Round 1 of the 2016 ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship was the Arnold Clark Jury’s Inn Snowman Rally in Inverness. Traditionally one of the most popular SRC events, the crews were met with unpredictable weather conditions with patchy snow and ice throughout some of the tests.
Local crew Donnie MacDonald and Andrew Falconer won the rally in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX after a solid day, claiming their first ever SRC win.
An impressive drive from Dale Robertson and Stuart Loudon saw them claim second overall in a similar Evo IX, just seven seconds behind MacDonald and Falconer.
Banchory’s Quintin Milne finished in third in another Mitsubishi Evo IX with Sean Donnelly alongside him.
Mark McCulloch and Michael Hendry came home in fourth place, losing the rally on the final stage due to a puncture.
Duns crew Garry Pearson and Robbie Mitchell claimed fifth with their Ford Fiesta R5. Pearson was the only non-Mitsubishi driver that finished in the top 14.
Jimmy Christie finished an impressive sixth, with Reay MacKay, Steven Ronaldson, Bruce McCombie and Scott McCombie rounding out the top 10.
Bruce had been in contention for a win but a mistake on stage 3 prevented any chance of him finishing on the podium.
Defending champion Jock Armstrong struggled opening the road for the cars behind, making a few mistakes on his way to 15th overall, but ahead of rival Mike Faulkner.
The next round of the ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship is the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally on March 19.
A more detailed review of the rally will be online soon.
