… Mach 1 Stages Rally, Sat/Sun 14/15 July …
Westward Ho … Let the pilgrimage commence. This weekend, the 5th Mach1 Stages takes to the runways and perimeter roads of the Machrihanish Air Base just outside Campbeltown in the ancient Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata.
First established by the marauding Irish, they were then deposed by the Vikings just over 900 years ago. After various arguments, skirmishes and battles, the kingdom was sold to the Scottish King, Alexander III, some 4 centuries later and remained in troubled Scottish hands until a long haired character from Liverpool emerged from the ‘mists rolling in from the sea’ and claimed his own kingdom. To this day, his anthem ‘Mull of Kintyre’ can be heard in the sound of the surf, echoing through the glens and rousing the back rooms of hostelries throughout the peninsula.
And this weekend the turf (tarmacadam) wars continue with an invasion of a rather different kind. Over 90 battlewagons manned (and womanned) by some of the roughest, toughest brigands the area has ever seen will converge on Campbeltown and set up camp hoping fervently that Andy Stewart’s mirage will become reality – “Oh Campbeltown Loch I wush ye were whusky!”
Ahead lies 12 Special Stages, 8 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday, totalling some 89 miles of fast and furious motor sport, and thanks to the unstinting work by Dunfermline CC stalwarts there will be a brand new stage in the mix! Cars will start at 30 second intervals with the first runner away at 11.00 am on Saturday morning and 8.00 am on Sunday morning.
Spectators will again be well catered for with their own Car Park access point to the south of the airport, signposted from the B843 on the road to Machrihanish Golf Club from the centre of Campbeltown.
Last year’s winner, Shaun Sinclair tops the entry list and he will be joined by the 2014 inaugural event winner Tom Morris and 2015 winner Alastair Inglis, but given the nature and duration of the event, the list of potential winners is much bigger than that.
Gordon Morrison scored maximum STRC points last time out at Crail, but after a troubled start to his season lies only 12th in the Cobble Ship Championship points table so he’ll be keen to make up the deficit this weekend. Ranged against him are Bruce Edwards in the hellfire skateboard and John Rintoul who is gradually teaching the Fiesta RX to behave, while steadily chipping away at the points is Ian Paterson in the Subaru.
Colin Gemmell, Alan Gardiner and Tom Blackwood lead the 2WD charge, but Barry Groundwater is back in an Escort and should make a dent on the top three if he doesn’t make any more dents in the Escort – like he did last year! And then there’s Freddie Milne in an Escort too. Kind of makes you wonder if Machrihanish is wide enough for this lot.
Others to keep an eye on include Brian Watson and James Gibb, and here’s an outside bet, what about Alasdair Graham and a certain Donnie MacDonald back in a Mitsubishi? Spoiled for riches this weekend, eh?
However, currently leading the STRC points tables is Ross McCallum (76 points) in his Honda engined MG Maestro while Martin Farquhar is 2nd (68 pts) in his Peugeot 106. Holding joint 3rd place overall (65 pts) are Martyn Douglas and Michael Harbour who both lost out at Crail. Martyn broke his VW Polo’s gearbox while Michael rolled the Citroen. That means plenty to fight for this weekend.
And I can’t wait to see what the be-whiskered Francophile Gavin Gray has replaced his somewhat elderly, well used, bashed and bruised Citroen ZX with, all he’s saying is, that it will be “something french.” Knowing Gavin it might well be a 2CV or perhaps even a Dauphine? For sure, it won’t be a sensible rally choice, eh?
Entry List:
1, Shaun Sinclair/TBA (TBA)
2, Bruce Edwards/Jim Smith (Darrian T9 GTR) 2499cc, Class 4
3, Gordon Morrison/Calum MacPherson (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
4, Alistair Inglis/Colin Inglis (Lotus Exige) 2150, 4
5, Ian Paterson/TBA (Subaru Impreza B13) 1995, 5
7, John Rintoul/Ross Hynd (Ford Fiesta RX) 2000, 5
8, Colin Gemmell/Derek Keir (Ford Escort Mk2) 2499, 4
9, Tom Morris/Russell Smith (Skoda Fabia) 2500, 5
10, Alan Gardiner/Dave Robson (Ford Escort Mk1) 2500, 4
11, Tom Blackwood/Gordon Winning (Ford Escort Mk2) 2499, 4
12, Barry Groundwater/Sam Coleman (Ford Escort) 2000, 4
13, Freddie Milne/Keir Beaton (Ford Escort) 2500, 4
14, Brian Watson/Sean Donnelly (Subaru Impreza S11 WRC) 2000, 5
