Rally - Binnie Wins Snowman

What a start to the 2022 KNC Groundworks Scottish Rally Championship! Making it back to back victories on this year's AM Phillip Trucktech Snowman were Michael Binnie and Claire Mole in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9, and no one more surprised than them.

When the mighty MINI WRC of David Bogie and Kevin Rae limped out with a rear puncture, all bets were off and all pre-event predictions were binned. "I didn't see anything, I just felt the bump," said David. The impact also bent a rear arm so he had to do the second stage with the car steering from the rear as well as the front.

Binnie was fastest over that opener but Freddie Milne and Patrick Walsh in the Fiesta R5 were only 2 seconds slower. Game on.

Binnie's fastest time in SS2 was matched by the Ford Focus of Bruce McCombie and Michael Coutts but Milne was only a second slower but matching his time were Jock Armstrong and Cameron Fair in the Subaru!

This was turning into a real scrap and there was no way Bogie could feature in it? Could he? He stormed through SS3 a full 17 seconds quicker than Milne who was one second up on  Binnie with Armstrong a further three seconds back.

Fastest through SS4 was the MINI whirlwind again, this time by just four seconds from Milne which meant Milne was now in the lead.

This is rallying though. Binnie emerged from the final stage in the lead once again. Milne's Fiesta had mysteriously cut out and stopped dead mid stage with the seconds ticking agonisingly by as he struggled to resuscitate the beast. Eventually it fired up but over a minute had been lost.

Scott MacBeth and Daniel Forsyth were an excellent 5th in the rebuilt Lancer while Scott Beattie and Paula Swinscoe were fighting for a podium finish until the Evo7 had to be rescued from a ditch in SS3 by the Marshalls. At least he got out, John Wink's Hyundai was stuck fast. First time out in a left hand drive car Donnie MacDonald finished outside the top ten.

There will be a full report and photos in next Thursday's 'Motorsport News' followed by the usual more comprehensive report in the 'jaggybunet' on-line mag.

1 Michael Binnie/Claire Mole (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 42m 00s

2 Jock Armstrong/Cameron Fair (Subaru Impreza) +19s

3, David Bogie/Kevin Rae (MINI JCW WRC) +30 secs

4, Freddie Milne/ Patrick Walsh (Ford Fiesta R5) +40s

5 Scott Macbeth/Daniel Forsyth (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) +49s

6 Scott Beattie/Paula Swinscoe (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7) +1m 50s

7 Bruce McCombie/Michael Coutts (Ford Focus WRC) +1m 57s

8 Hugh Brunton/Drew Sturrock (Ford Fiesta R5) +3m 29s

9 Keir Beaton/Iain Thorburn (Subaru Impreza) +3m 37s

10 Duncan Campbell/Michael Cruickshank (Subaru Impreza) +4m 14s

Rally - Binnie wins

 Binnie won the Snowman by 19 seconds but only after Milne struck trouble. He seized the lead on SS4 "but the car cut out and stopped dead on the final stage and he dropped half a minute to finish 4th behind runner up Armstrong and Bogie who finished on the podium after his earlier troubles. Macbeth was fifth and Beattie sixth. A great day for Binnie in the Lancer and Armstrong in the Subaru against the R5s. I'll post a more detailed report later.

Rally - Binnie still leads

  Binnie still leads the Snowman after 3 of the day's 5 stages, still by two seconds. Armstrong is ten seconds further back but ahead of McCombie, Forgan and Macbeth. Despite losing over a minute in stage one, Bogie is back up to 7th ahead of Beattie who was off in Stage 3 but pushed out by Marshals whereas Wink was well stuck at the previous corner. McCulloch had a wee underbonnet fire, no real damage but he's out

Rally - Snowman after SS2

 Binnie leads Milne by 2 secs after two of five stages but 14 secs cover the top four. Armstrong third from McCombie, Macbeth and Beattie. Bogie had rear punch SS1 and Armstrong boiled his brake fluid.

Rally - Snowman underway

 First car away from the Black Isle showground.

Rally - Snowman Rally ahead

 Rally boots... Heading north for the start of the forest rallying season in Scotland, but with mixed feelings, excitement, apprehension and also guilt! Guilt because my boots are being donned for sporting pleasure, whereas some 1500 miles to the east millions of people are putting on walking boots, or work boots, for entirely different reasons and thousands are putting on army boots. It just seems so odd that normality reigns here while not too far away a supposedly intelligent and educated bully sitting in a luxurious ornate gilded palace can simply issue an order to fire bullets, shells and missiles indiscriminately at civilians while making an unprovoked attack on an entirely innocent nation and the rest of the world is powerless to stop it. Life isn't fair, but it has to go on - doesn't it???

Rally - Snowman Entry List

The KNG Groundworks Scottish Rally Championship gets underway this Saturday 5th March with the opening round based at Muir of Ord, north of Inverness. Heading the 90 plus AM Phillip Trucktech Snowman Rally entry are 2020 winners Michael Binnie and Claire Mole in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 in which they won the previous Snowman Rally.

Based at the Black Isle Showground, the Rally will start and finish there and will also host two service halts during the day with a lunch time regroup in Dingwall High Street. First car away is at 09:00 Hrs and due back after 5 Special Stages from 15:30 pm onwards.

Binnie certainly won't have things his own way as we will see the return of 5 times Scottish champ David Bogie plus a full supporting cast including the likes of  Jock Armstrong, Freddie Milne, John Wink and Bruce McCombie.

There will be a full report and pictures from the event in next week's 'Motor Sport News' with a more comprehensive report to follow in the on-line mag at 'jaggybunnet.co.uk' later in the week.

Short event preview and full Entry List here:

http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2022/03/01-mar-snowman-rally-entry-list/