June 2023 News
GRASS AUTOTEST – 4th JUNE
Well done to our winner, Mark McCulloch, finishing ahead of Rab Henderson and Niall Cowan Jnr. All three drivers separated by under 12 seconds. First Lady was Karen McCarney, with newcomer Daniel Burns taking Top Novice, and Richard Dickson Top Senior.
The full Event Report can be read here.
MEMBERS IN ACTION
WRC Rally Sardinia (1st – 4th June): Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson had a difficult rally in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. They retired on Day 1 with broken suspension, then again on Day 2 from mechanical problems. They got through Sunday to finish 26th in class WRC2.
Crail Summer Stages (10th June): Glenrothes Motorclub organised a 60+mile event on Crail Airfield in Fife. Making his debut behind the wheel in a 1600cc MG ZR, Cole Hasting and Mark Roberts put in an impressive performance to finish a fantastic 13th overall from the 40 finishers. Dad Lee Hastings with other son Dylan Hastings making his co-driving debut, retired their Subaru Impreza on SS4 with mechanical problems, and Bruce Lindsay & Ella Tyson retired the Ford Fiesta Fezbomb on SS4. In the Junior section, the third round of the Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge for 14-17-year-olds in 1000cc cars, George Myatt returned to action alongside Junior driver Ollie Forrester, finishing 5th overall in a Škoda Citigo. Paul Gribben guided Thomas Babb to finish 10th.
SOL Rally Barbados (10th/11th June): Andy Scott and Laura Connell travelled to the Caribbean for the biggest motorsport event on the island of Barbados, with their Ford Fiesta S2000 Turbo. After finishing 14th Overall on the warmup ‘King of the Hill’ event the week before, they finished 12th after the 20 stages of the main event over 10th/11th June. The Albatec team also had a second car out there, with New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard snatching the win of the event on the very last stage, to win by just 0.88seconds.
Kielder Stages (17th June): the fourth round of the BTRDA took place in England’s largest forest, Kielder. After a winning start to the season, Jamie Edwards and driver Arron Newby, scored another podium when they finished 2nd overall. Robert Proudlock and Steven Brown were out in the Opel Adam R2, finishing 17th overall and 1st in class.
Donegal International Rally (16th-18th June): the popular three day event in the north west of Ireland always attracts a bumper entry of 150+. Lee Hastings & Michael Laverty had a good rally to finish 67th in the Subaru Impreza. The annual Solway Car Club pilgrimage to Letterkenny was also successful! 🍺
Safari Rally Kenya (22nd-25th June): Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson had another challenging rally in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. They retired on Day 1 with suspension problems, then suffered a couple of punctures on Day 2. However, they were not using the event to score WRC2 points so not all was lost, and they still finished 9th overall.
Argyll Rally (23rd-24th June): Round 4 of the Scottish Rally Championship and it was another event on tarmac based in Dunoon. Top finisher was Rory Young & Allan Cathers in the Citroen C3 Rally2, finishing a fantastic 3rd overall. Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry were just one position behind in the Proton Satria Evo in 4th, scoring their best SRC finish in 2nd SRC crew. Despite a problem on the last stage on Friday, Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop survived to finish 10th in the Subaru Impreza.
Just outside the Top 10, we had Lee Hastings & son Cole finishing 13th in the Subaru Impreza, 7 seconds ahead of Angus Lawrie & Paul Gribben in 14th in the Mitsubishi Evo 9, and Joe McKeand & Charlotte McDowall 17th in the Subaru Impreza. After a string of DNFs, it was great to see David Hardie & John McCulloch finish 30th in the Ford Escort Mk II, with Scott Peacock & Craig Wallace 33rd on only the 2nd outing on tarmac in the 4wd Mitsubishi.
Unfortunately we had some retirements, with Robert Proudlock & Dave Robson in the Opel Adam R2, the Sloan brothers Scott & David in the Peugeot 208 R2, and Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock in the Skoda Fabia Rally2 all retiring after small ‘offs’.
Finally, the Peugeot 208 Rally4s of the Stewart family were missing from the entry list. Following an incident on the 2022 event, Richard Stewart & Carin Tait-Logan had their entry to the event refused, before Motorsport UK instigated that it was accepted. However, in the end they opted to stay at home rather than go where not wanted, and teammates Peter Stewart & Harry Marchbank decided to withdraw in solidarity. Onwards to the Scottish Rally for all.
📸 Doug & Ieuan: Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry at the Argyll Rally.
Well done, everyone.
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COMING EVENTS IN JULY
Grass Autotest – 2nd July
Committee Meeting – 4th July
Grass Autotest – 16th July
