July 2023 News
GRASS AUTOTEST – 2nd JULY
Our third Grass Autotest of the year took place on Sunday 2nd July at The Fell thanks to the Marshall family. Well done to our winner, Mark McCulloch, finishing ahead of Thomas McCarney & Richard Dickson. First Lady was Karen McCarney, with Matthew Coupland taking Top Novice, and Thomas McCarney Top Senior.
The full Event Report can be read here.
GRASS AUTOTEST – 16th JULY
Our fourth Grass Autotest of the year took place on Sunday 16th July at Southerness thanks to the McKeand family. Well done to our winner, Mark McCulloch, finishing ahead of Thomas McCarney & Niall Cowan Jnr. First Lady was Nancy Dickson, with Daniel Burns taking Top Novice, and Thomas McCarney Top Senior.
The full Event Report can be read here.
MEMBERS IN ACTION
Greystoke Stages (2nd July): Angus Lawrie & Paul Gribben were the top seeds on the day, and they finished 2nd Overall in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9. Jan Budge & Bruce Lindsay were back out for first time since the Speyside in April, and they finished 22nd in the Subaru Impreza. Niall Cowan Jnr & Bonnie Papper finished 27th and 1st in class in the MG3.
Royal Rally of Scandinavia (7th-8th July): Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson contested the Swedish event which was a counter in the European Rally Championship for the first time. After moving into the lead of the event after SS3, they held onto it in their VW Polo R5 to win by 22.5seconds after the 2 days of action.
Nicky Grist Stages (8th July): the fifth round of the BTRDA took place in mid Wales, at Builth Wells. Jamie Edwards and driver Arron Newby continued their run of podium finishes, this time taking 3rd overall.
Mach1 Stages (8th-9th July): Machrihanish was the destination for the 1.5 Day event organised by Dunfermline Car Club on the air base near Campbelltown. Joe McKeand & Charlotte McDowall were the top finishers on the day in 4th overall in the Subaru Impreza. Making his driving debut, Owen Paterson & Scott Sloan finished 21st in a Subaru Impreza. Bruce Lindsay & Ella Tyson retired the Ford Fiesta Fezbomb on the final stage. In the Junior section, the fourth round of the Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge for 14-17-year-olds in 1000cc cars, we had 4 cars in action. Ollie Forrester & George Myatt finished 6th in the Skoda Citigo, ahead of William Paterson & Mark McCulloch who were 7th in the CBG Nissan Micra on Wiliam’s debut event. Paul Gribben guided Thomas Babb to finish 9th in the Skoda Citigo, and Aaron Dickson & Alan Edwards were 11th in the Peugeot 107.
WRC Rally Estonia (20th-23rd July): Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson contested the Estonian event in their usual Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, suffering suspension damage. Although the chance of a good result was over, they went on to set a string of fastest times on Day 2, for good practice.
Down Rally (22nd July): Lee Hastings and son Cole were reunited in the family Subaru Impreza, but they retired ‘off road’ on SS1.
RSAC Scottish Rally (22nd July): Round 5 of the Scottish Rally Championship and this time it was just down the road at its new base in Dalbeattie! After losing it’s usual home at Lockerbie Truckstop, the event were fortunate that Iain Wilson stepped in to offer Jas P Wilson as the base for the Service Area, which turned out great. It was a fantastic day for Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop, who were on it from the off, and survived a last stage scare to finish 1st OVERALL. 🏆
Iain Wilson & Chris Williams returned to action after missing the Argyll, and they had a great event to finish 6th in the hired Ford Fiesta Rally2, and Scott Peacock & Craig Wallace had a great rally in the Mitsubishi to finish 13th. The 2wd battle was intense, with Robert Proudlock & Steven Brown in the Opel Adam R2 finishing just 2 seconds ahead of Peter Stewart & Harry Marchbank in the Peugeot 208 Rally4. Robert was also awarded the SRC ‘Star Driver’ award for his performance on the day.
David Hardie & John McCulloch finish 30th in the modified Ford Escort Mk II, and Donald Peacock & Mairi Riddick were 34th in the Historic model. Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock had a difficult start in the Skoda Fabia Rally2 with an SS1 maximum time, so finished 50th. Scott Gourlay & Greg Alcorn put in a great performance in the Peugeot 205 to finish 52nd and 1st in class, also picking up an SRC Clubman award in the process.
Happy to be back out on gravel, Richard Stewart & Carin Tait-Logan finished 54th in the Peugeot 208 Rally4, and Niall Cowan Snr & Chris Wareham were 59th in the MG3. Stuart Paterson was back on gravel for the first time in a decade, and he an daughter Alice Paterson had a fraught day with mechnical woes to finish 61st.
Our retirements started earlier than expected, with the Proton Satria Evo of Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry not even making it out of the Service Area in the morning with a cracked gearbox casing, a very unusual mechanical retirement for Angus Lawrie & Paul Gribben in the Mitsubishi Evo 9 in SS5 Ae, and Niall Cowan Jnr & Charley Sayer-Payne retiring the MG ZR with a broken subframe on SS4.
📸 Alan Scott: Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop en route to winning the RSAC Scottish Rally.
Well done, everyone.
MEMBERSHIP
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COMING EVENTS IN JULY
Committee Meeting – 1st August
Grass Autotest – 6th August
Grass Autotest – 20th August
