DCC Ingliston 27 April 2013

 2   Ross Fernie / John Young /  Subaru Impreza Sti 1994cc / Class 5 /  54:10  / Oa  3  Cl  1

The reigning STRC champions finished a safe third, but with no answer to the speed of the leaders, Chris Anderson and Chris Thirling in the Fiesta.

14   Ian Forgan / Kathryn Forgan /  Ford Ka 1999cc / Class 3 /  54:42  / Oa  4  Cl  2 

Broke the engine on the Granite the previous Saturday, so dropped in an engine from a £200 pound Mondeo, and finished fourth overall.

23   Graeme Rintoul / Jim Rintoul /  Ford Fiesta 1800cc / Class 3 /  58:11  / Oa  15  Cl  9

Finished 15th in spite of persistent fuelling problems.

 35   Steven Hay / Lewis MacDougall /  Vauxhall Corsa 1389cc / Class 1 /  59:54  / Oa  21  Cl  3 

Took the 1400 class lead on the first stage, lost it after running out of brakes on SS2 & 3. Fitted harder pads and changed the fluid at lunchtime. Despite a spin on SS7 were leading again going into the last stage, but dropped 30 seconds when the clutch failed and finished 3rd in class.

 34   Roy Millar / Gary Voss /  Vauxhall Astra 1998cc / Class 3 /  60:00  / Oa  22  Cl  11

Won the unofficial Astra Challenge trophy.

 44   Ross McCallum / Graeme Meins /  MG Maestro 1598cc / Class 2 /  60:24  / Oa  24  Cl  3 

Well driven and surprisingly competitive, and yes, it is a 1600 Maestro.

 46   Dave Cranston / Steve Cranston /  Opel Astra 1998cc / Class 3 /  60:28  / Oa  25  Cl  13

Finished second of the growing fleet of GMSC Astras.

42   Tom Middlemiss / Craig Horsburgh /  Opel Corsa 1598cc / Class 2 /  62:39  / Oa  32  Cl  8

First event for the driver since 2000, first stage rally for the navigator. Brake pedal hitting the floor every now and then, lost a headlight to a bale that jumped out in front of them in the morning, and did part of a later stage dragging one of the merge barriers under the car, but had a grand day out and were well pleased to get a finish.

49   Bob Irvine / Scott Irvine /  Peugeot 205 1360cc / Class 1 /  68:45  / Oa  36  Cl  7 

Much excitement and flagwaving among the photographers all day, but Twiggys good run was spoiled by a stage maximum on SS7; cause unknown.

 37   Stuart Millar / Alex Burns /  Vauxhall Astra 1998cc / Class 3 /  71:57  / Oa  37  Cl  14 

After buying my Astra over a year ago I finally got it ready for the recent event at Ingliston, which was my first event as a driver. To make things even more challenging my navigator was also a novice and the car was a left hand drive. After submitting the entry we seeded 37th which was far too high for us as complete novices and there was much more experience behind us. I did approach the event hosts to ask them to move us further back but I was told to "man up", not those words but plenty other people told me the same in those words. However, in the end I decided to embrace the 37th starting position and was good to go.

Stage 1: we had a reasonable start but drove very cautiously as wanted to get a feel for the car however this strategy meant we were quickly caught by the car behind.

Stage 2: brought a new set of challenges as the brake pipe burst at the first left after the start straight. A quick pull of the hand brake brought us to a spinning stop just short of the concrete bollards. There were more skid marks inside the car than there were outside on the tarmac. Had to limp out for a stage maximum.

Stage 3: got the car patched up but problems with bleeding the brakes made me uncertain about their efficiency therefore another cautious start to the Stage until I was certain of their ability to actually work.

Stage 4: cancelled due to an accident however fortunately both occupants were safe so this was a relief.

Stage 5: now we were confident with the brake ability I tried to up the pace but this time we didn't have a mechanical failure, we had an occupant failure when Alex brought us off a lap early. These things happen (don't worry I won't let him forget). Another stage maximum.

