… Mach 1 Stages Rally, Sat/Sun 13/14 July …
If you fancy a quiet weekend of peace, solitude and contemplation, best avoid Machrihanish this coming weekend. Dunfermline CC have attracted a heckuva entry for Round 6 of the Cobble Shop Scottish Tarmack Championship, the Mull of Kintyre based Mach 1 Stages Rally.
Heading the entry list is last year’s winner Bruce Edwards with last year’s runner-up, Gordon Morrison seeded at Number 2. Just 16 seconds separated the Darrian from the Impreza after two days of rallying the last time they met here, but have a look at what’s running behind them. John Rintoul will wheel out his new Fiesta R5 and Nigel Feeney will have his MINI WRC, or will he? Feeney hasn’t shown on his entry form what car he will be driving. Either he’s forgotten what he’s got in his garage or it’s just been overlooked, so we’ll have to wait and see.
There’s a gap at Number 4 so Ian Paterson runs at 5 having finished 3rd overall last year in his Subaru with Alistair Inglis at 6 in the Lotus. Behind him is a Mahcrihanish virgin, Yorkshire’s Alan Oldfield in his Darrian and although Alan hasn’t done much this year he was 2nd overall on last month’s Enville Stages in Wales.
Colin Gemmell is next up in the Mk2 ahead of Donnie MacDonald, Barry Groundwater, Brian Watson, Murray Grierson and Tom Blackwood who will debut his new car, a bright yellow Ford Fiesta R5. Now there’s a line-up worthy of a Hammer Horror Film production, eh?
It’ll be interesting to see how Ben Wilkinson gets on round here with his rapid Saxo, Allan McDowall has entered the Kadett instead of the Mk2 and there is one fear, is Machrihanish big enough and wide enough for the return of Billy McClelland? Further down the field there are a couple more interesting entries like the two ‘Mr Smiths’ in car 71 (??) and don’t get overawed by the appearance of a Citroen ZX Dakar at 67. It’s just a Citroen ZX with a sticker on it – like a luggage label! Gavin likes to tease.
There’s more at stake than just blagging rights though with Gemmell currently leading the Cobble Shop Championship by 2 points from Kyle Adam. Michael Robertson is 3rd in the points chase ahead of Alan Wallace, Des Campbell and Graeme Rintoul.
The first car is away at 11.00 am on Saturday morning the 13th July with first car on Sunday morning at 08.00 am. There will be 12 special stages totalling approx. 95 miles on 99% sealed surface, 1% broken tarmac/gravel and spectator areas will be defined for those wishing to come and watch the mayhem.
Entry List
1, Bruce Edwards/Jim Smith (Darrian T9 GTR) 2499cc, Class 4
2, Gordon Morrison/Calum MacPherson (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
3, John Rintoul/Ross Hynd (Ford Fiesta R5) 1600, 5
5, Nigel Feeney/Conor Duffy (TBA) 0, 5
6, Ian Paterson/Alan Paterson (Subaru Impreza B13) 1995, 5
7, Alistair Inglis/Colin Inglis (Lotus Exige) 2150, 4
8, Alan Oldfield/Ashleigh Morris (Darrian T90 GTR+) 2500, 4
9, Colin Gemmell/Richard Crozier (Ford Escort Mk2) 3, 4
10, Donnie MacDonald/Chris Hamill (Mitsubishi Evo9) 1995, 5
11, Barry Groundwater/TBC (TBC) 0, 5
12, Brian Watson/Sean Donnelly (Subaru S11 WRC) 1998, 5
14, Murray Grierson/Mark Grierson (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
