TEG Sport Subaru driver Arron Newby overcomes treacherous Knockhill conditions to beat Kirkaldy
Knockhill Stages Rally
Organiser: Border Ecosse CC When: February 12 Where: Knockhill, Fife Championship: Blackwood Plant Hire Scottish Tarmack Championship, Border Challenge Championship, Border Ecosse Car Club Championship Starters: 59 Arron Newby and Andrew Leach scored a narrow victory on an ice-encrusted, wind-scoured Knockhill Stages Rally. Fighting tooth and nail all the way, their Subaru Impreza just managed to hold off the Ford Escort Mk2 of Alan Kirkaldy and Cameron Fair.
Kirkaldy initially held a three-second advantage after three stages before a mistake on the fourth cost him 10 seconds to Newby. The car had locked up under braking on the slippery surface and he slid straight on at a junction. Thereafter Newby just managed to eke out a second or two on each stage to keep Kirkaldy at bay.
Ross Marshall had a ringside view of the action finishing in third place first time out in his new Skoda Fabia S2500 but he was more concerned with his own battle, holding off his dad, John Marshall, in the Subaru by 21 seconds to secure the final podium position.
Running first on the road, Gary Adam got off to a bad start on the icy tracks, but as the ice cleared he forced his Escort Mk2 back up to fifth place ahead of the Subaru Impreza of Ian Paterson.
Earlier in the day Iain Wilson had been playing to the gallery with his Subaru Impreza adopting some lurid lines on the ice. He was giving his rebuilt car a shakedown ahead of next weekend’s Snowman Rally, so the ice practice would come in handy.
Also playing to the gallery were Ross Hunter and Quintin Milne. Hunter won Class 3, finishing in an impressive 11th place overall in his two-litre Peugeot 205 while Milne was “out for a hooley” in his Mk2 Escort, which spent most of its day pointing in a different direction to that of its intended travel. Sadly, a whiff of oil smoke inside the cabin made him call it a day with two stages to go.
First time out in his newly acquired Hyundai Accent WRC, Bob Grant was going well until he overshot his braking point on the penultimate stage and got bogged down in the mud.
Gareth White scored an emphatic Class 2 win in his Peugeot 208 R2 while Michael Robertson was lucky to survive a few over-ambitious cornering techniques in his Peugeot 106 to claim Class 1.