Really sad, shocking and unexpected news - the following Statement was received today:
It was quite a rally. Over one hundred crews had been attracted
to the event which offered 80 miles of tests split up into 16 Special Stages –
for an Entry Fee of £120. There are folk who reckon “some things never change”,
but in Scotland there is one sure fire, dead cert feature of rallying that does
change, and constantly changes – the weather.
In late April 1983, the protagonists were treated to snow, rain, dense mist and glaur, lots of sticky, wet glaur! In these conditions, Darryl Weidner was the hot (cold?) favourite in his Audi quattro. One of the first of these cars to reach private hands, Weidner had been the man to watch last year as he grappled with the fearsome turbocharged beast. And with that under his belt, conditions suggested that he should walk away with the spoils this time.
Weidner and Doug Hart took an early lead but at the halfway point in the rally it was Marshall and Ken Wilson who were leading by 23 seconds. An absolutely heroic, sphericals-out effort through the 12 mile Clashindarroch test saw the Chevette take almost a minute out of the Audi.
Over the next eight stages, the Audi was eating into the Chevette’s heels and clawing back vital seconds. On the penultimate test, Marshall spun losing 12 seconds, and losing the rally lead in the process. At the finish, just 16 seconds separated the top two on a day which should have been dominated by the four wheel drive machine. But this was a day for heroics and true grit and Marshall rose to the challenge. What a fight.
Also taking part was Andrew Wood with John Robinson in a front wheel drive Ford Escort XR3 Turbo. This was a new one-make rally challenge for Ford’s latest Escort derivative. These were basically Group N machines so unlikely to threaten the leaderboard, but Wood finished an impressive 21st overall that day behind a certain Mark Lovell (12th) and Trevor Smith (17th).
The long range weather forecast suggests a heatwave in the north for the Speyside this year, so best pack your wellies along with your gutties if you’re going, just in case.
Happy days, eh?
The restored former coal mine is about to undergo a major transformation into a
Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) plant and wind farm. It will provide a poignant
backdrop for the sport which uses its platform to raise awareness of climate
change and global solutions.
As an off-road rally series which focuses on the promotion of electric vehicles and clean energy innovations, the old mine is the perfect natural amphitheatre to showcase the industry transition from fossil fuels to clean energy futures. It will also act as an example of the important role water can play in future renewables and healthy conservation.
Alongside far flung racing destinations which have so far included Greenland, the Atacama Desert, Saudi Arabia and Senegal, the Hydro X Prix in Scotland represents an exciting return home for the sport in its third season, creating the opportunity to highlight climate issues and solutions that are not just global, but also right on our doorstep.
Jenson Button, JBXE Team Owner, said: “We are really looking forward to the next round of the championship in Scotland. There is such a passion for motorsport in the UK, and it is great that the series is returning to its roots once again. I’ve been lucky enough to race on UK soil many times throughout my career and those memories will always be incredibly special to me. The last time the series raced in the UK JBXE were able to pick up a podium – and so we will be aiming for similar at the Hydro X Prix.
Once constructed, the Pump Storage Hydropower plant will have the capacity to deliver 210 MW per hour, providing eight hours of storage capacity. 1MW is enough to supply the average power requirement for 2,000 homes for an hour. Utilising two 105 MW reversible hydro-turbines, the site will store power during periods of excess energy supply and release stored energy at times of peak demand.
The wind farm will comprise of eight 4.2 MW turbines and will have the ability,
via a direct connection, to power the Pump Storage Hydropower plant.
Extreme E’s floating centrepiece, the St. Helena ship, which was built in Aberdeen and went on to provide a vital lifeline to the island of St Helena for over 30 years, will arrive in Glasgow in mid April to start unloading its freight and vehicles ahead of the race event.
Being a sport which takes its impact seriously, many measures are in place to
keep Extreme E’s event footprint to a minimum. These measures include capping
the number of team personnel and staff who can attend the event, remote
working, and crucially, not having spectators on site.
The racing action will be best viewed live on STV and ITV, in the UK, over both Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 May to enable the best views.
About Extreme E:
With legendary motorsport names involved in
the series including Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, NEOM McLaren,
Andretti and Carl Cox, Extreme E is a radical new racing series. Electric SUVs compete
in extreme environments around the world which have already been damaged or
affected by climate and environmental issues. The five-race global series
highlights the impact of climate change and human interference in some of the
world’s most remote locations and promotes the adoption of electric vehicles in
the quest for a lower carbon future for the planet.
To minimise local impact, Extreme E races will not be open to spectators, with fans instead invited to follow the action through live TV broadcast, and on social media.
Pictures show:
Schoolchildren from Kelloholm Primary School with Catie Munnings (Andretti Altawkilat Extreme E) and Kevin Hansen (Veloce Racing)
Anna Fergusson, Estate Director of Buccleuch’s Queensberry Estate, with Catie Munnings and Kevin Hansen
Whilst in hospital, it wasn't just my email that was scammed and Facebook corrupted, but my Twitter account has been hacked too, so don't rely on anything you see there until it is sorted. Meantime, I am back home and trying hard to catch up. Thanks for all the kind messages.
If anyone receives any strange or unexpected email messages from me, please be careful. If in any doubt at all, delete them.
Some time whilst in hospital/recuperating at home, my email was hacked and my email InBox completely cleaned out. The hacker who claimed to be responsible asked for some Bitcoin and the Inbox would be restored. What an eedjit. Where the heck would I get some Bitcoin? Needless to say the demand was ignored.
