… Rallying’s BIG Weekend ….
It’s one of the biggest weekends in British motor sport. Next week’s Jim Clark and Reivers Rallies from Friday May 30 to Sunday June 1st, will have more cars contesting more miles than last November’s Rally Wales GB, Britain’s counter in the World Rally Championship.
Even more impressive is the fact that from top to bottom, the event is being organised and managed by amateur enthusiasts from many car clubs across Scotland and the north of England, and even further afield. This is a ‘professional-free’ zone.
It’s remarkable that so much can be accomplished by so few in their spare time. The organisation of the majority of rallies across the UK is in fact carried out by amateur enthusiasts for whom the 24 hour clock was surely invented. That in no way infers that the organisation of such events, especially this closed public road Jim Clark Rally, is anything less than professional in presentation and management.
Indeed the organisers have well over 40 years of experience on which to draw since Russell Close won the first Jim Clark Rally way back in 1970 driving a Mark1 Ford Escort.
Since then, the event has been transformed and grown into one of the most important and prestigious rallies in the British club calendar. Over two days and one evening, this year’s events will have 26 Special Stages totalling some 197.6 miles compared to Rally Wales GB’s 22 Stages and 194 stage mile duration.
Drivers to watch out for this year include 21 year old Welshman, Osian Pryce, who won the opening round of the British Rally Championship in Carlisle less than a month ago. That event was run over the gravel roads of Kielder Forest whereas the Jim Clark features a complete change of surface with nothing but asphalt under their wheels – unless they get it wrong!
Only 46 seconds behind Pryce was Ireland’s Daniel McKenna and with both he and Pryce in similar Citroen DS3 machines, the Berwickshire roads are all set to tingle on tarmac.
Having won the Jim Clark National Rally for the past couple of years top local hope Euan Thorburn heads the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship entry in his Ford Focus WRC ahead of current series points leader and Subaru Impreza driver Steve Simpson (from Radcliffe). Meanwhile, defending Asphalt Champion, Damian Cole (Abergavenny) failed to finish the Jim Clark last year and, having suffered a similar fate on the Manx National Rally at the beginning of this month, the will undoubtedly be up for a fight this weekend in his Ford Focus WRC.
One of the more astonishing sights next weekend will be provided by another top contender, John Indri (Langham) in his knee-high Darrian T90. Looking more like a demented frisbee than a rally car, the two wheel drive Darrian nevertheless has the pace to harry the four wheel drive brigade. Another driver to look out for is Peter Taylor (Carlisle) who is still getting to grips with his latest acquisition, a Ford Fiesta S2400 originally built by the World Rally Championship team, M-Sport.
Sunday’s Jim Clark Reivers Rally will see Thorburn (from Duns) back in action again. He finished second last year to five times Scottish Rally Champion David Bogie (Dumfries), but only after a fire underneath the dashboard of his Ford Focus had caused a bit of consternation at high speed! So far, the scoresheet reads Bogie 4 wins (2009/10/11 and 2013) on the Reivers and Thorburn just one in 2012. Considering Thorburn comes from Duns, that scoreline rankles a little bit with the local man.
Adding rather more spice to the mix are the likes of Jock Armstrong (Castle Douglas) in his Subaru Impreza and Mike Faulkner (Kirtlebridge) in his Mitsubishi Lancer while the 1996 Reivers Rally winner Andy Horne (Inverness) has a new car. He last won this event in an MG Metro 6R4 but has recently acquired a Ford Focus WRC. The question is, how quickly will he get up to speed with the new machine?
And here’s another tantalising treat. Running at number 7 in the entry list is Dom Buckley from Kelso. His grandfather won the Jim Clark Rally in 1984 and his father won it in 1998. No pressure then on the latest generation!