Kirkaldy brothers shine as Harbour takes Scottish Tarmack title
The Kirkaldy brothers, Alan and Andrew, dominated last weekend’s Kingdom Stages Rally at Leuchars, but there were celebrations for Michael Harbour and Ian Macdougall, who clinched the overall 2018 Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship title.
After a year out of the sport, Alan Kirkaldy made short work of getting back on the pace first time out with his new 2.5-litre Ford Escort Mk2. Driving his previous car was older brother, sportscar and GT racer, Andrew Kirkaldy, having his first taste of rallying.
“That’s the first time I’ve had someone in the car shouting at me and telling me which way to go!” said Kirkaldy the elder.
Ian Forgan was right in the mix, holding second place until the fifth test when a Subaru con rod burst through the block. The resultant fire was quickly brought under control when Ian Paterson stopped and used his extinguisher.
That allowed Reay Mackay in his Ford Fiesta R5+ to move back into second place. He had been second quickest on the opening test but punctured a tyre, dropping back behind Forgan and ahead of Andrew Kirkaldy, although Andrew swept past once he had settled in.
Brian Watson finished fourth in his Subaru despite struggling with the big car in the tighter sections, ahead of young Greg Inglis in his Lotus Exige with its standard 1800cc K series engine. Rounding off the top six was the MG Maestro of Ross Mccallum, equalling his best result of the season, but it wasn’t enough to snatch the Tarmack title from Harbour who also won the 1600 class on the day from Jamie Miller, both in Citroens.
Gavin Lloyd won the 1400 class in his Vauxhall Nova but, having written his VW Polo off at Otterburn, Martyn Douglas had borrowed a Nissan Micra. “All I needed was to get a finish and I would clinch the 1400cc title and top Junior,” he said. He duly did.
Results
1 Alan Kirkaldy/ Keir Beaton (Ford Escort Mk2) 45m49s; 2 Andrew Kirkaldy/ Peter Carstairs (Ford Escort Mk2) +46m15s; 3 Reay Mackay/ Robert Mcdonald (Ford Fiesta R5+); 4 Brian Watson/ Sean Donnelly (Subaru Impreza S11 WRC); 5 Greg Inglis/ Eoghan Anderson (Lotus Exige); 6 Ross Mccallum/james Ralph (MG Maestro); 7 Robert Adamson/jane Nicol (Skoda Fabia S2000); 8 Ross Fernie/ Michael Cruickshank (Subaru Impreza STI); 9 Keith Robathan/ Phil Sandham (BMW M3); 10 Jimmy Christie/ David Macfadyen (Mitsubishi Lancer E9).
Class winners: Gavin Lloyd/ Gordon Clark (Vauxhall Nova); Michael Harbour/ Ian Macdougall (Citroen C2 R2 MAX); Inglis/anderson; Kirkaldy/ Beaton; Mackay/ Mcdonald.