15, Tom Blackwood/Gordon Winning (Ford Fiesta R5+) 2000, 5
16, Greg Inglis/Steven Brown (Lotus Exige) 2000, 3
17, Richard Sutherland/Jack Sutherland (Opel Manta) 1998, 3
18, Des Campbell/Craig Forsyth (Peugeot 206) 1600, 2
19, Michael Harbour/Ian MacDougall (Ford Escort Mk2) 2000, 3
20, Andy Horne/Alison Horne (Darrian T90) 2000, 3
21, Billy McLelland/Charlotte McDowell (Mitsubishi Evo3.5) 1998, 5
22, Drew Gallagher/David Crosbie (Ford Escort Mk2) 2500, 4
23, Michael Robertson/Murray Milne (Honda Civic Type R) 1998, 3
24, George Ross Auld/Richard Stewart (Ford Escort) 2400, 4
25, Kyle Adam/Fiona Moir (Ford Escort) 1600, 2
26, Kieran O’Kane/TBA (Opel Ascona) 2500, 4
27, Ross Chalmers/Steven Chalmers (Subaru Impreza) 1998, 5
28, Robert Marshall/Lewis MacDougall (Ford Escort) 2499, 4
29, Keith Richardson/Jackie Richardson (Ford Escort Cosworth) 1998, 5
30, Ben Wilkinson/Andrew Wilkinson (Citroen Saxo) 1598, 2
31, James Miller/Ian McCulloch (Citroen,C2R2 MAX) 1598, 2
32, Alan Wallace/Darren Robertson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 0, 5
33, Allan McDowall/Gavin Heseltine (Opel Kadett) 2500, 4
35, Alistair Dalgliesh/David Dalgliesh (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
36, Harry Chalmers/Michael Moates (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
38, Cameron Craig/Ewan Lees (Peugeot 205) 1398, 1
40, Adam Hanner/Wayne Wood (Ford Puma) 1598, 2
41, Norman MacPhail/Lee Gallagher (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
42, Alan Stark/TBA (Mitsubishi Evo9) 1999, 5
43, Jonathan MacDonald/Chris Wareham (Peugeot 306 GTi-6) 1998, 3
44, Kevin Jeffray/Shona Hale (Toyota Corolla TSport) 1800, 3
45, Russell Milne/Adam Milne (Ford Escort Cosworth) 1998, 5
46, Cameron MacLean/Robert Sherry (Ford Escort Mk2) 1998, 3
47, John Robertson/Violet Kydd (Ford Escort) 1998, 3
48, Rob Dennis/Ronald Roughead (Subaru 12B) 2000, 2
49, Marcus Tinsley/Cameron Dunn (Peugeot 205 Rallye) 1360, 1
50, Iain Findlay/Ronnie Bowie (Mitsubishi Evo4) 1998, 5
51, Hamish Grant/Stewart Hurst (Ford Escort Mk2) 2500, 4
52, George Fell, Lois Fell, Renault, Clio 197, 1998, 3
53, James Strachan/Louise Strachan (Peugeot 106) 1, 1
54, Leonard Jones/Duncan MacLean (Vauxhall Chevette) 1998, 3
55, Eamon McCrystal/TBA (Ford Escort) 1994, 3
56, Steven Paterson/Scott Paterson (Vauxhall Corsa) 1598, 2
57, Garry Coutts/Paul Tonner (Ford Fiesta) 1596, 2
58, Graham MacDonald/Robert MacDonald (Audi TT) 3000, 4
59, Martin Farquhar/Aiden Henderson (Peugeot 106) 1360, 1
60, Duncan MacLean/Ian Parker (Peugeot 106) 1598, 2
61, Innes Mochrie/Kirsty Mochrie (Rover Metro GTI) 1396, 1
62, Paul Orchiston/James Clark (Audi TT) 1800, 5
63, Stevie Alexander/Christina Turner (Citroen Saxo VTS) 1587, 2
64, Paul Collins/Thomas Wilson (Subaru Impreza) 2000, 5
65, Robert Wood/Ryan Griffiths (Ford Fiesta) 1596, 2
66, Robbie McTaggart/Keith McTaggart (Peugeot 106 GTI) 1598, 2
67, Gavin Gray/Colin Mackay (Citroen ZX Dakar) 1997, 3
68, John Kean/Jennifer Kelly (Peugeot 205) 1580, 2
69, Kayleigh Strachan/Steven Crockett (Citroen Saxo) 2, 2
70, Andrew Logan/Calum Fraser (Peugeot 205 GTI) 1580, 2
71, Mr Smith/Mr Smith (Honda Civic) 1600, 2