Colin McRae Stages Rally - (Sat) 5 Oct 13

In Car

Posted: January 31, 2014 8:46 AM

Ernie & Will Graham (Ford Escort) SS6

Video Clips

Posted: January 31, 2014 8:45 AM

Proffitt, Hill and James top the tables at McRae Historic Stages

Posted: January 31, 2014 8:41 AM

Rikki Proffitt, Richard Hill and Gareth James all have one hand on this year’s Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship trophy after winning their respective Categories at the Colin McRae Historic Stages on Saturday, October 5th. In ideal weather conditions and with smoother than expected stages, the three drivers scored maximum championship points to set up a winner-takes-all finale in two weeks’ time at the Rallye Sunseeker.

In Category One (pre-1968 cars) Proffitt and co-driver Phill Harrison (Porsche 911) took full advantage of running first on the road to grab a 14-second lead on the opening stage from Dessie Nutt / Geraldine McBride, which they stretched to 22 seconds by first Service. Here, Nutt discovered a suspension problem that was causing his 911 to lose traction and, consequently, significant time. With the problem fixed Nutt fought back hard, taking several seconds out of Proffitt on stage three and setting an identical time to his rival through the penultimate stage, Black Craig. Unfortunately, the earlier time loss proved too much and Proffitt maintained his lead to the finish.

In Category Two (1968-’75 cars) Hill and co-driver Pat Cooper blazed through the day’s six stages in their Escort Mk1 to take their fifth Category win of the year. The expected battle with David Stokes / Guy Weaver failed to materialise when Stokes unfortunately retired on stage one with engine problems, leaving Hill to challenge Category Three leaders, Gareth James / Steffan Evans for the overall lead of the event. Hill’s pace was such that he eventually finished more than seven minutes ahead of second-placed Scott Smith / Andrew Richards’s Escort Mk1.

James and Evans were, once again, the pacesetters in Category Three (1975-’81 cars). The Welsh pairing’s Ford Escort Mk2 RS 1800 showed no ill effects from its Ulster Historic Rally underbonnet fire, and after a steady start James pulled away steadily from main challengers, Ernie / Will Graham (Escort Mk2 BDG). Later, a broken wheel on stage four and a last-stage spin failed to stop a fifth maximum points haul. Graham / Graham had a trouble-free run to second, 51 seconds ahead of Shawn Rayner / Declan Dear’s Pinto-powered Escort Mk2.

Photos

Posted: January 31, 2014 8:39 AM

Lindsay Photosport

Bogie/Rae clinch historic fifth title

Posted: January 31, 2014 8:34 AM

David Bogie has made motorsport history by becoming the first driver to win five back-to-back Scottish rally championships.

The 26-year-old from Dumfries, co-driven by Kevin Rae from Hawick, powered his Ford Focus WRC to victory on Saturday's Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, the penultimate round of the ARR Craib MSA Scottish series.

Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy were runners-up in their Mitsubishi EVO 9 – more than two and a half minutes behind - with Dave Weston and Dave Robson third in a Focus WRC, a further twenty-two seconds adrift.

It was not the best of starts for the defending champions. Their car hit a rock half a mile into the second stage, resulting in a front-left puncture which lost them twenty-one seconds to main rivals Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton, also in a Focus WRC – after both crews had equalled the bogey time on SS1 Sophia Wood.

Bogie pulled four seconds back over the 13 miles of SS3 Errochty, and another second on the short fourth Kindrogan stage. He was also fastest through SS5 Blackcraig, with Thorburn eight seconds slower after an oil-pipe burst.

Following repairs at the service stop in Blairgowrie, the Duns driver still had an eight-second advantage going into the final ten miles of Craigvinean – and it was starting to look as though the title fight would go down to the final round in Galloway later this month.

However, disaster struck for Thorburn when the Focus picked up a puncture. He lost 26 seconds and retired from the event.

Bogie and Rae were both delighted and relieved at the champagne-spraying finish in Aberfeldy.

"We went into that last stage with absolutely the wrong tyre – it a was a complete gamble - so we just drove it over the limit and never backed off", said Bogie: "Obviously towards the end Euan picked up a puncture and that allowed us to take the win. But I really feel we deserved it – I felt it was our day. Apart from the stage where we had the puncture, we were quickest through the rest. It's great to win the championship with one round to go. It's been a real challenge this year, learning the new car, and great credit must go to our team and the boys who prepare it from one round to the next".

Co-driver Rae admitted they had harboured doubts about making up the lost time after the second stage puncture: "Twenty-one seconds is a lifetime to lose against Euan because it's been that close on every other rally but we like these stages and we were fairly confident we could pull some of the time back. That early in the day we weren't going to give up because anything can happen, so we just kept pushing. We certainly didn't want it to go down to the wire on the last round!"

It was Faulkner and Foy's highest placed finish of the season – after a third spot on the Granite City in April, and the pair were more than satisfied with the performance:

"The car handled perfectly after we fixed the rear brake scrapers, which were jamming the wheel, and in turn messed up the diff. We really enjoyed the last two stages", said Faulkner: "Euan and David are in their own event really, in the world rally cars, so “best of the rest” is probably as good as it gets".

