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County Saab MSA Scottish
Rally Championship
Co-driven by Neil Shanks in the same Ford Focus WRC he used to clinch Scotland’s top motorsport title last year, Weston was on the pace from the word go – even if he didn’t think so. “The first couple of stages were really poor for me – I’m out of practice,” reckoned Weston, who still managed to finish eight seconds ahead of his nearest SRC rival. “My confidence went after the first three corners of the day – I really feel like an old man now!” Nonetheless, Weston was kept in check all day by another ex-Scottish champion in the form of Jimmy Girvan – in fact, only a ten second penalty for clipping a chicane robbed Girvan and co-driver Mike Ramsay of second SRC place. The North Kessock restaurant owner has been busy since the Snowman Rally developing his 2.5-litre Subaru Impreza, and his investment clearly paid off with a series of strong stage times. “We had some excellent runs
today – the car is going really well,” “The car had been at the rolling road earlier in the week and the performance figures are phenomenal,” added Forres co-driver Mike Ramsay. “It gives us power right the way up the rev range and you don’t need to push it hard to get the most out of it.” In spite of Girvan’s sparkling form, it was Snowman Rally winner Gary Adam who took SRC runner-up spot on the Border Counties. Adam, however, was delighted just to reach the finish ramp after being plagued by clutch problems all day. “We discovered the clutch wasn’t working properly last night and were up rebuilding it until midnight – you can’t get a replacement one at such short notice,” explained Dollar-based Gary, who is navigated by his father Gordon. “All we could do was drive very gently off the stage starts and go easy when the clutch felt like it was going to go.” The early part of the rally was dominated by Dumfries youngster David Bogie, who hammered home his phenomenal potential with a brace of blistering stage times that saw him lying fourth overall in the rally, even after the National Gravel Championship contenders had been taken into account. A puncture on the third stage of the day put paid to Bogie’s hopes of a maiden SRC win on his first appearance north of the Border in his new Mitsubishi Lancer E9, but the driver recovered to finish fourth Scottish Championship car home. The result also netted Bogie the SRC’s Group N class award for production-standard cars, and observers on the stages favourably compared his driving style to that of a young Colin McRae! The two-car Team Gretna outfit continued their dominance of Group N on the Border Counties, with Steven Clark and Mike Faulkner finishing second and third Group N – and sixth and seventh overall SRC – respectively. Clark and co-driver Lee Kerr in particular grew in confidence throughout the day in their Mitsubishi Lancer, edging out their Dumfries and Galloway sparring partner Faulkner by little over two seconds. “We were going very well today, particularly as the day wore on,” believed Clark. “The fourth test was good for us in that because it was so rutted, you could push very hard and the ruts would hold you on the road. In fact, we were quicker second time through – that’s not really meant to happen!” In complete contrast, Faulkner and co-driver Peter Foy were baffled by their decline in pace as the day progressed: “we lost some time on the long stage 4, but we’re not sure how – we tried much harder second time round, but were still slower,” reflected Faulkner. Due to the split in the two-wheel drive field – with cars up to 1600cc running ahead of their four-wheel drive counterparts and those with larger engines running behind – Aberdeen builder George McDonald faced an agonising wait in Rally Headquarters to see if his ex-Kris Meeke Opel Corsa S1600 had come up with the goods. As it turned out, it was actually another chicane penalty that decided the two-wheel drive field – although McDonald thought he had beaten East Lothian brothers Carl and Rob Tuer’s Proton Satria, a late call from a stage marshal promoted the Tuers to first place. McDonald, nonetheless, remained positive: “We had Ryan Champion out in the car last week to help us get the setup right, because it was all wrong on the Snowman,” revealed George. “It’s an awesome machine with a lot of potential – very different to my old Subaru, but I’m starting to get used to it.” Glasgows Grant Inglis rounded out the two-wheel drive podium in his Mark 2 Ford Escort, with event sponsor and SRC regular John McClory hot on his heels in his Honda Civic Type-R. It is worthwhile mentioning that the event was delayed three times over the course of the six stages due to large accidents, two of them involving SRC regulars. Duns’ Alistair Thorburn collided with a tree in his Subaru Impreza on Stage 1, whereas the Cumbrian crew of Paul Benn and Richard Cooke had a massive off on Stage 6 in their Ford Focus WRC. Although Thorburn was airlifted to hospital suffering from concussion and Cooke was treated for a broken arm, both crews escaped without serious injury. As a late entry into the Brick and Steel Border Counties, nobody had expected Dave Weston to be a contender at the start of last week. And the longer the 2006 SRC champion keeps his plans for this year under wraps, the longer the destiny of the 2007 County Saab MSA Scottish Rally Championship remains a mystery. But with David Bogie demonstrating he has the pace to win the series, Jimmy Girvan and Gary Adam showing they’re able to take the fight to the frontrunners and County Saab Managing Director Neale Dougan getting ready for a return to the frontline, there’s all to play for when the SRC ventures north for the Multiwage Granite City Rally on Saturday, 28 April. Brick and Steel Border
Counties Rally, Jedburgh County Saab MSA Scottish Rally Championship
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