunteers for an event is no easy task, often likened to herding sheep at best, putting toothpaste back into the tube at worst!

In fact his efforts merited a mention in a 2014 issue of ‘Mull Murmurs’ the on-event news and scandal sheet which was circulated during rally time. The rally and its stalwarts were hit with particularly wet and windy weather that year:-

“ Despite the weather (because we're used to it?) the rally ran well and there appeared to be enough Marshals (just) although Lock Horsburgh was seen deep in despair at times as he shuffled available manpower around the route. Being Chief Marshal is not a position to be envied. That said, the spectators behaved themselves (mostly) and it was encouraging to note that they were standing rather farther back than in the past.”

Lock was more than a Marshall, he was an ‘instructor’, advisor and a source of information and help to newcomers to the dark arts of marshalling. That’s because he was only too well aware of motor sport’s ongoing need to introduce new folk to a sport which is entirely dependent on volunteer helpers. 

He was also an opinionated debater and engaging conversationalist although it has to be said, sometimes too engaging! A simple chat or telephone call could often develop into a full blown debate, exchange of ideas, suggestions, solutions and often additional topics which had little to do with the original reason for the discussion.

He could also be quite infuriating at times, but no-one should confuse ‘nit-picking’ with ‘attention to detail’. It was perhaps his computer software experience that ensured his plans and preparations were usually meticulously planned although sometimes, just sometimes, where there was a choice of doing things the right way or the wrong way, the desired outcome was accomplished ‘Lock’s way’!

‘Irreplaceable’ is certainly the word!

Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Maureen and the family at this very sad time.

Rally - King Fergus

King Fergus II ?

Mixed thoughts and emotions over the weekend. I missed Mull. It’s majesty, mystery, motor sport, mayhem and magic, and of course the memories, but I said my goodbyes last year. It occurred to me that I have actually spent more of my birthdays on the Isle of Mull than anywhere else, and that includes home!

I reckon I am now officially in ‘auld git’ territory. No doubt the arrival of ‘grumpiness’ will be the next trait in the aging process as I remain truly impartial and un-opinionated in all matters!

Even so I watched and listened to Mull from afar and was enthralled, as ever. Whilst a sense of sadness prevailed for all those who didn’t finish the rally, there were humungous amounts of delight at those who accomplished one of the most impressive feats of motor rallying in Scotland, make that the UK. Nope, even that doesn’t cut it, one of the most impressive stage rallying feats in the world – by finishing the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally!

So full praise for King Fergus and Prince Craig. What a marvellous result for the Barlow boys. Over a minute clear of the opposition. And you know what, I wasn’t surprised in the least because some years ago a cocky young tyke barely out of school uniform told me he would win the rally one day. He repeated that prophecy at the Mull Targa three years ago, so how could it ever be doubted?

And just in case you wonder at the title of this latest rumination, ‘King Fergus’ was in actual fact the first King of Scotland. He actually came over from Ireland and helped the Scots in their fecht to gub the Picts and Britons and duly became King Fergus 1 of Scotland. So now we have King Fergus II of Mull.

If I was delighted with the Barlow brothers’ result then I was really pleased to see James Ford with Neil Shanks in second place. James is one of those overlooked UK talents who could be on the world stage if only he had the budget. And didn’t Neil Roskell go well with Andrew Roughhead? Despite his lack of experience of rallying in general he has exploded on to the national stage and third place just proves what he lacks in youth, he makes up in skill and talent.

There was also great pleasure in seeing Scott MacBeth with Hannah McKillop in fourth place. We’ve all known that Scott has the talent but rarely the luck and all too often the mechanical disappointment. Just missing out on the final podium place will be hard to take but fourth in such illustrious company is one heckuva result.

In fact the top ten was just full of magic, with Jonathan Mounsey’s latest bid to win the one event he so dearly wants to win frustrated yet again and Ross Hunter doing what he does best, driving brilliantly in changing weather conditions. Rally car builder Wayne Sisson finished ninth sandwiched between the glorious Mk2 Ford Escorts of Stephen Thompson and Stewart Morrison. All of them, those magnificent men in their flying machines.

Two other results stood out like fiery beacons in a dark and murky nightscape, ‘Dangerous’ Des Campbell’s 12th place and young Ally Currie’s 21st place. I really don’t know how their respective co-drivers, Craig Forsyth and Alex Hill, could sit beside such driving dementedism (I just made that word up!) as Des is in a humble Peugeot 206 and Ally in a Peugeot 106. I simply can’t visualise how these diminutive machines can be propelled so quickly but it does recall one phrase to mind – “if in doubt, flat out!”

