Rally - Speaking of nutters!

... (see previous Post) ... a weel kent face was spotted in the Land Rover Defender camp at the Scottish Borders Hill Rally. One John Cockburn Esq no less.

It seems the engineer from the sunny side of Perthshire is doing some development work and on-event support for the Bowler Motorsport Dept within Jaguar Land Rover. He is also responsible for the setting up of the Service Area for the 12 Defenders which are contesting the unique Land Rover Defender Challenge this year. Just seven cars had made the long trek north as this was the final round of the nine event series. Even so the guys that made it were full of the joys of Galloway forest motoring.

Just a few months back, the bold lad was out in sunny Spain as part of a three car team contesting the two day, 944 km, Baja Aragon event with three of these Defender Challenge spec cars. First time out Frazer and Spencer Williams finished third in class with Cockburn and Paul Mansfield fourth in class.

Anyway, back to the 'nutter' bit. For those of you with a short memory, or too young to know, John Cockburn was the guy who turned up to contest the Mull Rally in 2004 but, as a Dakar and RallyRaid specialist, his idea of a rally car was rather different to most sensible stage rally folk.

The following is an extract from the very 'MullMurmurs' bulletin published on that event ....

 ..... But for ‘oddball’machines it’s hard to beat John Cockburn’s Range Rover. He appeared with a TomCat last year, a sort of open-air, cutdown version of a Land Rover Defender that had a fight with a demented tin can opener – and lost. Well, our dear old MSA governing body didn’t like this machine and told him to build a ‘proper’ rally car to do ‘proper’ rallies – and this is the result, the outcome of a tortured mind, addled with too much drink. It’s sort of built on a Discovery II Chassis with a Range Rover body grafted on to TomCat suspension, but tucked away at the back of the front bulkhead, almost between the two front seats, is the engine.
And what an engine. It’s big enough for the CalMac Ferry. In fact, stick this in the ‘Isle of Mull’ and we could all water-ski over to the island! It’s a 5 litre V8 with 364 bhp and what a glorious noise – albeit subdued due to the constraints of the person who introduced noise limits for rally cars ....

He and George Bream finished 37th overall that year in a car with a silhouette that looked from the outside like an iron bedstead with a shroud draped over it.

Anyway it would appear that little mellowing has taken place since then as the LR service area featured some Cockburn inspired festive decoration - and it's only November. Gaun yersel JC.

 

Rally - Nutters Alert!

It's six years since Henry Webster last competed on the Scottish Borders Hill Rally and he is making his comeback this weekend with Emrys Kirby - and Muddy Moo!

 

Entered by Friesian Racing (!) Muddy Moo is not really a prize winning, high milk yielding coo, it is in fact a Land Rover Discovery disguised as a member of the bovine fraternity.

 

Every sport has, and needs, its eccentrics, and hill rallying is no different, but don't get the idea that Henry is just there for the kicks and the calcium, he's every bit as competitive as every other entrant. Come on the Moo! 

 

Scottish Borders Hill Rally

The Scottish Borders Hill Rally takes to the forest roads, firebreaks, ditches and quarries of the Forrest Estate just to the north of St John's Town of Dalry this weekend, the 19th/20th November.

Unfortunately it's not a spectator event as the rally takes place on private land. However, if you fancy a nosey at the 48 car entry, the Service Park might just be of interest and a chat to the crews will provide an insight into the sport.

This type of event can accommodate all classes of vehicle from standard production 4x4s to custom built 120 mph V8 monsters with two feet of suspension travel. This weekend's event is also a round of the new Defender Rally Series a one-make championship for current model Land Rover Defender SWB cars and promoted by specialist preparation firm, Bowler Motors Ltd with support from Land Rover UK.

Like any form of motor sport it ain't cheap but the entry level production  car classes provide an ideal way of finding out what thrills and challenges the sport has to offer without breaking the bank.

However, not all events apply the same rules with regard to eligibility so competitors have to make sure they read and understand each individual event's Regulations and if they have any doubts, contact the Scrutineers before turning up at an event.

Even so, the cars are prepared to a less rigorous standard than special stage rally cars which means that at the top level, the competitive machinery is not quite so outrageously expensive.

However, it's the Production Car Class which could stimulate initial interest. The emphasis here is on strength and protection as opposed to speed and agility. In some events there is no need for a roll-cage although such an accessory is to be recommended. Even a single hoop behind the seats, or in the case of an old-school Defender pickup, behind the cabin and mounted on the flatbed would appear to suffice.

