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Rintoul Brothers win their Third Kingdom
First of all, we want to thank everybody who contributed to another successful Kingdom Stages on Saturday 3rd November 2007, including the marshals, radio crews, changeover crews, and especially those marshals and competitors and results officers and father figures and all the rest who turned out in the week before the event to dig holes, lay concrete, haul tyres and shove bales.
What an epic Kingdom this was, and what an entry list, headed by the last three winners.
Competition was fierce all day, Tom Morris was fastest on the first stage with Bob Grant and John Rintoul both 3 seconds behind, Rintoul took those 3 seconds back from Morris on Stage 2, Martin Elsdon was fastest on SS3 and only one second behind Rintoul on SS4.
Tom Morris recovered 7 seconds from Rintoul on stage 6 but it was not enough, and the Rintoul brothers won their third Kingdom, with Tom Morris and Colin Harkness four seconds behind, Bob Grant and Pete Carstairs another 3 seconds down in third, Martin Elsdon and Ian Rettie fourth, and John Marshall and Davie Hatrick in fifth place. The top five were covered by only 31 seconds.
At the other end of the field in car 100, and on his first ever rally, Lachlan Cowan, guided by another youngster by the name of Tom Hynd, took third in class one without ripping any corners off his Dad''s 106.
The Hytorc Scottish Tarmack Championship was to be settled betweenTracey Louise Muir and Ricky Wheeler. Tracey broke a driveshaft and went OTL on the first stage, which left Ricky Wheeler needing to win class 4 to take the championship. Bruce Edwards was one second ahead after 5 stages, Ricky spun on the last stage, Bruce won the class, and Tracey won the championship and the Kingdom Trophy Rally too.
As it worked out, we started 100 cars, including two reserve crews who travelled from the frozen north on spec, and got a run at the last minute (Chelle Falconer and Dad, and Dave Ross and Kyle Mackintosh).
The weather was kind, and the rally finished in daylight a couple of minutes late at 16:01.
Then three winners of the marshals prize draw got a run through the stage with John Rintoul, Bob Grant and Bruce Edwards. I didn''t see it, but I hear that when Lauren Ritchie got out of John''s car, her eyes were wide, her grin was wider, but her legs didn''t seem to work right.
Thanks also to all the other drivers up and down the field who volunteered to give marshals a run, including Ricky Wheeler, Tom Morris, Jamie Smith, Stuart Baillie, Ian Forgan, Gordon Milne, and more. Sadly we could only use three of you; your turn next year, maybe.
Hope to see you all next year at Rintoul’s Raceway, (the airfield formerly known as Crail) for
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