The 'real' RAC Rally gets underway in North
Yorkshire this Friday (8th Nov.) before venturing northwards to Kielder over
Saturday and Sunday. There's a full Timetable and Entry List in the
rally mag, but very few Scots are taking part. Still, if you're doing nowt else, here's the ideal excuse to get out of the house and into the fresh air and listen to the sounds of Winter - BDAs in the morning, noon and night!.
http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2013/11/04-nov-the-real-rac-rally/
The organisers have published a good spectator guide with maps on line and there's a link to that in my own stuff too.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Rally - Inglis wins Crail
In pouring rain, Alistair Inglis powered past Stuart Baillie over the final two stages to clinch victory on the Kingdom Stages Rally by 12 seconds. But doing what he had to do was Ian Forgan. Finishing 10th overall, and 2nd in his Blue Tarmack Scottish Championship class, was enough to clinch the title of Scottish Rally Champion for 2013.
Bob Grant lost out on a top four finish when the Subaru's diff failed on the final stage and Gerry Gaffney was disheartened not to finish in the top ten when the crew took a wrong direction at the split on the final stage! Sean Will also lost out on the penultimate stage when he punctured a front tyre and he too dropped out of the top ten and John Rintoul in the wee Skoda also lost out on a top ten finish when the co-driver reached across to switch on the wipers in the rain - and switched off the fuel pump. It took them 2 minutes to realise what had actually gone wrong.
All these last minute problems left a strange look to the top ten with John Paterson finishing third overall in his Millington MkII while equally impressive was young Ross Marshall in his 1600cc MkII in fourth place. We always knew he had it in him, but it's been hidden for a wee while, but Kenny Moore got his Hillman Avenger into the top six with fifth place ahead of Lee Hastings who sideswiped a chicane with the Subaru on the penultimate test.
Bruce Edwards clawed his way back into the top ten after his earlier indiscretion with 7th while first time out for a while was Jamie Stewart finishing 8th in his 2 litre Peugeot 205. Neil Thompson had a good run into 9th with his Corsa and Ian Forgan just managed to make the top ten after a very cautious run, doing just what he had to do to get the points to clinch his first Scottish title.
And if anyone thinks single venue rallying is not scary, think on this, Crail + Rain = Aquaplaning. In fact there was some serious aquaplaning going on out there at times with a wide eyed Alistair Inglis telling me: "There were a couple of times round the back of the airfield I was flat in sixth gear and the car was drifting as if it was on a gravel stage. The trouble was, it wasn't, it was water."
Leaderboard after 6 (of 6) stages:
1, A Inglis, Mitsubishi, 76m 56s
2, S Baillie, Subaru, 77m 08s
3, J Paterson, Escort, 78m 07s
4, R Marshall, Escort, 78m 47s
5, K Moore, Avenger, 81m 40s
6, L Hastings, Subaru,81m 43s
7, B Edwards, Darrian, 81m 50s
8, J Stewart, Peugeot 205, 82m 14s
9, N Thompson, Corsa, 82m 30s
10, I Forgan, Ford Ka, 82m 44s
Bob Grant lost out on a top four finish when the Subaru's diff failed on the final stage and Gerry Gaffney was disheartened not to finish in the top ten when the crew took a wrong direction at the split on the final stage! Sean Will also lost out on the penultimate stage when he punctured a front tyre and he too dropped out of the top ten and John Rintoul in the wee Skoda also lost out on a top ten finish when the co-driver reached across to switch on the wipers in the rain - and switched off the fuel pump. It took them 2 minutes to realise what had actually gone wrong.
All these last minute problems left a strange look to the top ten with John Paterson finishing third overall in his Millington MkII while equally impressive was young Ross Marshall in his 1600cc MkII in fourth place. We always knew he had it in him, but it's been hidden for a wee while, but Kenny Moore got his Hillman Avenger into the top six with fifth place ahead of Lee Hastings who sideswiped a chicane with the Subaru on the penultimate test.
Bruce Edwards clawed his way back into the top ten after his earlier indiscretion with 7th while first time out for a while was Jamie Stewart finishing 8th in his 2 litre Peugeot 205. Neil Thompson had a good run into 9th with his Corsa and Ian Forgan just managed to make the top ten after a very cautious run, doing just what he had to do to get the points to clinch his first Scottish title.
And if anyone thinks single venue rallying is not scary, think on this, Crail + Rain = Aquaplaning. In fact there was some serious aquaplaning going on out there at times with a wide eyed Alistair Inglis telling me: "There were a couple of times round the back of the airfield I was flat in sixth gear and the car was drifting as if it was on a gravel stage. The trouble was, it wasn't, it was water."