The matter has been reported to ‘Action Fraud’. The police have assured me that action will be taken, but they will not keep me informed of progress. Very helpful, eh? Virgin Media have said they may take up to 28 days to resolve the problem. That’s very helpful too, eh? At least my email has been restored but not the stolen Inbox messages.
Although my email is now functioning again, I have nothing at all prior to last Saturday so if you emailed me recently and expected a response, I am not ignoring you!
The hacker’s message was composed in poor English with bad grammar so it’s likely that the scam originated abroad, or maybe came from some recent graduate of the Scottish education system - a system which incidentally once led the world in its quality of education! Sadly no longer.
Anyway, that’s enough politics, so please be careful if you get any strange emails. Meanwhile I’m off down to the Bank to get some Bitcoin – just in case!
Meantime, recuperation is going well so please also be careful if you venture into the woods in the near future. You might bump into an unexpected rally spectator.
Robin Cunningham, 1946-2023
A name unfamiliar to many of rallying’s younger generation, Robin won the Scottish Rally Championship Co-driver’s title in 1983, exactly 40 years ago this year. That was the year that his driver, Jimmy Fleming won the national Driver’s Championship in their Toyota Celica GT.
Robin’s presence in the car was somewhat overshadowed by the personality which drove the crew to many successes in the 1970s and 1980s. If Jimmy was the team’s showman and social convener, Robin was the supporting act that kept the show on the road.
When Jimmy opened James Fleming Car Sales in Ayr in the early 1970s, he was the main presence in the car sales showroom while brother-in-law Robin managed the workshop and service. In fact the ideal partnership.
Ever watchful to exploit a sales opportunity, Jimmy was aware of the strong motor sporting culture in Ayrshire at the time, particularly in rallying. Names like Tom Bicket, Gordon Hunter, Drew Gallacher, Ian Gemmell, Andy Smith, Hammie Hannah, George Porteous, Lawrence Seditas, John Wilson and David Fulton were regulars in the rally entry lists, so Jimmy and Robin joined East Ayrshire Car Club.
At first they contested single venue events in a Vauxhall Chevette 1300 but when the business took on the Toyota franchise they switched to a variety of Toyota machinery which included at one point, a fearsome home brewed 3.5 litre V8 Toyota Starlet.
If Fleming’s headline gabbing exploits, especially at the after rally parties, generated legendary renown, it was Robin who kept an eye on the prize. He managed the paperwork and logistics and became an extremely proficient co-driver - despite an initial reluctance! But don’t get the idea Robin was a shrinking violet, Jimmy once let slip that he had to rescue Robin from ceremonial and high jinks excesses on more than one occasion. The ideal partnership indeed.
Robin’s wife Jan and Jimmy’s wife Margaret (Robin’s sister) made regular appearances at events in the early days although it has to be said that it was only the menfolk who over-indulged. Our condolence to them both and their wider family and huge circle of friends.
The funeral service will take place on Wednesday 29th March at Stair Parish Church, KA5 5HW, at 10.00am, thereafter at Masonhill Crematorium, Ayr, KA6 6EN, at 11.15am.
I hate hospitals … but thank goodness they and the NHS are there for us all in times of need. They seem to be getting a lot of flak these days but that’s not down to the staff, that’s down to mismanagement at the top, underfunding and ineptitude from those whom we have elected to govern and run our country along with our public health services.
Two weeks past on Saturday afternoon, Lady B called NHS111 at 4pm after I had taken ill. The emergency doctor appeared at 8pm and immediately called for an emergency ambulance. He said it would be with us within the hour and off he went leaving a Note for the ambulance crew. The ‘emergency’ ambulance turned up at 5.00am in the early hours of Sunday morning. Had we known it would take so long we would have made other arrangements but the ambulance service kept calling back with updates saying an ambulance would be with us shortly!
On arrival at Monklands Hospital I was rather dismayed to see three Police cars amongst the waiting ambulances. Three Police officers were ‘on guard’ at one of the assessment cubicles while another officer was being treated for a ‘glass wound’ in another cubicle! It’s not just the NHS that are having hard time, eh? In all fairness, Reception was relatively quiet and there was only a short wait in the corridor before I was received and assessed after which I was transferred to a ward.
I don’t remember much till later that day when I was transferred to another ward and treatment commenced. That first night was a nightmare. There were four other guys in the ward and we were all getting treatments hourly, 2 hourly or 4 hourly which meant a constant flow of nurses and doctors and no chance to rest.
Visions remain of ghostly apparitions during the night. What appeared to be a headless and legless ghost of a nurse floated into the ward pushing the five castored skeletal spawn of R2D2 with its array of flashing lights, beeps and buzzers. A downlighter cast an eerie glow over the contraption and the ethereal being which was pushing it as each ‘victim’ was hooked up, jabbed and checked throughout the night. It didn’t matter whether the patient was asleep or not, the clanking onslaught continued.
There was one other incident. A wee nurse birled into the ward like the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil cartoon character, whipped back the blankets plunged a needle the size of a dipstick into my stomach, whilst chortling and chanting: “Oops, we nearly forgot this” before disappearing like a white tornado back out of the room. I thought it was a dream till I saw the big purple bruise in the morning.
In all fairness, catering for such a transient and diverse group of people in such a large establishment must be difficult, although it does seem to help motivate people to get better and get out!
I still hate hospitals, but I’m ever so grateful for their attention and care, Even so, I'm thankful to be out and back home. Normal service will be resumed shortly!