15, James Gibb/Taylor Gibb (Mitsubishi Evo) 1998, 5
16, Stuart Paterson/Allan Paterson (Subaru Impreza) 1998, 5
17, Chris McCallum/Stephen Clark (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
18, Phil Jobson/Ali Proctor (Ford Escort Mk2) 2500, 4
19, Jim Sharp/Shona Hale (Mitsubishi Evo) 1998, 5
20, Alasdair Graham/Sinclair Young (Mitsubishi Lancer) 2000, 5
21, Donnie MacDonald/Chris Hamill (Mitsubishi Evo9) 2000, 5
22, Ross McCallum/James Ralph (MG Maestro) 1998, 3
23, Willie Paterson/Euan O’Neill (Mitsubishi Evo8) 1997, 5
24, Kieran O’Kane/Eamon McCrystal (Opel Ascona) 2500, 4
25, Greg Inglis/Ewan Stanhope (Lotus Exige) 1800, 3
26, Joe McQuillan/TBC (Mitsubishi Evo9) 1998, 5
27, George Ross Auld/Richard Stewart (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
28, Scott McMinn/Mary Pierotti (Subaru Impreza) 1998, 5
30, Michael Harbour/Ian MacDougall (Citroen C2R2 Max) 1600, 2
31, Richard Wheeler/Gail Whyte (Ford Escort RS) 2043, 3
32, Kyle Adam/Connor Adam (Ford Escort) 1600, 2
33, Robert Marshall/Lewis MacDougall (Ford Escort Mk2) 1999, 3
34, Iain Sanderson/Kyle Dods (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
35, Kenny Moore/Richard Wardle (Hillman Avenger) 2000, 3
36, James MacGillivray/Kerrie MacGillivray (Subaru Impreza) 1998, 5
37, Alan Wallace/Darren Robertson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 1998, 5
38, Jamie Miller/Ian McCulloch (Citroen C2R2 Max) 0, 2
39, Martyn Douglas/Brian Pringle (Volkswagen Polo Cup Car) 1398, 1
40, Willie Beattie/Katy Mashiter (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
41, Donald Bowness/Andrew Blackwood (Vauxhall Nova) 1600, 2
42, Hamish Grant/Stewart Hurst (Ford Escort Mk2) 2000, 3
43, Keith Richardson/TBA (Ford Escort Cosworth) 1998, 5
44, Michael Robertson/Murray Milne (Honda Civic) 1998, 3
45, William Beattie/Steven Beattie (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
46, Fergus Gray/Kenny More (BMW 130i) 2997, 4
47, Sue Hynd/Tom Hynd (Mini Cooper) 1598, 4
48, Ross Chalmers/Steven Chalmers (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
49, Joe Pringle/Thomas Purvin (Vauxhall Corsa) 1600, 2
50, Simon Proud/Scott Paterson (Subaru Impreza CG8) 1998, 5
51, Drew Gallagher/David Crosbie (Subaru Impreza) 1998, 5
52, Martin Farquhar/Aiden Henderson (Peugeot 106) 1360, 1
53, James Strachan/Cathy Shergold (Peugeot 106) 1, 1
54, Ben Wilkinson/Joe Taylor (Citroen Saxo) 1600, 2
55, Innes Mochrie/Paul Hunter (Rover Metro GTi) 1396, 1
56, Cameron MacLean/Shuggie Wood (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
57, Fraser Smith/TBC (Honda Civic) 1600, 2
58, Donald Cameron/Martin MacCabe (Honda Civic) 1598, 2
59, Brian Beefy Fraser/Fiona Moir (Hillman Avenger Tiger) 1500, 2
60, Kevin Clarke/Michael Moates (Vauxhall Corsa Maxi) 1598, 2
61, Bill Laidlaw/Harry Marchbank (Subaru Impreza) 0, 5
62, John Robertson/Violet Kydd (Ford Escort) 1998, 3
63, Greg Turner/TBC (Peugeot 206) 1596, 2
64, Alan Stark/Greg Stark (Subaru Impreza) 1999, 5
65, Cameron Craig/Ewan Lees (Peugeot 205) 1360, 1
66, Andrew Scott/Ian Robertson (Ford Escort Mk2) 2371, 4
67, Gordon McElrath/Jim Rintoul (Vauxhall Chevette) 1998, 3
68, Gary Ross/Alan Ross (MG TF) 1796, 3
69, Graham John MacDonald/Robert MacDonald (Audi TT) 2998, 4
70, Malcolm MacDougall/Kyle Livingstone (Vauxhall Nova) 1400, 1
71, Lindsay Taylor/Daniel Langford (Ford Fiesta ST150) 1999, 3
72, Russell Milne/Adam Milne (Ford Escort Cosworth) 1998, 5
73, James Campbell/Claire Tilley (Mitsubishi Evo4) 2, 5
74, David McIntyre/Alan Todd (Vauxhall Nova) 1598, 2
75, Iain Findlay/Ronnie Bowie (Mitsubishi Evo4) 2000, 5
76, Norman MacPhail/Robert Sherry (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
77, George Fell/Lois Fell (Renault Clio) 1998, 3
78, Lenny Jones/Duncan MacLean (Vauxhall Chevette) 1998, 3
79, Jonathan MacDonald/Chris Wareham (Peugeot 306 GTi-6) 1998, 3
80, Eamonn Kilmurray/Derek Cassells (Citroen C2 GT) 1589, 2
81, Gary McDermaid/Angus Paterson (Peugeot 106) 1587, 2
82, John Kean/Malcolm McDonald (Peugeot 205 GTI) 1598, 2
83, Gavin Gray/Andrew Gray (Something French) 1997, 3
85, James Clark/Paul Orchiston (Audi TT) 1800, 5
86, Robert Wood/Alasdair Wood (Ford Fiesta) 1596, 2
87, Garry Coutts/Paul Tonner (Ford Fiesta) 1596, 2
88, Allan Watt/Kayleigh Strachan (Citroen Saxo) 1589, 2
89, Dean Ross/Peter Beaton (Peugeot 107) 998, 0
90, Steven Alexander/Christina Turner (Citroen Saxo VTS) 1587, 2
91, Robbie McTaggart/Keith McTaggart (Peugeot 106) 1587, 2