Weston and Robson were lying third overall after three stages, but from then on, it proved to be a hard-earned third place:

"We had a horrible afternoon", admitted Weston: "We'd had a good run through stage three, although it was quite rough, and then we went into four, and although we didn't know it at the time, we'd knocked a wheel speed sensor off – so effectively we had no back diff working. First we had an off, then I stalled the car, and then late on in what was a short stage it tried to spin out on me, and I thought there's something seriously wrong here. We had a massive spin in the fifth stage and lost a lot of time, and by the time we got to the final test, it was just a case of getting through it – but we had no third gear".

In contrast, Donnie MacDonald had "a sensational" last three stages behind the wheel of his EVO, on the way to his second fourth place of the season – a result which saw him leap-frog Thorburn to move into third in the drivers' standings: "A couple of spins earlier on lost us time, but to go third fastest on the final stage was fantastic", said the Invernessian.

Jon Burn and Alan Stark were fifth overall, to add to their sixth place on the previous Merrick Stages round, in their Subaru Impreza WRC. The non-championship registered crew finished just four seconds ahead of the EVO 9 of Stonehaven's Barry Groundwater, who had Neil Shanks of Elgin on the notes.

"We had a reasonable run. A slow start to the morning – we didn't want a repeat of the non-finish on the Merrick", explained Groundwater: "It was a case of plodding along and bringing the car home in one piece".

Alistair and Colin Inglis ("It was difficult to know where the grip was on the early stages") secured their fifth top-ten finish of the campaign in their EVO 5, three seconds ahead of the battered Subaru Impreza of Newton Stewart's Mark McCulloch.

"After the day we've had, it's something of a miracle that we're here at the finish", said McCulloch: "First stage of the day I forgot the intercom lead for my helmet, so we lost a lot of time there. Second stage I just went too fast through the first half mile and whacked a big log pile, smashing pretty much the whole back-end of the car. That really put us under pressure at service to get it back on the road. But after that we managed to build the pace back up again".

For the third successive event, Andrew Gallacher and Phil Sandham won Group N honours in their Mitsubishi EVO 9 – ending the day in ninth overall – with Bruce McCombie and Michael Coutts, in a hired GpN EVO 9 – rounding off the top ten, a further twelve seconds back.

"It was very interesting", said the former Subaru Impreza driver of his EVO experience, "I can't fault the car – and it's quite forgiving on the stages, but I can't say I'm hooked on it".

A puncture on the second stage did little to halt Steve Bannister's progress in his Ford Escort Mk2. He finished as the leading 2WD competitor, alongside Hawick co-driver Louise Sutherland.

Ian Wilson and Keith Fremantle from Dalbeattie took top honours in the 1600cc category in their Vauxhall Nova – finishing the day 22nd overall "The best event in the championship so far. Absolutely brilliant", enthused Wilson.

Fellow south-west of Scotland crew Iain Haining and Mairi Riddick, also in a Nova, only had to get over the start line to make sure of Class 3. Having ticked that box, the pair went on to seal their seventh consecutive class win. Lauder’s Callum Atkinson, with Sue Hynd co-driving, was runner up in his Peugeot 205GTi , twenty-two seconds back.

"We were down three seconds on Chuck Blair in his Peugeot after two stages so we put in a big push through the thirteen miler and took quite a bit of time off them. Then it was a case of dodging the stones and trying to keep in the middle of the road – so we had to have another push through the last stage. But we won the class by twenty odd seconds so it's all paid off".

Lauder’s Callum Atkinson, with Sue Hynd co-driving, was runner up in his Peugeot 205GTi , twenty-two seconds back.

The eighth and final round of the championship will be the Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally, based in Castle Douglas, on Sunday October 27th.

Results

Posted: January 31, 2014 8:30 AM

Colin McRae Stages Rally - (Sat) 5 Oct 13 - MAIN RALLY RESULTS
Colin McRae Stages Rally - (Sat) 5 Oct 13 - HISTORIC RALLY RESULTS

Results by: FlyingFinish.co.uk

Title contenders lock horns on McRae

Posted: September 30, 2013 12:18 PM

The fight for the 2013 ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally Championship resumes next Saturday on the penultimate round, the Colin McRae Forest Stages, with Euan Thorburn targeting his third win of the season as he attempts to chase down defending title-holder David Bogie.

Thorburn, co-driven by Paul Beaton, powered his Ford Focus WRC to a forty-four second victory over his Dumfries rival on the GWF Energy Merrick Stages, and thwarted Bogie's bid to seal an unprecedented fifth consecutive Scottish crown alongside co-driver Kevin Rae, with two rounds remaining.

“Our aim is simple – to keep the championship away from David as long as possible”, stated Thorburn, who won the McRae Stages in 2011.

A puncture and a spin on the final stage in Galloway put paid to Bogie wrapping up the title in his Focus WRC:
“The Merrick result was obviously a big disappointment. But I love the McRae, and we're going into the event determined to get the job done”.

