The Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship circus descended on Lockerbie for the final round of the 2024 season, the Caledonian Rally. With 2nd in the overall points and both the 2 Wheel Drive and Challengers categories still to be decided there was a lot to play for over the 6 stages.
Taking their first SRC win after coming so close on several occasions, Mark McCulloch and Michael Hendy started the day 3rd fastest in SS1 and equal fastest in SS2. A big push in SS3 saw the Proton Satria hit the front to lead by 7 seconds. They held the lead for the rest of the day, stretching it to 21 seconds with 1 stage remaining. They backed off slightly over a nervy final stage to eventually take the win by 15 seconds. A great day for the team and especially for Mark to take the win in his home forests. This result consolidated their runner-up position in the final 2024 Championship standings.
After taking his first win on the previous round, John Wink was experiencing running first on the road in a rally for the first time. That meant that John & co-driver Jack Bowen were probably getting the slipperiest of the conditions for the 4-wheel drive contenders, which resulted in a brief off in SS3, and John didn’t feel he had a clean run until SS4, fastest over the 7 miles. 4th after SS4, they matched the leaders time in SS5 and then set fastest time on the final stage to jump from 4th to 2nd, aided by an unfortunate off on the final stage for Ian Forgan/Chris Lees, who were lying 3rd at that point. 2nd at the finish was enough to give John 3rd in the drivers’ points standings.
Equal fastest in the first 2 stages, Jock Armstrong and Owen Paterson led by 4 seconds from McCulloch/Hendry. An off at the same point as Wink and a big hit in a compression in SS3 damaged the exhaust of the car and dropped them to 3rd place, 11 seconds off the lead. Back up to 2nd after SS4 they made a temporary fix to the exhaust in 2nd service but dropped a further 9 seconds to McCulloch/Hendry in SS5. On the final stage Jock nearly put the car off the road trying to avoid a big pothole and they were overtaken in the final standings by the flying Wink/Bowen. 3rd overall was enough to give Owen 3rd overall in the final co-drivers points in his first season in the SRC with Jock 4th in the drivers.
The G&M Mechanical services 2 Wheel Drive championship was still to be decided, Greg McKnight & Harry Marchbank squaring up against Paddy Munro & Andrew Stevenson. Such was the pace of the 2 Escorts that they finished an amazing 5th and 6th overall with the yellow MK2 just beating the blue car by less than a minute at the finish. It was a nervy day for Greg & Harry, having to push hard to stay ahead of Paddy & Andrew without throwing it off the road. They managed exactly that, delighted to wrap up the 2wd title in their home forests after a fantastic year-long 2wd battle.
Paddy & Andrew still had a shot at the Albyn Garage Challengers title too, needing a win to put pressure on Johnnie Mackay & Rachel Matheson. The Mk2 crew did what they needed to do, taking the Challengers win on the event. Johnnie & Rachel needed 7th in the Challengers to take the title but started too steadily in the morning and were only 8th after 2 stages. After some words in service, they began to push hard, flying up the leaderboard to grab 2nd behind the MK2 and guarantee the title after another excellent Challengers battle.
Rachel was also one half of the Lady navigator’s battle, squaring off against Donald Peacock’s co-driver Mairi Riddick. Donald & Mairi were absolutely flying in the morning, inside the top 10 in the historic Escort. Unfortunately for them, alternator problems stymied their attack in the afternoon, and they slipped back behind the Evo as Mackay & Matheson were on a late charge. 8th overall and the Ladies win was enough for Rachel to wrap up a 2nd title of the day, Donald & Mairi still managing a solid 13th.
Michael Moates needed a finish to grab the Moates Offshore Junior Navigator’s title from the passenger seat of Justin Gunning’s Renault Clio. What followed was an excellent run, catching cars multiple times and flirting with the edges of the top 10 for the entire day, showcasing just how far they have come this year. 12th at the finish was an excellent way to round out the year and give Michael the navigator’s title. They are looking forward to pushing even harder in 2025 now that they’ve got a good handle on the car.
Taking their 1st Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup win of the year, it was nevertheless a difficult day at the office for Mike Grant & Graham Kelman. A burst radiator pipe in stage 1 meant a roadside bodge had to be made before they tackled stage 2. Amazingly the improvised repair held but then Mike was startled when the steering wheel began to work itself loose. They managed a more solid radiator fix at service, but the steering wheel continued to give bother for the rest of the day. They survived, grabbing 15th overall at the finish.
Also taking their 1st Haddo Energy Super Seniors win of the season, Walter Henderson & Jim Kinloch had decided to tackle the whole 2 days of Rally Anglo Caledonian. What followed was a brilliant drive all weekend, battling for a place inside the top 10 all event. Walter feeling the extra seat time was exactly what he needed to finally get a handle on the new car, and they finished an excellent 12th in the big event after 2 hard days of rallying.
images by AFMotorsport Media
