With both the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship and the Probite British Rally Championship in town, the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally was a very tough challenge for the crews running in the various classes.
Class C1
Returning to the SRC for the 1st time since he rolled the car on the 2023 Galloway Hills, Mark Gordon would take the C1 win in his 205. With Iain Macleod jumping into the hotseat at the last minute, they were under very strict instructions from the team to make sure they saw the finish. A controlled drive to 57th overall was exactly what they needed.
Class C3
Back out for the 1st time since the Speyside, Robert Tonge had a new navigator in Graeme Harris and was another driver just looking for a solid run and a good finish. Knocking the rust off on the Friday night the Saturday was going well although they briefly visit a ditch on Saturday morning. Unfortunately for them that was right in front of one of the SRC static cameras. No damage done, the MG finished in 51st overall.
Class C5
Mike Grant & Graham Kelman were another crew back out for the 1st time since the Speyside. Their Subaru had been treated to a lot of development work over their break and Mike was hopeful of a big improvement in performance. That was definitely the case, 44th overall and a class win although they were another crew to make a misdemeanour on camera, disappearing straight on at a square junction, in front of yet another SRC static.
Class H1
Taking yet another H1 win, Robin Shuttleworth & Malcolm Smithson weren’t overly happy with their performance on the Friday but were enjoying swapping times with David McLeod & Eamonn Boyle’s Avenger. When the Avenger sadly retired Robin & Malcolm were left as the sole H1 crew and ran well to grab 48th overall, just 0.6 seconds down on Meghan & John O’Kane’s R2 Fiesta.
Class H2
36th overall, Donald Peacock & Mairi Riddick really enjoyed the Friday stages, Donald a big fan of the twisty and technical sections. In fact it was so good he tried to persuade Mairi that they should do a 2nd lap. It was a clean run on the Saturday, the biggest drama being a spark plug snapping in half inside the engine while they were in service. Thankfully no damage was done and they took another Class H2 win.
Class M2
Meghan & John O’Kane endured another difficult event in their Fiesta. A big moment on the same corner that claimed Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton on the Friday was only survived when a big rock bounced them back onto the road. That bent things in the suspension and a couple of further knocks on the Saturday made the car even more tricky to drive. To cap things off there was a return of the gear selection problems that plagued their Speyside, Meghan suspecting an issue with the diff. Despite it all they managed 47th overall.
Class M4
Another crew missing since the Speyside, Dougal Brown & Lewis Rochford were quick to knock the rust off with 2 good runs on the Friday night stages. That trend continued on the Saturday, Dougal & Lewis starting to feel they were approaching the limits of the car, especially in the flowing sections. The M4 win, 28th overall and 3rd 2wd car home was one of the best runs we’ve seen from the former 2wd champions since their return to rallying.
Class M5
9th in the SRC and top 2wd car, it was another excellent run for Greg McKnight & Harry Marchbank in the big Escort. Keen to see how their pace compared to the BRC Juniors in their Rally 4 spec cars they were absolutely flying, eventually ending up just under a minute clear of the eventual BRC junior winners, Robert Proudlock & Steven Brown in their 208.
Class M6
One of the most delighted crews at the finish, it was a weekend to remember for Rob Cotton & Ethan Kidd. The Impreza crew taking the win in the Albyn Garage Challengers, the Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup and Class M6. They had made some setup changes before the event and were very happy with the results. The biggest drama was damaging the exhaust manifold towards the end of stage 6, leaving them down on power for part of Saturday. 12th in the SRC at the finish in a Cup-spec Subaru was an excellent result.
Class M7
Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry had been persuaded by suspension man Euan Syme to make some pretty big changes to the car setup before the Grampian. Despite being a bit unsure of how it would be the changes were clearly good and the Proton crew were right in the mix in the SRC top 5 all event. Even a smashed wheel and damaged rear suspension in SS6 couldn’t slow them too much, a roadside repair getting them back to service. 12th overall and 4th in the SRC was a strong result.
Class Pro2
After they put their MK2 off on one of the 1st corners of the Scottish, Craig Rutherford & Ashleigh Will were out in G&M’s Peugeot 208 for the 1st time. The Friday was tricky, Craig discovering that the MK2’s intercom wasn’t powerful enough in the turbocharged 208 and he couldn’t hear Ashleigh’s notes. That resulted in an off, thankfully without any major damage. A change of intercom overnight and the Saturday was very good, Craig relearning the fwd game quickly and they ended 4th SRC 2wd car home along with a solid 33rd overall.
images courtesy of AF Motorsport Media
