RALLY REPORTS EDWARDS’ DARRIAN DOMINATES CRAIL

Crail Summer Stages Rally Three Counties Stages

Organiser: Glenrothes Motor Sport Club When: June 18 Where: Crail, Fife Stages: 9 Starters: 97

Bruce Edwards and Jim Smith scored a close-run victory at Saturday’s Crail Summer Stages Rally.

The Darrian Millington crew finished the six-stage event just 14 seconds clear of Alan Kirkaldy and Don Whyatt in their Ford Escort Mk2. Edwards was fastest on five of the day’s six tests, only losing out on the full set when a touch of excessive optimism had the car lockedup under braking into a hairpin. Unlike some others he failed to strike either of the large bale or tyre markers.

Kirkaldy was rarely more than four seconds per stage slower than Edwards but dropped 10 seconds on the third test when he too misjudged a braking point on the long back straight.

Gary Adam finished third in his Escort Mk2 after striking a tyre marker and bending the steering rack but still managed to keep clear of the battling Subarus of John Marshall and Colin Gemmell. “We got off to a slow start this morning,” said Gemmell. “That was until we found a vacuum pipe had come off the turbo.” He closed the gap to Marshall to three seconds at the start of the final stage, but a big lock-up and slide under braking cost him dear, and Marshall grabbed fourth.

First front-wheel-drive car was the Renault Clio of Alistair Hutchinson finishing sixth ahead of the Subarus of Ian Paterson, who clouted a bale, and Bob Grant who spun and stalled in the third test. Gareth White was top 1600cc car in ninth place overall in the Peugeot 208 by just 11 seconds from the Vauxhall Corsa Kit Car of Neil Thompson, which was sporting a bit of panel damage after an early argument with a bale. Regular 1600 class front runner Sean Robson was plagued with power steering pump problems in his Citroen C2 and finished 17th.

Tom Morris retired his Metro after completing an un-intended extra lap of the first stage and was trailing a bit of blue engine smoke as the car returned to service. John Rintoul wrong slotted on the third stage when catching a car at the Split but then broke a driveshaft in the Hyundai while Alistair Inglis was forced out when the Lotus boiled up sitting in the start queue for the fourth stage and it spewed out all its water.

Barry Renwick was going well in the Proton after two stages before it suffered a return of the problem at the previous Scottish Tarmack Championship round. He was lying fourth after two stages before the car defied every effort to fire up for the start of Stage three.

Billy Mcclelland broke the Opel Kadett’s diff and Ross Mcfadzean was stranded out in the middle of the airfield when the Subaru’s electrics died.