Scottish Rally News
Jim Clark Memorial Rally, 24/25/26 May 2007
29/05/2007
Jim Clark Reivers Rally, Sunday 27th May 2007
Adam Flies to Victory
The Adam family topped the time charts at the end of the fourth round of the County Saab Scottish Rally Championship at the weekend when they won the Jim Clark Reivers Rally on Sunday. In fact, 30 seconds covered the top four finishers with Gary and Gordon holding off John Marshall and Paul Hughes by 21 seconds. Just 4 seconds behind them were Alistair Thorburn and a further 4 seconds back, young David Bogie, the 19 year old Lewis Hamilton look-alike!
This event was also part of the British Championship. The International rally started with 2 stages on Friday evening and then 10 more on Saturday. The Reivers Rally was actually the last leg of the International and comprised 6 stages on Sunday, although the first one was cancelled when one of the Internationalists crashed!
But as dawn tried to burst through the rain clouds on Sunday morning, all that could be heard was the sound of rain (and hail!) beating on car roofs. It was like a flock of demented seagulls with tacketty boots, tap dancing in a tin bath.
But even as the cars left first service for the stages, the rain was easing and by the time they hit tarmac in earnest a dry line was appearing and the rain blew away.
But it wasn’t just the better weather that lifted spirits, a look at the stage times also raised the spirits. There at the top of the page was Andy Horne in his unique V8 Metro with a time 3 seconds faster than Andy Fenwick in his WRC Impreza over the 12 mile Blackadder test, but Fenwick snatched eight and a half seconds back over the next ten and half mile stage at Swinton.
However, that was as far as Fenwick would go. At the even fiercer jump beyond the notorious Swinton Crossroads jump, Fenwick’s Subaru landed awkwardly and broke the front suspension.
In a worse state was former Scottish champion Jimmy Girvan, his Subaru had demolished a wall! At least he was able to limp back to service, Peter Hunter’s Mitsubishi stayed where it was after a violent roll at Swinton.
Only half a second slower than Fenwick on that second test was a well-lit Gary Adam with Horne still ablaze on 9 minutes dead, but as the cars headed back towards service, the teams were already preparing slicks for the final loop of 3 stages.
With the accident cleared, the 9 mile Eccles test was the first stage after service, and bone dry. Adam was well and truly on the boil, but a rejuvenated John Marshall was only half a second adrift.
In Blackadder, having changed his gearbox overnight, Alistair Thorburn hit the front, six seconds quicker than Adam with John Marshall only an exhaust whiff behind, but the irrepressible David Bogie in a Group N Lancer was only half a second off Marshall’s WRC Impreza!
Sadly, Andy Horne was going no further. In a recurrence of its early season overheating troubles, the Metro was switching itself over to ‘limp’ mode at the most inopportune times and a sticking clutch finally forced his retirement. Steve Bannister, with his new Duratec engine installed in a new version of ‘Ethel’, was another crowd-pleaser denied a finish.
Like most, Adam was quicker through Swinton the second time through and his time, seven seconds faster than Marshall ensured he clinched victory with Bogie popping in third quickest time just ahead of Thorburn, but just failing by 4 seconds to take the Group N class from the Subaru driver.
Barry Renwick was all smiles at the finish too with fifth just ahead of a beaming Jude Wylie in her Metro. After her troubles the day before, the Metro was sporting new front bodywork from Jim Oddy’s car, following an overnight stint in the garage. Getting quicker each time out with the new Lancer WRC David Hughes finished 7th with Steven Hogg 8th and the Group N cars of Mike Faulkner and Rory Young rounded off the top ten.
At the finish, there was as much relief on Gary Adam’s face as pleasure: “I was hedging my bets, I went out on Intermediates, slicks would have been better, but we hung on to win!”
Final Results:
1 G Adam/G Adam (Subaru Impreza) 46m 02.7s
2 J Marshall/P Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 46m 23.7s
3 A Thorburn/P McGuire (Subaru Impreza) 46m 27.4s
4 D Bogie/D Paterson (Mitsubishi Lancer) 46m 31.9s
5 B Renwick/D Bell Subaru (Impreza WRC) 47m 24.5s
6 J Wylie/D Robson (MG Metro 6R4) 47m 50.4s
7 D Hughes/L Sutherland (Mitsubishi Lancer WRC) 48m 06.3s
8 S Hogg/P Short (Subaru Impreza) 48m 12.5s
9 M Faulkner/P Foy (Mitsubishi Lancer E6) 48m 34.3s
10 R Young/A Cathers (Mitsubishi Lancer E6) 48m 36.3s
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Jim Clark Memorial Rally, 25/26/27 May 2007
As for the ‘main’ event, the International Jim Clark Memorial Rally itself, that was dominated by our friends from across the water in Eire and Northern Ireland with their World Rally Cars.
Eugene Donnelly in his Subaru beat the similar car of Tim McNulty with Eamon Boland third in his Ford Focus WRC while Mark Higgins was the top Group N runner in fourth place overall in his Stobart backed Subaru Impreza ahead of Gareth Jones in another Focus WRC.
But of particular interest was the performance of 6th placed David Higgins. He was driving the S2000 spec Toyota Corolla, a 2 litre, four wheel drive version of what might just be the ‘next generation’ world rally car. It not only looked good, it sounded great!
Andy Fenwick (Subaru Impreza WRC) won the National event on Saturday from David Bogie (MG Metro 6R4) but it was close right till the end and only a couple of rain showers over the final two stages stopped the youngster from catching the leader.
Nigel Worswick was third in his Ford Escort WRC from Steve Simpson in a Hyundai Accent WRC while John price was 5th in his Metro 6R4. John Marshall rounded off the top six, but Keith Robathan had been lying as high as third overall in his MkII Ford Escort until a faulty oil switch caused gearbox problems and he dropped to 7th. But boy, was it good to see a MkII thrashing the four wheel drive mob!
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John Fife.