May 2023 News
GALLOWAY 100 – 7TH MAY
The inaugural Galloway 100 Classic Car Assembly, organised by Stewart Robertson & Nick Robertson, was a fantastic day out enjoyed by everyone.
The full Event Report can be read here.
GRASS AUTOTEST – 21ST MAY
Our first Grass Autotest of the year took place on Sunday 21st May, with 30 entries, returning to Mains of Twynholm thanks to the Graham family. Well done to our winner, Mark McCulloch, finishing ahead of Rab Henderson and Thomas McCarney who was also Top Senior. All three drivers seprataed by less than 8 seconds. First Lady was Karen McCarney, with Dugald MacGregor taking Top Novice.
The full Event Report can be read here.
MEMBERS IN ACTION
Border Counties Rally (6th May): the third round of the BTRDA took place in the Scottish Borders, on stages in the Tweed Valley and in Kielder. Following their wins on Rd1+2, it was another great result for Jamie Edwards and driver Arron Newby, who finished 4th overall again. Niall Cowan Jnr made his first outing of the season, and he and Charley Sayer-Payne brought the MG ZR home to 1st in class B10 in 41st overall. There was disappointment for our other 1600cc competitors, with Robert Proudlock and Steven Brown retiring the Opel Adam R2 with an electrical fault and the Riddicks Keith and Mairi stopping after SS3 with a mechanical issue on the MG ZR. Paul Gribben was another retirement, when he and Nicky Taylor had an off in SS1.
WRC Rally Portugal (11th – 14th May): Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson had a good rally in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, however they were hit by a 1-minute penalty at the end of the penultimate day for doing a donut in the Super Special stage, dropping them to second in class. They fought back hard on the final day to end just 1.2seconds behind the WRC2 winner.
Manx Rally (12-13th May): we had two ‘father and son’ teams competing on the 140-mile event contested over 1.5 days, with Lee and Cole Hastings suffering a problem on the final stage of Leg 1 which dropped them down the order, but they finished 64th in the Subaru Impreza. It was a disappointing end for Willie and Craig Nelson in the immaculate Ford Escort Mk II, as they suffered halfshaft failure on the final stage… but at least it was SS14 and not SS1! Joe McKeand and Charlotte McDowall were our final and best finisher, bringing the Subaru Impreza home 21st overall.
Albar Kames Trophy Rally (14th May): our friends at East Ayrshire have just finished some maintenance works of their Kames Circuit, with a lot of new tar being laid ahead of the event. In the senior event, Roscoe West, co-driving for Cameron Williamson in a Subaru Impreza, finished 6th Overall after the 16 tests. In the Junior section, the second 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 6th overall in a Škoda Citigo. Paul Gribben guided Thomas Babb around on only his second event, to finish 10th. And sadly the day ended upside down for Alan Edwards, as he and driver Aaron Dickson clipped a tyre to put their Peugeot 107 on its roof on test 3.
Jim Clark National Rally (26/27 May): we had a lot of crews out on the Friday Night/Saturday event which was a counter in the British Rally Championship, Protyre National Tarmac Championship and North of England Tarmacadam Championship.
Trying a Citroen C3 Rally1 fort the first time, Rory Young and Allan Cathers finished 11th overall after a difficult start on Friday evening. Drew Sturrock and driver Hugh Brunton had a character-building day in their Škoda Fabia Rally2 to 17th overall. Ian Paterson & nephew Owen brought the immaculate CBG Subaru Impreza home in 36th and were delighted at the finish.
Lee Hastings & son Cole had a difficult night on Friday and stopped in SS2, however they got the car fixed and returned to finish 50th. Richard Stewart & Mark Roberts had a great run to finish 60th in the Peugeot 208 Rally4, and the Nelsons, Willie & son Craig, put their Manx Rally disappointment behind them to finish 74th.
Peter Stewart & Harry Marchbank retired the Peugeot 208 Rally4 on Friday night with radiator damage, and Joe McKeand & Charlotte McDowall also stopped on Saturday with some accident damage. Both crews thankfully managed to make overnight repairs to get back out for Sunday’s Reivers.
Jim Clark Reivers Rally (28 May): moving onto the Sunday event which was the next counting round of the Scottish Rally Championship, we had a host of club members in action.
Top finishers on the day were Drew Sturrock and driver Hugh Brunton, who put everything they’d learnt on Friday/Saturday into action to bring their Škoda Fabia Rally2 onto the podium in 3rd overall, just one place ahead Rory Young & Allan Cathers in the Citroen C3 Rally2. Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry brought the Proton Satria Evo home in 6th for the best finish of the season so far, with Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop 8th in the Subaru Impreza.
Just outside the Top 10, we had Angus Lawrie & Paul Gribben finishing 12th in the Mitsubishi Evo 9, ahead of Lee Hastings & son Cole in 13th. Our top Two Wheel Drive competitors were Robert Proudlock & Steven Brown in the Opel Adam R2 in 19th, ahead of Peter Stewart & Harry Marchbank who had managed to fix the Peugeot 208 Rally4 to finish 20th.
Stuart & Alice Paterson finished 29th in the Subaru Impreza, and were the sole Patersons competing after Ian Paterson & nephew Owen disappointingly found a problem on the Subaru Impreza on Saturday night after finishing the National event. The Sloan brothers Scott & David finished 43rd in the Peugeot 208 R2, ahead of Richard Stewart & Mark Roberts who were happy to finish 45th in the Peugeot 208 Rally4. JoeMcKeand & Charlotte McDowall had managed to fix the Subaru Impreza overnight and were running well (13th) until a last stage incident dropped them to 65th, and finally Scott Gourlay & Greg Alcorn marked Greg’s first rally in style to finish 73rd and 1st in class in the Peugeot 205.
We were sadly not without retirements, with Iain Wilson & Chris Williams suffering a sizeable off just 1-2 miles in SS1: crew OK, but car not. Another crew who have been so unlucky so far this season, David Hardie & John McCulloch, suffered their 3rd retirement, stopping the Ford Escort Mk II on SS5, and finally The Captain had to dock the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 at mid-day Service with geearbox issues.
📸 Andrew Hern: Drew Sturrock and driver Hugh Brunton at the Jim Clark Rally.
Well done, everyone.
MEMBERSHIP
New members are always welcome – join here today!
COMING EVENTS IN JUNE
Grass Autotest – 4th June
Committee Meeting – 6th June
