The Dunoon Presents… Argyll Rally provides one of the biggest challenges that the Asset Aliiance Group Scottish Rally Championship contenders will face all season. That was especially true for those competing in the various classes.
Class C3
After a difficult Jim Clark Alistair Brearley had decided to change things up moving forward, teaming up for Argyll with the experienced Richard Wardle. The MK2 pilot really enjoyed the challenge of the Friday night, saying it reminded him of the rallies he competed in in the 70s and 80s. A wrong tyre choice on Saturday morning was a minor setback but they ran well to the C3 win and 61st overall.
Class M1
49th overall, Christopher Smith made it 3 M1 wins on the trot in his 1400 Corsa. Re-united with Amy McCubbin after she was forced to miss the previous round they put their tarmac and Mull experience to good use, also taking honours in the Moates Offshore Juniors. Now they’ll have to continue their learning journey on the loose next time out.
Class M2
Meghan & John O’Kane would take honours in M2 but it was a frustrating event for the Fiesta crew. They lost their oil filler cap in on the 1st run through Dunoon Town Centre and then lost the intercom out on the proper stages, making Friday night a real challenge. The Saturday morning wasn’t amazing either but the final loop was a lot better as things dried out. They survived a late scare at one of the many jumps but survived to take 51st overall.
Class M3
Andrew Forbes & Alex Hill continued their learning curve with their Honda Civic, Andrew saying he felt he was really starting to get to grips with the car on multi-venue events. The saved their biggest drama for the final loop where a small moment over a jump suddenly became a big moment without much warning. The Honda team made it 2 wins out of 3 in M3 and came home a solid 38th overall.
Class M4
Not traditionally a fan of tarmac, Paddy Munro was actually enjoying these roads more than he thought he would, saying they reminded him of the roads around his home. With Andrew Stevenson in the hotseat once again they were one of the crews caught in a bank of fog on the Friday night meaning they were playing catch up on the Saturday. All went smoothly and they grabbed 37th overall and can’t wait to be back on the gravel.
Class M5
Taking a 1st M5 win of the season, Gordon Morrison & Ian Parker had played 2nd fiddle to the flying Greg McKnight & Harry Marchbank early on, Gordon & Ian feeling they spent the Friday night and Saturday morning on the wrong tyres. When Greg & Harry retired with engine problems that left the grey MK2 in the perfect position, finally on the right tyre and running well to 14th overall, 1st G&M Mechanical Services 2wd and top of the Albyn Garage Challengers.
Class M6
There were split honours in M6. Richard Crozier would walk away with the top Navigator’s points, guiding William Hill around to another giant killing performance, 8th overall in amongst the R5 and Rally 2 cars in their Rally 3 Fiesta.
Rob Cotton would take top Driver in his cup spec Impreza, lucky to see the finish after a heavy landing burst both the exhaust and radiator. Rob & co-driver Ethan Kidd sealing the radiator with a mix of Lucozade & Eggs to amazingly survive in 28th overall.
Class M7
Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry would make it 2 wins out of 3 in M7 in their Proton Satria. The 1st two thirds of the event saw their attack stymied by a niggling misfire. That was eventually sorted by AG Motorsport, when they remotely swapped the car’s brain to a different map in the Saturday service. Their day was further blighted by a broken wheel after clipping a hidden rock. Despite all the issues they still managed a creditable 10th overall.
Class H1
Taking their 2nd H1 win of the year, Robin Shuttleworth & Malcolm Smithson’s excellent season continued. The Friday night was a struggle, historic spec lights not the best in the dark and fog. In Robin’s words the Saturday was “mega”, finding the MK1 perfectly suited to these roads, embarrassing some much more modern machinery on the way to 53rd overall.
Class Pro2
– Richard Stewart had Owen Paterson in the 208’s passenger seat for this round. There was a small panic in the dark on Friday when the car’s gear readout decided it was in reverse while Richard was flat in 5th. A quick ctrl alt delete seemed to fix the issue but Richard admitted to being a bit distracted. There were a couple of startline stalls on the Saturday but they survived to take 52nd overall and Richard’s 2nd class win of the season.
images courtesy of AF Motorsport Media