Stage 6/7/8: these stages were quite uneventful, we started to get a feel for the car and worked on improving the lap times. We were still miles off the pace of the other Astra's but recorded our first finish which we are absolutely delighted with.

Thanks to everyone who helped in the run up to the rally, during and after and I hope we can put on a better show for the summer stages at Crail.


Stuart

 3   Tom Morris / Colin Harkness /  Ford Escort MK2 2500cc / Class 4 /  F/F / Oa Cl

Retired, broken diff.

27   Richard Stewart / Robin Nicolson /  Vauxhall Corsa 1997cc / Class 3 /  F/F / Oa Cl

Rolled at split on Stage 4.

29   Alan Cowan / Katie Stimpson /  Vauxhall Astra 1998cc / Class 3 /  F/F / Oa Cl

Driveshaft broke SS6, got out of the stage but there was a bit left jammed in the diff so couldn’t fit a new one. Game over.

52   Matt Reid / Bryan Reid /  Ford Focus 2000cc / Class 3 /  F/F / Oa Cl

Seemed to be heading for a finish in the twenties, till the car broke near the end of the last stage; so near and yet so far.

Junior 1000 Rally

 107   Michael J Robertson / Phil Sandham /  Nissan Micra 998cc / Class  J1000 /  37:26  / Oa  9  Cl

Good run for the teenage driver on his second event.

 111   Brodie Balfour / Dave Retson /  Nissan Micra 998cc / Class  J1000 /  F/F / Oa Cl

Limped out of stage 5 with a slipping clutch and retired.

All photos copyright Colin Smith, used by kind permission.

Granite City Rally 2013

Gordon Murray / Danny Small / Car 48 Escort Mk2

Yeah hard lines right enough but mostly new car problems.

We'd had no real testing in the car prior to the rally and as the car was in tarmac set up when we got it there was a lot of work to be done before taking in to the woods; wheels tyres suspension plus all the new bits that Gordon had bought for it. G&M Mechanical put in a lot of work before the event and also on the Friday night changing the clutch which decided to pack up on Friday afternoon!!

Gordon and Danny, first time out in the Escort Mk2

Got to the first stage with a fuel issue but we decided to go for it, took a bit of getting used to it for a few miles but Gordon was starting to get the hang of it (once he realised it wasn't the Subaru anymore). About half way through the stage the battery light came on and I was pretty sure it was the wire that had popped off so wasn’t too concerned, so we carried on trying to get a feel for it. At the end of the stage I opened the bonnet to have a look at the wiring and that’s when I noticed a water leak at the manifold. We decided to call it a day rather than risk any further damage to the engine! Would have been nice to get a good few more stage miles in but that’s rallying. On the plus side we came out with a lot of positives about the car and know which way we're heading with it now! Bring on the Clark!!

Danny

First Rally in a rear wheel MK2 Escort after years of only driving only 4 wheel drives , This was a real baptism of fire.. It’s a bit of an animal to keep under control in the forest .
The Escort is an ex Irish Tarmac car and the gearing had been set up for the smaller Tarmac wheels which when the larger forest tyres were fitted it ended up been geared for 170 mph and done 60 mph in first gear, This caused the clutch to burn out on the test day and the mechanics were still fitting a new clutch at midnight on the Friday night.
On the Rally itself the car was far to high geared even after finding lower profile tyres for the rear so had to slip the clutch to get round anything tighter than a 70 degree corner , Suspension wise we fitted softer springs as the tarmac springs the car came with were rock hard.. However the rear was to soft and kept bottoming out.. Will need a lot of experimenting to get this right,
This is the first time for me using a sequential box and kept pushing the lever forward back into 1st when going from 2nd to 3rd , At the end of stage one we had to retire due to a water leak.. Not a great start for the new car.

Regards
Gordon

Ian & Kathryn Forgan Car 51 Ford Ka.

Trying to miss the rocks

Not a great day for us on the Granite City rally. First stage was very fast and the car felt very tail happy and unstable at high speeds. Mistakes made by driver and navigator but we made it through unscathed. Poor arrowing to SS2 saw several crews getting lost, we too missed the turn off but recognised this quickly and managed to get to arrival only 2 mins late with car 50 now behind us ?

