The 2011 Kingdom Stages will run on Saturday 5th November.
This is a round of the Hytorc Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship, the Scottish Borders Rally Championship, and the Brick and Steel Ecosse 205/Civic Challenge, and offers 44 fast flowing stage miles on good tar and a little concrete, for same fee as last year, £220.
Scrutineering on Friday at FCE Group, Banbeath, Leven KY8 4HD, courtesy of John Rintoul, and on Saturday morning at Crail Airfield.
The first car starts at 08:30 and we aim to be finished by 4:30pm so you have plenty time to do the rally and get to David Bogie's party too.
The Kingdom Stages home page has Regulations, Entry forms and Unseeded Entry List and links to online entries and payments.
Final Instructions will also be published there, followed by interim results after each stage then final results and pictures and reports.
Marshals Wanted
if you can help us to run the event, please click this Marshals Wanted link, fill in your name and email address, and some indication of your experience and what kind of job you would like, and whether you are bringing anybody else with you.
We could use some help with setup too, mainly on Sunday 30th October and/or Friday 4th November. If you can help, please click on the marshals link as above, but include "setup" in the other messages bit.
Previous Rally Winners at Crail
GMSC Summer Stages 2011: Peter Taylor / Jack Morton / Renault Clio R3
Editing and reporting and generally making stuff up by Lock HorsburghLomond Hills IT
Marshalling Loch Chon on Rally
The RACMSA Rally of Scotland is the only British round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, with four stages shown live on Eurosport, starts Stirling Friday Night, stages in Perthshire on Saturday and the Trossachs on Sunday, finishing with two stages at Scone Palace on Sunday night.
Picture on right: Kris Meeke at our Clashmore stage finish, Rally of Scotland 2010
GMSC are running Loch Chon SS10 and 12, south of Aberfoyle, on Sunday 9th October. This was part of Loch Ard, called "the best stage in the world" two years ago.
We still need marshals for the arrival and start and a few mid-stage posts.
If you can help, please click on this RoS Loch Chon Marshals link, to send us your name and email address and a couple of other details.
And if you have the time available, you could maybe help with the competitors recce on Thursday morning, or with final setup on Saturday?
David Bogie at end of GMSC Clashmore stage, Rally of Scotland 2010
Marshals also needed for the Kingdom Stages on 5th November.
If you can help us to run the Kingdom, please click on this Kingdom Marshals link, fill in your name and email address, and some indication of your experience and what kind of job you would like, and whether you are bringing anybody else with you.
We could use some help with setup too, on Sunday 30th October and/or Friday 4th November. If you can help, please click on the marshals link but put "setup" in the other messages bit.
Thanks,
Lock
Eck performs the dance of the sugar-plum marshal, accompanied by Stuart on wobble board. Clashmore stage, Rally of Scotland, 2010
Photos on this page (C) Lock Horsburgh
Editing and reporting and generally making stuff up by Lock HorsburghLomond Hills IT
Richard Burns Memorial Rally
Richard Burns Memorial Rally
An eight hour drive was made worthwhile with the team’s first finish since February and a class win after two days of hard competition.
The Richard Burns Memorial Rally takes place over two days at RAF Marham in Norwich. A live airbase on Wednesday, the airfield is turned into stages using all of the runways and link roads. Producing eight stages up to 16.9 miles in length split into four each day beginning late Saturday morning.
The event has a massive variety of machinery present from the World Rally Team of Prodrive Mini down to clubmen like us. With a BBQ on Friday night and a live band and auction on the Saturday night this event is unique with its stage and social mix.
First thing on Saturday with an unusually late start of 11am we enjoyed a long lie then set about trying to patch up some of the leaks in the car which were soaking our seats. The constant drizzle got heavier and standing water collected for stage one. Travelling to the English Riviera we were not expecting rain so the tyre cutter was plugged into a borrowed power point and four tyres turned from drys to wets.
A cautious start on stage one having never been to this event before was stepped up with the drying conditions on stage two. Our main problem was a lack of brakes which we couldn’t seem to cure no matter what we tried. Being such long, fast stages everything was heating up to extreme temperatures with the engine constantly in the red!
Pressing on in stage three we were unable to get past a mk2 Escort which resulted in a late lunge down the inside touring car style and us clipping a bale which bent the wing in and subsequently cut the tyre right down to the canvas. Another new tyre and we were back out for the last stage of the day determined to push as hard as we could. The extreme temperatures with the engine being pushed so hard in the fast stages were causing massive amounts of heat soak in the engine bay and sapping the engines power. Going into the same corner on the second loop I was a gear slower so some surgery was carried out overnight! The front bumper was sliced and diced and some handy work with cardboard and alloy tape improved the situation massively on day two.
Going into stage five on day two we were 4th in class and 43rd overall. Changing the rear tyres to a harder compound seemed to help the handling slightly as did the retirement of Kev Monaghan from 2nd in class.
After a push in stage 5 despite fuel surge problems and the rear silencer being ripped off our class position jumped up to first with the retirement of Chris Grieve who was flying over 2 minutes ahead and a gear problem for the Super 1600 Puma which we had to tow back into service after the clutch cable snapped on the finish line.
With a two minute advantage in class we were under orders to finish our first rally since February but the car had other ideas. The front tyres were now destroyed and giving us no grip as well as the alternator failing halfway through stage 7, before the last stage we put on the only tyres we had left hoping they would last the long stage, charged up the battery and prayed for a bit of luck.
Going into the last stage I was determined to keep our position despite the charge from behind but when the car died 3/4s of the way round we thought that was it. Coasting for an eternity I slammed the car into first gear in frustration more than anything else and it spluttered into life and we set off having lost 40 seconds. At the last corner the car cut out again but was powered by cursing over the line.
Everything had given its all with the brake pads worn to the metal, tyres wrecked, no alternator and the crew exhausted but we were rewarded with a class win by 28 seconds!
Big thanks to my Dad as ever for servicing as well as Neil Thompson for lending a hand and to Chris Grieve and his crew who had their silencer off and onto our car for us even though we didn’t need it when Neil came running back with ours.
