Fife Circle- Derek McLean

Alan Cowan had run a 12-car rally earlier in the year I believe, but it had a very low entry. This one was a little better, with seven in total. I didn’t do the previous one, but I had every faith in his abilities.

I have made a bit of a speciality of taking out newcomers. I have lost count of the number. And so it was that I met yet another budding young rally enthusiast in New Gilston about an hour before the start of his first ever rally. I wonder how daunting that prospect is for these poor guys, getting thrust into a car with a stranger and being expected to keep their stomachs in one piece! Well, Andrew Brougham seemed to manage it fine, unlike some.

After a few sections I enquired, “Have you got a strong stomach?”, to which he replied, “Have you seen what I drive?” Yes I had, it is a Civic Type-R. Enough said! That was my cue to put smoothness just a little bit further down the list of priorities.

Andrew had taken some basic instruction from Alan, but I told him before the start that he would learn more in the first half-hour in the car than at any other time, and I believe I was right. He was very dependent on me for the first few sections and then he seemed to get the idea, and before long he was even starting to call the road to me. This is something that took me a long time to even think about. Maybe Alan was a better instructor than I imagined.

I believe there was a problem in the Non-expert class, that resulted in some very high penalties, but in our Novice class the only fault I could find was a missing Grid Line. It was easy to spot, and it didn’t cause any difficulty. So we both had a thoroughly enjoyable night, and Andrew is keen to come back for more. So keen, in fact, that when I offered him the chance to do the Hairst the following week he hesitated only long enough to check if he was free.

At one point we missed a slot, and ended up slightly lost. We dropped five minutes on that section. Apart from that I think Andrew was pretty much on the ball. We ended up on 14 penalties, 3 behind the class winners, Jim Rintoul and son Graham. Other Novice crews were Gordon Ritchie/Claire Wood, with 113 penalties, and Maureen and Craig Horsburgh (son again, I think) who were OTL at the final TC.

In the Non-ex class, Douglas Smith/David Drysdale-Wilson arrived late at the start due to an accident on the Bridge and a half-hour static hold-up. Luckily, they met Alan, who was just leaving the start as they were arriving, so they got to do about half of the route, by making a bee-line to TC6. Douglas made enthusiastic noises about what they did get to do, and the Non-ex problem had been in Section 4 I believe, so it didn’t affect them. So at least they got some value for money, despite a non-finish.

The other Non-ex crews were Gavin Lloyd/Steuart McCondochie and Iain Craven/Sara Godfray. This was Sara’s first event for about five years. It doesn’t seem like that length of time since I saw her last, but memory does start to play more tricks the older you get. Gavin and Steuart won on 186 penalties, with Iain and Sara trailing on 361. Maybe Sara’s lack of practice played a part in this. Iain’s old Escort Mk 2 is still going strong.

Keep it up, Alan. I reckon you will have gained enough experience now to run a bigger event. And as there is general shortage of organisers I am sure you will be given an opportunity soon. I shall do my best to support you when that event arrives.

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Updated 29 September 2003
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