But really, everyone who finished the rally is a real star, and those who didn’t, deserve a medal anyway for just turning up and having a go ‘at the best rally in the world’.

And another impressive thing. Out of 119 starters there were 26 ladies and lasses taking part, a fact few other stage rallies could manage. Although having said that, there were countless womenfolk helping the rally crews and service crews, and of course the marshalling crews who turned out in their dozens to ensure the continued success of this event.

One note of concern though. I noticed on social media that some folk were disappointed in the Salen Re-Start ceremony on Saturday evening. Apparently it seemed to lack the sense of occasion and celebration that it has done in the past. We have to remember that rallying is not just about the winners and the losers, but all of those in between, those clubmen and women who bolster and support every rally entry list. Each and every one has an essential part to play in the drama and action. Perhaps it needs the return of ‘the prat in the hat’!

Or failing that, maybe we could ask Eddie O’Donnell to take on commentary duty because he’ll never get a car built in time for next year, even if he starts now, will he?

I just hope that Mull never loses its unique social atmosphere and competitive blend of fun and sporting enjoyment because that’s what it’s all about. Unique because it all takes place on a relatively small island that is so friendly, welcoming and easily accessible - when the ferries run! CalMac does have its critics but it’s not all their fault. They have been badly let down by those who are supposed to govern our country and help our fellow countryfolk, and that includes the islanders even more than the mainlanders.

Politics over, hail King Fergus.

P.S. I’ve just had a very worrying and disturbing thought. Just suppose Fergus was indeed made King of Scotland. His qualities shone through on that recent CalMac documentary on the telly. If you didn’t see it, it’s well worth a catch-up and watch.

 

Rally - No going back

The deed is done! The text for the book entitled ‘Scottish Rally Championship 1980-1989’ was signed off at the printer’s on Monday and this morning the final hardback cover design was signed off. The printer reckons it will be a three week job but more likely to be four weeks, so early November is B-Day – not to be confused with bidet!

It’s now too late to make any changes, but if I was to do it again, would I make changes? Put it this way the format for the next book ‘SRC 1990-1999’ will remain broadly the same but I think I am going to have to include more tales and stories as opposed to simply recording hard facts and written rally reports. Whilst those who have seen sections already have liked the history, there seems to have been a desire for more personal stories and insights.

Of course there are already a few in there, but the trial ‘audience’ seemed to want more. On that basis there are likely to be more in the next book or maybe there is a need for an additional ‘final’ volume in the series that simply records and re-tells all the scandal, scuttlebutt and silliness which has entertained as well as enthused and informed.

The whole idea behind this project at the outset was to record the history of the Scottish championship before we lose special stage rallying in the forests – which might be rather more imminent than some people may imagine – and we are left with closed road rallying.

So far no-one has attempted to keep a record of the sport in Scotland (and down south!) which is very sad. Surely a sport which we have all enjoyed so far and still enjoying now is worth creating a permanent record for future generations of motor sports fans?

It’s one thing looking at those internet sites which store rally results, it’s quite another reading how those results were physically, mechanically and competitively arrived at on the ground on the day.

So it’s now out of my hands and others will judge. I’m sure mistakes will have crept in despite the never-ending proof-reading sessions and whilst positive criticism will be welcomed, the detractors and faultfinders will need to be sure of their arguments if we ever meet face to face!

Just remember my big pal Jaggy is not the most forgiving type.

Rally - the bright side

Given the amount of waatter that has fallen on the west coast of Scotland and the sceptred isle over recent days there will be folk out there concerned about what may happen this weekend on the Beatson’s Tour of Mull Rally. Well, dinnae worry. It’s been bad before. In fact, way back in the Year 2000, the event was called the Rally of 1000 Puddles in tribute to Finland’s Rally of 1000 Lakes.

Apparently the pre-event Beer Rally was cancelled that year because the RNLI refused to come out due to the fearfully wet conditions.

It was on that basis that the 31st Philips Tour of Mull Rally took place on the tortuous winding canals of Mull. Visibility was further reduced because the rain was coming doon like stair roads and stotting off the tar so hard it was creating a mist. Wet? Some folk even resorted to calling it Mull's Rally of a Million Puddles.

The rally ended with a splash in the early hours of Sunday morning with Callum and Hugh Duffy stunning seasoned rally followers with a heroic and gutsy drive to clinch a last gasp victory.