Leaderboard after 6 (of 6) stages:
1, A Inglis, Mitsubishi, 76m 56s
2, S Baillie, Subaru, 77m 08s
3, J Paterson, Escort, 78m 07s
4, R Marshall, Escort, 78m 47s
5, K Moore, Avenger, 81m 40s
6, L Hastings, Subaru,81m 43s
7, B Edwards, Darrian, 81m 50s
8, J Stewart, Peugeot 205, 82m 14s
9, N Thompson, Corsa, 82m 30s
10, I Forgan, Ford Ka, 82m 44s
Rally - Baillie leads
If the weather was bad before, it's terrible now. Cold driving rain is sweeping across the Crail tarmac on today's Kingdom Stages Rally, and the real stars of the show out there today are the Marshals. The poor sods are standing there like great piles of drookit laundry.
As far as the rally goes, there has been a change of leader. After 4 stages, Stuart Baillie in the Impreza leads the Mitsubishi of Alistair Inglis by 3 seconds. Inglis had a problem though: "The electrics cut out mid way round that last stage and we had to stop. The main external cut-out switch was faulty. We had to get out the car and switch it back on."
Bruce Edwards has dropped out of the top ten but is still going. It would appear he did an extra lap on SS3! Tom Morris is out altogether after a fault developed in the Metro's paddle shift. Nothing major, a tiny wee grub screw in the paddles had come loose - he's Loctited it now!
And as for Scott and Adam Russell, they're out too. They got the gearbox changed and did SS2 but were technically out of time so were not allowed into SS3. Such a shame.
Leaderboard after 4 (of 6) stages:
1, S Baillie, 49m 56s
2, A Inglis, 49m 59s
3, J Paterson, 50m 54s
4, B Grant, 51m 08s
5, R Marshall, 51m 29s
6, L Hastings, 52m 15s
7, G Gaffney, 52m 36s
8, N Thompson, 53m 05s
9, S Will, 53m 10s
10, J Stewart, 53m 17s
As far as the rally goes, there has been a change of leader. After 4 stages, Stuart Baillie in the Impreza leads the Mitsubishi of Alistair Inglis by 3 seconds. Inglis had a problem though: "The electrics cut out mid way round that last stage and we had to stop. The main external cut-out switch was faulty. We had to get out the car and switch it back on."
Bruce Edwards has dropped out of the top ten but is still going. It would appear he did an extra lap on SS3! Tom Morris is out altogether after a fault developed in the Metro's paddle shift. Nothing major, a tiny wee grub screw in the paddles had come loose - he's Loctited it now!
And as for Scott and Adam Russell, they're out too. They got the gearbox changed and did SS2 but were technically out of time so were not allowed into SS3. Such a shame.
Leaderboard after 4 (of 6) stages:
1, S Baillie, 49m 56s
2, A Inglis, 49m 59s
3, J Paterson, 50m 54s
4, B Grant, 51m 08s
5, R Marshall, 51m 29s
6, L Hastings, 52m 15s
7, G Gaffney, 52m 36s
8, N Thompson, 53m 05s
9, S Will, 53m 10s
10, J Stewart, 53m 17s
Rally - Inglis leads
Gawd, it's cauld. It's also damp, dreich and grey at Crail this morning. The early morning sunshine has given way to a North Sea dampness that eats away at every layer of clothing you can pull on. There's no polar bears or yetis here either, it's too damn cauld.
That means it's very greasy out there. "It's like ice," said Bruce Edwards, but after 2 of the day's six stages,
Alistair Inglis in the Lancer has taken a 15 second lead from Stuart Baillie in his Impreza.
But Keith Robathan is out. First time out in the original rebuilt white MkII (after his Jim Clark crash in the second car) he's retired after 6 miles. "We think it's the water pump," said Keith, "a brand new engine and it was all going fine till I saw the temperature going up as we slowed for the finish, so switched off." What a shame.
The Russell boys in the Nova are having a tough time. Thegearbox blew a hole in the casing on the first stage and the boys set to at service to change the 'box. They had 45 minutes before being out of time for the start of SS2 and I've just seen them driving past the Transit 'mobile press office' now. But it wasn't just them under and around the car, Dangerous Des and Gareth appeared on the scene with a team and you couldn't see the wee car for bodies and flying spanners. Magic.
That's what rallying's all about - just one problem. Mrs Russell will have to feed them burgers and tea! That'll be a lot dearer than a replacement gearbox.