Bogie and Thorburn will start behind last year's McRae winner Quintin Milne, who is entered in his Mitsubishi EVO 9. The Banchory-based driver and Aberdeen navigator Martin Forrest secured their third final podium spot of the season on the Merrick, and sit second in the championship, twelve points behind Bogie and Rae.

Aberdeen's Dave Weston, co-driven by Dave Robson from Jedburgh, will again be at the wheel of a Paul Benn-prepared Ford Focus WRC. The 2006 Scottish champion finished fourth in Galloway, his best result since returning to regular competition earlier in the season.

An intriguing tussle is in prospect involving Barry Groundwater, Mike Faulkner and Chris Collie – the three sitting fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in the drivers' championship, separated by just four points.

The EVO 9 of Faulkner and Peter Foy has undergone a suspension re-build, an arm replacement, and has been fitted with a new bumper and side-skirt since it sustained heavy damage in Glentrool. Despite the mishap, Faulkner was happier with the car and the stage times last time out, and feels more confident going into the Perthshire round, where he and Foy finished third in 2009 and 2011.

Collie, who limped to eleventh overall on the Merrick after his EVO hit a log on the final stage, will again have Mark Fisher on the notes: the pair starting one car ahead of Groundwater and co-driver Neil Shanks, who were runners-up on the McRae twelve months ago.

The Inverness crew of Donnie MacDonald and Andrew Falconer will be aiming for a return to form after a disappointing twelfth place on the previous round: MacDonald keen to protect his current fourth place in the drivers' standings, two points behind Thorburn.

Former Scottish title-holder Jon Burn, although not SRC-registered, will be looking to be in the mix in his Subaru Impreza WRC, after he and co-driver Alan Stark finished sixth-overall on the Merrick.

Andrew Gallacher, with Phil Sandham co-driving, is targeting a third successive Group N victory in his EVO 9. The pair go head to head with class leaders John Morrison and Peter Carstairs, also in an EVO 9; second-placed Fraser Wilson and Steven Broll in an EVO 8; and John McClory, co-driven by David Hood, who is just one point behind Wilson in his Subaru Impreza N15.

Steve Bannister, who did not compete on last year's McRae, will be back in action in his historic-spec Ford Escort Mk2. Co-driven by Louise Sutherland, the Yorkshireman heads to Aberfeldy off the back of a runners-up spot in the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire Historic Cup. He will be the man to beat overall amongst the 2WD competitors, who, on the McRae Stages, run at the front of the field.

Dumfries and Galloway crews are currently leading the way in several of the front-wheel drive categories. Iain Haining and Mairi Riddick will be attempting to bag a remarkable seventh straight victory in Class 3 in their Vauxhall Nova, while in the 1600cc category, Thornhill's James Robertson, co-driven by Colin Maxwell, will be hoping for a strong finish in his Citreon C2R2, and so add to his current four point lead over Dalbeattie's Iain Wilson and Keith Fremantle in a Nova.

Seeded Entry List

Posted: September 30, 2013 12:02 PM

Colin McRae Stages Rally - (Sat) 5 Oct 13 - SEEDED ENTRY LIST

Mintex MSA BHRC - James fired up and back in the game for McRae Stages

Posted: September 30, 2013 12:00 PM

Mintex MSA BHRC frontrunner Gareth James has confirmed he has successfully repaired his seriously damaged Ford Escort Mk2 and is raring to be back in the title race at the Colin McRae Stages on October 5th. Firmly scotching rumours that he had pulled out of the championship after his RS 1800 was badly damaged by fire at the Ulster Historic Rally, the Welsh ace has put in a tremendous effort in his workshop, completely renewing the car’s front end in time to enter the BHRC’s penultimate round.

James’s first-ever visit to the ‘Ulster’ came to a sudden and dramatic end on the first stage of day two. Leading after Friday evening’s opening loop, and embroiled in a tremendous scrap for Category Three honours with BHRC rivals Ryan Barrett / Barry Ferris, the Welsh youngster was forced to pull over to the roadside when flames burst from under the bonnet.
“It happened very suddenly, with no warning beforehand,” says co-driver, Steffan Evans. “We stopped straightaway and fired off the extinguisher, but our rally was over.”

The trouble was traced to two bands holding the air filters onto the carburettors. Both had come loose, allowing fuel to spill onto the hot exhaust. The resulting fire completely destroyed the underbonnet wiring, fuel and oil pipes. Working steadily for several days, James has replaced all the damaged parts, overhauled the carburettors and engine and repainted the car from the windscreen forward.
“We’ve put in a lot of effort as we really want to compete on both remaining championship rounds,” says James. “We have had a good year, with some great results and there is a chance we could win the British Historic title, so we need to be in there fighting for it.”

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Posted: September 23, 2013 12:13 PM

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Regulations / Entry Form

Posted: August 27, 2013 2:13 PM

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Club Website / Details

Posted: August 20, 2013 1:57 PM

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