3 miles into the stage on a downhill right hander the osf wheel sheared its bolts shattering the alloy and dropping the car onto its sump guard. It took 30 minutes to rob half the studs from the osr and fit them to the front with limited tools. We managed to clear the stage only for another stud to shear, breaking another alloy and then to make matters worse a stone got into the timing belt which jumped 3 teeth introducing the valves to the pistons ! Game over.

A shame as the stages were excellent and our pace could only have got better. A bit disappointed with some of the officials whilst pushing the car to the main road, four 4x4 vehicles came driving out the stage, the 1st stopping to offer assistance, then suggested the last vehicle in the convoy tow us out. The others moved on only for the driver of the last one to shake his head and then speed off with his orange beacon lights still flashing.

A very poor demonstration of behaviour and not something I believe I would have seen from a GMSC run event.

Ian Forgan <

John & Jim Rintoul Car 27 Misubishi Evo 8

We had a really good weekend,as usual on the start line I ask for the first few notes then wonder "what is it I do again?" then 3,2,1,go it all floods back.
st 1 .Cautious start, very clean & tidy 31st fastest
st 2 Less cautious still very clean ,great stage .27th fastest
st 3 Even less cautious ,beginning to sweat now ,slightly uncomfortable then I found a bottle of lucozade had been put on my seat which I hadn,t noticed ,that would have been a good one if I had burst it and thought I had a body function instead.27th fastest

Service was slick Bill kicked the tyres whilst eating a burger ,then a quick check underneath . We opted for a harder tyre for the next two stages.
St 4 Fast for us very good flowing stage rough as a badgers bum at bits,reached the end of the stage and disaster!!! The tickover was up from 1500rpm to 1800rpm,should we go on ? 25th fastest.

St 5 .Threw caution to the wind ,damn that dodgy tickover lets go for it ,once again really enjoyable fast and clean until the flying finish and Jims brain switched off and didn,t caution the left 6 just after the f/f board,good job I was rid of the juice bottle cos I clinched my bum cheeks so tight half the seat disappeared.20th fastest on stage 20th overall finish.

We both said the seeding was spot on with only one car placed higher with a higher seeding number .
Well done organisers and thanks to anyone who marshalled .

best regards,
John Rintoul .
Managing Director
FCE GROUP OF LEVEN

Blair Brown and Richard Crozier Car 100 Peugeot 205 GTI.

Started 100, finished 67th.

The second round of The Ecosse 205 Challenge started at the sunny Duthie Park in Aberdeen on Saturday the 20th of April. After a very challenging and snowy first round of the championship at the Border counties, the Coltel Granite City Rally would be RSAC Scholarship winner Blair Brown’s first real gravel event. Teamed up with new Co-driver Richard Crozier, the team set out for a finish. After a hard day rallying the pair brought the Peugeot 205 back to the finish with a respectable 4th place 205 and 2nd place junior 205.

With only a dozen miles of gravel experience and very limited time out in the car since the previous event Blair was anxious to get started. With the car set and the team raring to go the 30 second count down began for the start of special stage one. Blair said: “From Aberdeen to stage one all I focused on was visualising the stage and how best to tackle it. I knew if I could get the first one under my belt, that would be half the battle”

After completing stage one without any faults except a front break calliper coming loose the duo moved on to complete the next two stages before service. Blair said “We are steadily building up our speed and I am starting to get used to Richards voice, all I need to do now is to start learning the cars capabilities even better. The Granite had a large spectator turn out on stage one and it was a strange feeling coming down the hill into the spectator area. I found it was very emotional to see all these people in the forest watching, it gives you a real push on”.

Blair had been warned of the rough roads of the Granite, which did not appear until the afternoon stages 4 and 5. Following some big hits, Blair had every confidence the car could handle it, and she did. The trusty old 205 serviced by Dad and crew made it without missing a beat throughout the whole day and to the finish.

Blair would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped him complete his second rally and progress him further, especially to RSAC Motorsport, The Ecosse Challenge, QTS Group, The Scott and Clark family for their support and wisdom and lastly The Marcliffe at Pitfodels Hotel and Spa for their excellent hospitality and true Aberdeen welcome.

