ASP / NETRC Solway Coast Rally Results 2015
There was a different feeling around the Girdstingwood complex this weekend for crews were bathed in warm, summer sunshine as they mingled for the 8:30 driver’s briefing. It might have been 6 days on from a wet and miserable Otterburn ranges where the Tyneside Stages were based but a move to southwest Scotland’s Dundrennan ranges also proved to be a bonus with improved weather for the Solway Coast Rally. It was a good start to the day and although the close proximity of the Irish Sea meant clouds would be continuously blown on shore, an overcast and cloudy afternoon was just a few hours away but at least it stayed dry.
The Subaru Impreza of Feeney and Phil Sandham were once again the dominant force amongst our championship contenders as they racked up another haul of points – in Nigel’s case that’s 4 maximum scores on the last 5 rallies. It wasn’t an easy run around the stages at Dundrennan as this was Nigel’s first time at the venue although Phil did contest the Junior rally run there 12 months earlier. Nigel admitted to having a great day despite the red mist coming down from the off when in the opening 3 tests he suffered 3 overshoots and found himself reversing back onto the track. It was probably over enthusiasm on unfamiliar notes for some very technical stages but once out of his system, the East Ayrshire man settled into a good rhythm for the rest of the event. And 4th overall was his prize as he continues his quest to become our champion driver this year.
The final results showed that Nigel had a comfortable 42 seconds in hand over our next challenger – Lee Hastings – but it wasn’t as plain sailing as it sounds. Lee is the local man with experience of these ranges and it was always ‘nip and tuck’ to be within a few seconds of Nigel’s times in the morning until his new co-driver had a “blonde moment” and booked the crew into a control 1 minute early. The minute penalty dropped the older Subaru down the score sheets into 3rd at halfway as Stuart Baillie sat just 10 seconds behind Feeney and Hastings a further 48 seconds adrift. During the 3 afternoon runs, Baillie’s efforts ended with the Subaru off the road yet Hastings picked up more pace. His Impreza ran perfectly all day and he would have beaten Feeney on stage times alone but it was not to be for overall honours. However having played his Joker on his home event though, he moves up our championship table to become 5th overall driver.
Next points scorer was David Crosbie who was sitting in with the non registered Stephen Thompson. They had a day long battle with the rally’s class winners but lost about 30 seconds just 200 metres before the end of the final stage when their Ford Escort slid wide on some gravel. Barry Renwick was next up with Steve Dargan as usual in the left hand seat of their VW Polo. A change of car from their Ford Escort and a change of venue too as neither of the crew had visited this part of the world before. They found the notes and stages tricky with several grassy moments to recall and counted themselves lucky to come out of a final stage that proved very slippy. A straight on moment at a tightening R7 found them off the road and with tree branches covering the bonnet. Fortunately, they were able to reverse back onto the stage and get back onto the road for another good points finish. It was also a good day for the car as it was reliable and the service time was simply down to refuel and a spanner check.
Drew Barker and Shona Hale were our next finishers as they brought home their wee tartan liveried Vauxhall Corsa home in 39thplace overall. They lost the rear silencer on the third stage and initially they felt that they might be out of the rally. But they soldered on even though Drew couldn’t hear Shona calling her notes through the intercom because of all the extra exhaust noise. By the time they arrived at the final main control in, Shona’s voice was all but gone but more valuable points were picked up.
Jane Nicol was relived to get to the finish after 2 retirements in 2 outings this year. She was called up to sit alongside the non-registered James Gibb and a steady run almost ended in the final loop when the turbo failed on the Subaru Impreza. The time loss was probably in the region of 6 minutes but they still managed to get to the end. Kevin Mathers brought his pretty standard Peugeot 205 home to yet another finish. This was his first rally using pace notes, which didn’t arrive in the post and were collected at signing on, so the youngster from Hawick felt the rally was a big learning exercise for him. Apart from ending up in the grass after the R3 over yump on the Netherlaw stage, he felt it had been a good day. The final stage almost proved to be the sting in the tail as it was so slippy and very easy to fall off the road, but he came through that one still smiling.
Our final finishers were the Dad and Daughter combination of Bill and Kari Bates. They were yet another crew tackling the rally for their first time and admitted that they were a little too cautious at times. And just when they felt they could push on in the final pair of tests, they found the gravel and slippy roads made getting around some corners more difficult. A couple of small offs were their rewards but these didn’t cause any damage and they only lost more time. The Peugeot 106 ran reliably all day and the Ripon MC crew really enjoyed their day’s motorsport.
We only recorded 4 retirements on the event and Michael Farmer / Bruce Lindsay were the first to leave the fray when their Ford Focus snapped a valve less than a mile into the opening stage; Stuart Walker made it into SS2 before a sweeping section of bends turned into a square right and he was caught out as he only began his retardation process several yards after his braking point. He locked up going straight on into the box section and yet was selecting reverse gear while still moving forward. This helped him to quickly get back on the right route. Unfortunately his Skoda Fabia’s gearbox started making unusual noises after these manoeuvres so he felt he’d best stop before things started getting expensive to repair; further on in the same stage Chris McCallum’s run came to a halt when a rod ventilated the block of his Ford Escort’s motor and our final retirees where Stuart Baillie and Ian Crosbie. The day leading up to the event tested Stuart as his suspension proved difficult to get back onto the car and then his service barge didn’t want to start. After the opening pair of stages with no intercom, he upped his pace and at final service was just 10 seconds away from our leader. The penultimate stage caught him out on a very fast section about 2 miles from the start as he approached a R8 with too much speed and took to the grass on the outside of the corner. Before he knew anymore the green Subaru was launched into the bushes on the other side of the road and with no spectators around it was game over.
Special thanks go to Michael Riddick and all his team at Solway Car Club for another well run little event. Although the time schedule may have slipped a little as the day progressed, most competitors enjoyed their day’s rallying. There’s a couple of weeks break now until the Bank Holiday weekend when we have our penultimate rally of the year – the Pendragon Stages. The entries for the event have been full for a while now but we’ll wait and see who’s on the seeded entry list when it appears later this month.
And finally for now, the Regulations and entries are now available for the last round of our championship, the Cheviot Keith Knox Stages Rally supported by Ford Parts The format for this year’s event is 9 stages of approximately 80 tarmac miles over the Otterburn Ranges linked by 60 road miles. As ever, a recce will take place on the Saturday prior to the main event on Sunday 4thOctober. That means the rally will run over a full month earlier that last year so hopefully we can look forward to better weather conditions for this time around at the Airstrips. For more information, go to the event website www.cheviotstages.org.uk/