Nine times winner Neil MacKinnon led the rally by 8 seconds after the first 50 mile Leg over Friday night and into Saturday morning. He led again by 6 seconds at the end of the second 50 mile daylight section on Saturday afternoon. But it was on the third and final Leg late on Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning that the Dervaig father and son team staged a remarkable and memorable fightback.

On the first stage of the night, Duffy snatched back a massive 24 seconds to take the lead. MacKinnon responded with a time 15 seconds better than his rival on the next. It was Duffy's turn again by 3 seconds on the third stage from last setting up a grandstand finish.

MacKinnon turned up the heat (steam?) yet again over the final two stages but it was on the last blast over the island's tortuous, winding roads, awash with rain-water that the deed was duly decided. Duffy's time of 11 minutes 39 seconds for the 14 mile stage was jaw-droppingly awesome.

The winning margin? 28 seconds after 152 miles of timed-to-the-second motoring over some of the most demanding roads in Europe in frightful weather conditions.

It was Duffy's second win on his home event and he denied MacKinnon his record tenth victory. To give some idea of the pace these two were setting, twice winner in 1990 and '91, Andy Knight was third, over 6 minutes behind in the leading two wheel drive car.

Even so, it was a remarkable 1-2-3 for the home based crews with Daniel Harper first of the visitors in fourth place with John Cressey fifth and John Swinscoe sixth and first rear wheel drive car in his awfy smart Mk2.

Stuart McQueen was top GrpN in the Lancer in 7th place and James MacGillivray sailed to victory in the 1600 class with 9th. Top 1300 runner was Chris Tooze in the wee Pyugget just outside the top ten in 12th place.

And the real heroes? Of course the event wouldn’t have happened without the dozens of waterlogged and wind-swept individuals who floated gently at anchor at their various marshalling positions around the island.

In fact my auld pal Jaggy Bunnet remarked on a most unusual and memorable sight over at Ulva Ferry where a pink blob like a cow's udder was seen running around. No, it wasn't the drink, it was the conditions - it was only a wee dug which had been blown inside out in the wind!

So it can’t be that bad again this weekend – can it?

Results after 18 Special Stages:

1, Callum Duffy/Hugh Duffy (Mitsubishi Lancer)  2hr 34mins 29secs

2, Neil MacKinnon/Mike Stayte (Subaru Impreza)  2hr 34m 57s

3, Andy Knight/Graeme Noble (Ford Escort RS2000)  2hr 41m 18s

4, Daniel Harper/Daniel Barritt (Vauxhall Astra)  2hr 42m 59s

5, John Cressey/Ian Grindrod (Vauxhall Astra)  2hr 44m 36s

6, John Swinscoe/Paula Swinscoe (Ford Escort)  2hr 48m 34s

7, Stuart McQueen/Alistair Green (Mitsubishi Lancer)  2hr 49m 21s

8, Roger Binyon/Nick Bray (Mitsubishi Lancer)  2hr 50m 05s

9, James MacGillivray/Brian Kennedy (Vauxhall Corsa)  2hr 51m 29s

10, Mark Jasper/Alan Snell (Ford Escort Cos)  2hr 52m 05s

Rally - The Black Rose

20 years ago rallying lost a true friend and passionate enthusiast on the Mull Rally. Co-driver Susan Cameron succumbed to injuries sustained in an accident when her Peugeot 205 left the road shortly after the start of Stage 3 and crashed into trees.

The rest of the rally was cancelled after that fateful evening but husband Duncan was adamant that the rally should carry on come Saturday, and it did.

As reported in ‘MullMurmurs’ at the time, no two people shared a stronger passion for our sport. Duncan and Susan had met at Aberdeen University some 25 years before and they joined the local car club. First they went marshalling and then competing  (in Duncan’s Mum's Mini without her knowledge!). They were wed on the first day of the International Scottish Rally in June 1980 and spent their honeymoon following the rally. That event ensured that they never forgot their anniversary, but they rarely spent it together as Duncan would be servicing and Susan officiating. It also meant Duncan didn't need to buy Susan an anniversary present as he didn't see her for a week!

The following year Duncan returned to Mull with the number 84 yellow and orange Peugeot Rallye 205 but this time it had a black rose painted on the bonnet. As he and co-driver Andy Bull crossed the finish line in 29^th place overall it was reported by one onlooker that he could have sworn he noticed a smack of pink lipstick on the front bumper. Maybe it was just a trick of the light – or maybe not?