Border Counties Rally 2013

Car 115 Ian & Kathryn Forgan / Ford Ka 2.0



The idea of reversing the running order and having the 4wd cars running at the front of the field instead of the 2wd was to have them cut through the snow and ice and make the road more passable for the 2wd cars.

With this in mind we set off into the first stage at a reasonable pace, plenty grip on the first series of corners so we pushed up the 500M straight and although the car started to pitch about a bit I thought it was just the camber of the road or probably the tracking. There was a ‘L1/smlC 70 L6 Slippy’ well on my line for the corner the road was sheet ice, we locked the wheels and headed straight to the scene of the accident ! The car was beached on top of a mount of verge, more in the ditch than out of it with the 2 nearside wheels just clinging onto the edge of the road. Luckily I had the foresight to carry a spade ! So 10 minutes of digging and pulling with the help of an eager marshall and we were back on the road and back in the rally ! We had taken a stage maximum but other than a little bit of bodywork the car was relatively undamaged.

The rest of the rally was going to be a case of drive round, enjoy the experience and not do anything silly. So stage 2 started with a healthy respect for the conditions and a steady pace. We had dropped 11 minutes down the running order with the ‘off’ so It wasn’t long before we caught sight of the car that started ahead of us who in turn was catching the one that started ahead of them. In the excitement we took a rather ambitious ‘cut’ on a left hander and hit something big and solid which threw the car up in the air and bent the nsf to Cowdenbeath Racewall angles with the tyre now rubbing on the spring. Other than the smell of burning rubber and the tracking being out it didn’t seem to effect us so we pushed on and passed the 2 cars without issue.

SS3 was cancelled as the safety car couldn’t even get through so we had 2 remaining stages which luckily had cars off on the most treacherous corners so we were warned well in advance and had a gentle run round to the finish.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that we had won our class, it seemed that most of the field had had issues throughout the day and were in a similar position to us or worse. It was a real ‘lucky dip’ event, we had thought it was all over 2 minutes in but were very lucky to get going again, let alone finish where we did, 46th Overall and first in class 7.

Next event Charterhall 30th March 2013



Ian Forgan

Blair Brown and Steven Clark Peugeot 205 GTI.

The Brick and Steal 205 Ecosse Challenge got under way for 2013 at the Border Counties Rally on Saturday the 23rd of March in an extremely cold Jedburgh surrounded by the infamous snow covered gravel stages. The opening round saw Blair Brown, RSAC Motorsport New Talent Scholar, take to the stages for the first time in his Peugeot 205. Sitting alongside was Steven Clark ex Scottish co-driver champion who’s experience proved invaluable on the day. The team brought the car home to an outstanding first event result of 4th overall 205 and Blair finishing 3rd place in the 205 junior drivers.

After a disappointing cancelation of the pre event shakedown due to the snow and ice, Blair was concerned about lack of car time and no experience of the brutal driving conditions, which can falter many. True to his spirit he did not let this get to him. After a great first stage Blair commented: “It’s finally happened! I’ve completed my first forest stage. It was very difficult to get my head around having almost no grip on the stage but Steven kept me right and we got through it in a very modest time even though our main aim was to just finish the rally”.

After a small mistake on stage two, saved by spectators pushing Blair and Steven out of a snow bank and stage three being cancelled due to the snow and ice being far to challenging to even allow cars to start, Blair and Steven were set on finishing the rest of the stages to gain the stage miles and experience, which would be invaluable to any final day result

By the end of the day Blair had experienced some of the hardest conditions a rally could throw at you, especially as a novice driver, but he did not let this deter him. Blair said: “We’ve made it to the finish! It hasn’t been a easy day but I do not think it could have gone better and I learned so much ”! Blair will next be out at The Coltel Granite City Rally on the 20th of April where he hopes to have a slightly warmer rally.

Blair would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who made his debut rally possible, especially to RSAC Motorsport, The Ecosse Challenge, The Scott and Clark family and Mum and Dad.