Leaderboard after 2 (of 6) stages:
1, A Inglis, 24m 00s
2, S Baillie, 24m 15s
3, T Morris, 24m 36s
4, J Paterson, 24m 49s
5, B Grant, 25m 00s
6, B Edwards, 25m 09s
7, R Marshall, 25m 16s
8, S Will, 25m 25s
9, L Hastings, 25m 34s
10, J Rintoul, 25m 45s
That means it's very greasy out there. "It's like ice," said Bruce Edwards, but after 2 of the day's six stages,
Alistair Inglis in the Lancer has taken a 15 second lead from Stuart Baillie in his Impreza.
But Keith Robathan is out. First time out in the original rebuilt white MkII (after his Jim Clark crash in the second car) he's retired after 6 miles. "We think it's the water pump," said Keith, "a brand new engine and it was all going fine till I saw the temperature going up as we slowed for the finish, so switched off." What a shame.
The Russell boys in the Nova are having a tough time. Thegearbox blew a hole in the casing on the first stage and the boys set to at service to change the 'box. They had 45 minutes before being out of time for the start of SS2 and I've just seen them driving past the Transit 'mobile press office' now. But it wasn't just them under and around the car, Dangerous Des and Gareth appeared on the scene with a team and you couldn't see the wee car for bodies and flying spanners. Magic.
That's what rallying's all about - just one problem. Mrs Russell will have to feed them burgers and tea! That'll be a lot dearer than a replacement gearbox.
Leaderboard after 2 (of 6) stages:
1, A Inglis, 24m 00s
2, S Baillie, 24m 15s
3, T Morris, 24m 36s
4, J Paterson, 24m 49s
5, B Grant, 25m 00s
6, B Edwards, 25m 09s
7, R Marshall, 25m 16s
8, S Will, 25m 25s
9, L Hastings, 25m 34s
10, J Rintoul, 25m 45s
Friday, 1 November 2013
Road - Octavially impressed
Spent the past week in a 150 PS, 2 litre Skoda Octavia DSG.
Thoroughly impressed. Roomy, quick and really quite frugal with the 6 speed
auto’box.
But here’s the thing.
Which would you rather have? A 2 litre VW
Passat with the same gearbox, or the Skoda? The Skoda sounds quite expensive at
£21,390, but the VW is 2300 quid more expensive.
Full appraisal will be in the
mag next week once I’ve ruminated a bit more.
Rally - Night Moves
While the stars of the
world stage are thrashing about the forests of north Wales over the weekend of
15/16/17 November, the not-so starry-eyed will be circumnavigating the lanes
and roads of Berwickshire overnight on Saturday 16/Sunday 17 November.
Border Ecosse Car Club
will be hosting the 20th ‘Early Winter Navigational Rally’ in the
Scottish Borders. This year’s event will actually comprise 3 events in one, a 70
mile 12 car rally ideally suited for beginners and newcomers, and two 200 mile events
for Clubmen and National B competitors, although there will also be classes for
Experts, Non-Experts and Novices.
The event will also be a
counter in the Scottish Association of Car Clubs Navigational Rally Championship
as well as The Inter-Association Navigational Rally Challenge. So if you want
to find out all about navigational rallying in Scotland, this is an ideal event
to visit.
Unlike forest rallying,
the emphasis is on solving Route Instructions (ranging from easy-peasy to effen
ridiculous) to find your way around the route devised by the organisers. Along
the way, there are ‘Code Boards’ to note to ensure you are on the right route.
Such events teach
drivers and navigators about teamwork and toleration. This is vitally important
because if you can’t reason out the clues, resolve any arguments, or simply agree
to disagree then there is little room inside a car to swing a punch and knock your
navigator’s lights out – or vice versa. You really need to make a conscious
effort to get out of the car to get physical – but this is November, and cold
enough to freeze the nuts off a chocolate whirl. Better to sort things out
amicably, thus ensuring that navigational rallying also provides a serious life
lesson.
If you fancy a proper
night-out, give it a whirl. All you can lose is yourselves. I could say I know
this because I’ve been there, but I can’t – cos I was lost at the time and didn’t
know where the hell I was!
So, dump the SatNav, buy
an OS map and go have some fun.
Full information and
Event Regs:
Rally - Galloway Classes
That's the roundup from all the Classes on last weekend's Armstrong Galloway Hills up on the rally mag now. News & Gossip to follow, but was Iain Haining's 8th consecutive class win due to speed, skill, and technique, or more likely, was it down to threatening whispers over the intercom? Did Drew Struthers actually swear and are there more Camerons in a rally car than school weans in a tuck shop?
http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2013/11/01-nov-galloway-hills-class-roundup/
http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2013/11/01-nov-galloway-hills-class-roundup/
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