Anyway, if you see any black roses on any of the cars on this year’s event that’s down to family friends Tom and Sue Hynd who are carrying a black rose on their own little red Peugeot in memory of a highly colourful and effervescent character whom we lost twenty years ago this year. A few others will be carrying the rose too, thanks to Tom and Sue, so keep your eyes peeled.

This year’s event gets underway next Friday the 13^th, so be careful everyone, and have a safe and successful rally.

Rally - The Tobermory 200

Rallying on Mull hasn’t always been on tarmac. In the early days it used some loose surface stretches of private road as well as public road selectives and it has also run a rallysprint on a stretch of Forestry Commission road. Less well known is Mull’s own special stage rally – the Tobermory 200.

Way back in May of 1991 James MacGillivray scored his first ever outright rally victory, on the Mishnish Hotel Tobermory 200 Rally. Unlike the main October event run over closed public roads this early season thrash featured 32 miles of special stages over mixed tar and gravel surfaces. Having replaced his Ralloy Escort's 1300 engine with a 1600 engine, MacGillivray was expected to be a front runner but there was some fierce competition in store from the other 31 runners.

Unfortunately, the previous year's runner-up, Eddie O'Donnell appeared late at the rally start (some things never change, eh?) with last minute problems in the Torosay Coal Escort. Even starting last car did not allow Eddie the time to effect a permanent cure and he retired after just three stages with a badly smoking engine.

Gordon Boyd had also struck trouble in the third stage with a spin resulting in a stalled engine, which then refused to fire up quickly. Then it was Robin Hamilton's turn. Flying over the ‘yump’ in Ardura (south of Craignure), the Sunbeam landed on its nose bending the steering and splaying the front wheels. This gave MacGillivray a bit of a breather at the head of the field but he too admitted to a fright in Ardura. His Escort had actually bounced off the road following the ‘yump’ but miraculously bounced back on again!

But they were the lucky ones, Alan Mair was fast losing gears in his Escort and retired at the half way halt while Graham Brown encountered a roadside rock in the first stage when flat in third. It was quite a sore one - from 80 mph to zero in a matter of yards! Chris Paton also retired with a broken distributor and Alan Brodie broke his diff. Jim Fergusson's rally started ominously with a puncture on the first road section then a steering coupling broke in Ardura, followed by a kindly inquiry from the local constabulary surveying the sorry looking front end: "You won't be going any further, will you sir?" He didn't!

Boyd and Hamilton shared the fastest times over the mist shrouded Genesis tests, named after the helpful Phil Collins (Yes, ‘the’ Phil Collins!) who allowed the use of his land (at Pennyghael), but MacGillivray was never far away and at the half way point was leading the field on 18 Minutes 14 Seconds from Hamilton on 18:22 and Boyd on 18:36.

Heading north back up the island over the same tests run in reverse Boyd grabbed another couple of fastest times but MacGillivray snatched three. Also showing well was the V8 powered Ascona of Mike McKenzie who was quickest over two of the tests and earlier in the morning had really impressed the locals with a time just 2 seconds slower than MacGillivray over ‘the Vets’, the road on which young MacGillivray had originally learned to drive!

Sadly for McKenzie, the best result of his career slipped from his grasp when the clutch failed on the final stage and he and Gordon Smith had to get out and push the recalcitrant beast for over a mile to record a finish! McKenzie's troubles gave young Graham Brown his chance to snatch 4th place in his Sunbeam ahead of team mate John McKenzie in the Opel Ascona while the car-pushing McKenzie dropped back to 7th behind Anda Campbell’s Sunbeam.

MacGillivray finished with a flourish fastest over the final return visit to ‘the Vets’ to take a highly deserved and popular first ever rally victory. This event was also notable for another reason. Finishing in eighth place overall in the co-driving seat was a youngster who was sorely desperate to be old enough to get his driving licence - and put on his driving boots!

RESULTS:

1, James MacGillivray/Colin Kennedy (Ford Escort) 36:16

2, Robin Hamilton/Nicky Geddes  (Talbot Sunbeam) 36:44

3, Gordon Boyd/Callum Guy  (Talbot Sunbeam) 36:50

4, Graham Brown/Ian Wilshire  (Talbot Sunbeam) 37:58

5, John McKenzie/Trish Elder  (Opel Ascona) 38:19

6, Anda Campbell/Neil McKinnon  (Talbot Sunbeam) 39:26

7, Mike McKenzie/Gordon Smith  (Opel Ascona) 39:28

8, Alistair Ingram/Calum Duffy  (Sunbeam Lotus) 39:37

9, Ian Donaldson/Alex McNeill  (Ford Escort) 39:52

10, Steve Davis/Robert Mathieson  (Ford Fiesta) 40:55

Rally - Adventurous times

With the closed road 2023 Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally about to hit the tarmac in two weeks time, things were very different 50 years ago.