Otherwise, it's all about strengthening suspension mountings and protecting the underbody. Standard seats and belts can be used although proper race seats and harnesses would be better. Neither is a flameproof racesuit mandatory, although certainly advisable, but crew members must have an MSUK/FIA approved crash helmet.

On a recent event a first timer appeared with his bog standard SWB diesel Defender with a single external hoop and the driver competed in his tartan shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He and his co-driver had a ball. They weren't quick, but they weren't last. Another popular budget choice is the surprisingly competent Suzuki Jimny.

There's no recce and no Pace Notes, just a Tulip Roadbook and follow the arrows, although there is a timetable and Time Cards.

Each Special Stage will have some speedy sections, interspersed with some short, technical sections of rougher, muddy, or watery going.

This weekend the first Leg starts at 10.00 am on the Saturday morning and includes a couple of stages in the dark in the evening before the final Leg starts on Sunday at 10.00 am and finishes early afternoon so that folks from the south can head for home. Entry Fee is £595 for 12 stages totalling some 110 miles.

As I said, it's just a pity that this is a NON-SPECTATOR event but if you do venture up the single track road that leads to Forrest Estate please drive carefully as you'll pass a couple of houses and farms. The estate itself does actually allow public access for hill walking and mountain biking, but for one weekend a year it's closed for the Scottish Borders Hill Rally.

 

Rally - 1980 Coltness Stages Rally

Where are they now? ... This event won't make the book that is currently being written about the Scottish Rally Championship as Coltness Car Club's 'Coltness Stages Rally' in 1980 wasn't in the national series.

Even so this 15 Stage rally attracted 120 entries plus 8 reserves 42 years ago to its event which included 30 miles of stages in the 150 mile route. All the stages were held on private land and many may recall names such as Muldron, Hareshaw, Dunsyston, Mountcow, Cairngryffe, Howgate and Boreland amongst others.

Starting from Newmains in Lanarkshire the rally finished back there at the Pine Lodge Hotel for the after rally prizegiving, disco and serious bevvy session - and maybe one of the reasons that particular hostelry no longer exists! You'll never guess what first prize was - six bottles of Auchentoshan whisky. Aye, them were't days, eh?

CCC President Tom Clark and Charlie Young won the rally outright from Jimmy Horne and Ashley Strachan although third placed Alastair and Judy Fletcher might have made more of an impression on the top two places had they not slid off one stage and gone through a fence!

Still rallying these days, albeit in a Peugeot 208 Rally4, back then Richard Stewart and Bob Morland, the number 26 seeds finished eighth overall, having 'graduated' from a Ford Anglia to a Talbot Sunbeam while a certain Richard Malloch Nicoll was ninth overall.

Robin Christie might well have made the top ten but for a deceptive right hander in the penultimate stage. The Chevette rolled off the road and landed on top of the Course Opening Car! At least there were sufficient bodies around to get him back on the road. Bill Lymburn dropped out of contention  with a broken panhard rod in the Triumph TR7 V8 and Kenny Stewart incurred 19 minutes worth of Time Penalties while John Allan failed to finish when a brake disc broke up and tore the centre out of a wheel.

Bruce Lyle's rally ended against a tree on the penultimate stage and was followed in quick succession by Drew Murray, Hugh Steel, Ronnie Burns and Ronnie Gray - the tree is still there!

Top Ten:

1, Tom Clark/Charlie Young (Ford Escort RS)  31 mins 34 secs

2, Jimmy Horne/Ashley Strachan (Ford Escort RS)  32m 53s

3, Alastair Fletcher/Judy Fletcher (Vauxhall Chevette)  33m 03s

4, Fred Henderson/Fiona Beacon (Vauxhall Chevette)  33m 07s

5, Walter McDonald/Charlie Caven (Ford Escort RS)  33m 24s

6, Jimmy Fleming/Margaret Fleming (Vauxhall Chevette)  33m 48s

7, George Marshall/Alan Ainslie (Vauxhall Chevette)  34m 06s

8, Richard Stewart/Bob Morland (Talbot Sunbeam)  34m 07s

9, Richard Nicoll/Gordon Mackie (Ford Escort Mexico)  34m 16s

10, John Wilson/Ken Richardson  (Ford Escort RS2000)  34m 30s