In 1972, just three years after its inception, the rally was included as a round of the Scottish Rally Championship for the first time. Sponsored by Shell Petroleum I was there ‘officially’ with my new boss, Bill Houston, Shell’s publicity and PR manager, but I travelled up with a chap called Jonathan Osborne. He was a journalist with the Scottish magazine ‘Motor World’ but also did some PR work for Shell and so I was tasked with ’assisting’ him.

It was a good match. He was an avid bird watcher so the apprentice got to drive whilst he scanned the skyline and called out all the various birds he spotted. On Mull, he almost wrenched his neck counting the number of buzzards he saw sitting on fence posts and telegraph poles. The other good match-making point was the car was being crewed by two pipe smokers and when it stopped and the car doors were opened, a grey fug spewed from the interior with marshals thinking the car was on fire. It also ensured that no-one else wanted a lift in the ‘official’ Press transport!

The job was to try and interview competitors at Passage Controls and at the end of accessible selective or stage finishes for quotes which were suitable for printing in subsequent press releases and reports. Exciting times.

The 1972 event was also a counter in the Motoring News Road Rally Championship so the 100 car entry had attracted all the top clubmen and women from down south plus half an entry’s worth of Scottish crews, mostly contesting this new format Scottish championship round.

The other big surprise that year was the crew in the winning car. Alan Conley and Crawford Dunn in the Clan Crusader finished almost four minutes clear of the Ford Escort RS1600 of James Rae and Mike Malcolm. Powered by a 998cc engine, the works prepared fibreglass, half ton wedge literally flew round Mull seemingly spending more time in the air than on the tar. Few thought it would finish let alone win.

It was no fluke, Andy Dawson and John Foden had finished second on the 1972 Manx Rally in a Clan Crusader making its competition debut a few weeks earlier. In second place on that other island was the Ford Escort RS1600 of a certain Roger Clark and Jim Porter!

Back on Mull, Donald Heggie and George Dean finished third in the Ford Escort TC having led at one point on the Saturday afternoon but dropped back as night fell. In fourth place were Rosemary Smith and Pauline Gullick in another RS1600, but the most memorable thing here was the intoxicating and very pleasant fragrance which wafted along in the car’s wake. Unlike the fug which enveloped the gentlemen of the ‘Press’ carriage, when the ladies wound down their windows to chat, the rich smell of hot brakes, clutches and rubber was somewhat neutralised by the rather more pleasant and exotic perfume.

Invented in 1921, the French perfumiers had perfected their Chanel No.5 recipe to such an extent It was able to overpower the hot, pungent aromas of hard working rally cars. It was a helluva difference and a most welcome change compared to the nauseating whiff of sweaty bloke crews assaulting the nostrils!

Back to the rally. Stuart Brown and Ian Muir were fifth in their Cooper S despite the regular occurrence of the sun visor dropping down after every yump and obscuring the driver’s vision. There was no magic tape or tie-wraps back then! The BMW of Ron and David Smith was sixth while John Price and Mervyn Gerrish were a commendable seventh in the Alpine which had been hastily rebuilt after its Manx Rally roll.

Pre rally favourite Harold Morley retired with head gasket failure, Bob Jeffs punctured a tyre and slid off the road while Paul Faulkner and Martin Holmes who were down to enter did not take part. Apparently Paul felt the expense was not worth it, a disappointment for roving World Rally Championship co-driver and professional scribe Martin Holmes who had wanted to visit this new and notorious rallying outpost.

1972 Top Ten Results

1, Alan Conley/Crawford Dunn (Clan Crusader)

2, James Rae/Mike Malcolm (Ford Escort RS1600)

3, Donald Heggie/George Dean (Ford Escort TC)

4, Rosemary Smith/Pauline Gullick (Ford Escort RS1600)

5, Stuart Brown/Ian Muir (Mini Cooper S)

6, Ronald Smith/David Smith (BMW 2002)

7, John Price/Mervyn Gerrish (Alpine 1600)

8, John Burton/Brian Rowland (Ford Capri 3000)

9, Dave Stewart/Alan Murray (Ford Escort TC)

10, Alastair Kesson/Tom Baillie (Ford Escort RS1600)