FORD PROVES TO BE A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK WITH VICTORY
Having just picked up his dad’s new Ford Fiesta Rally2 at M-Sport on Friday, James Ford continued his journey northwards to Ingliston near Edinburgh to give the car a shakedown on the DCC Stages Rally on Saturday. Watched by father Chris, James with Matt Daniels triumphed in the new car on their first visit to the Scottish venue. The Fiesta Rally2s of Alistair and Colin Inglis were second and John Marshall and Craig Wallace third.
Jonathan Mounsey and Charley Sayer-Payne had originally been holding second place until a cog broke in their Fiesta Rally2’s gearbox with Gordon Morrison and Hannah McKillop taking over the runner-up spot till their Fiesta R5 failed to start the final stage with a faulty throttle.
Greg Inglis and Ian Murray finished top two-wheel-drive car and scored a superb fourth place in their Lotus Exige just ahead of the Skodaru Fabia of Drew Gallagher and David Crosbie. Ben and Andrew Wilkinson were challenging for the top 2WD award in their Peugeot 106 Maxi but lost out after taking the wrong direction at a Split thereby enabling Andy and Karen Horne to round off the top six in their Darrian T90 and finish second 2WD.
Most impressive drive of the day was young Archie Swinscoe’s ninth overall and 1600 class win. First time out in his new Vauxhall Adam, he and Barry Young were clear class winners while of the regular class hotshots, Des Campbell broke a driveshaft in his Peugeot, Stephen Hay broke his Corsa’s gearbox and Dave McIntyre had electrical problems in his Citroen C2R2 Max. Andrew Blackwood and Richard Stewart won the 1400 class in their Ford
Fiesta despite losing first gear for most of the day with Steven Crockett and Michael Moates taking second in their Peugeot 205. Tom Johnstone and Ted Runciman lost out on third place in their onelitre Skoda Citigo courtesy of a wrong slot on the final stage.
Sunday’s Junior 1000 competition featured a tremendous scrap between Kalum Graffin, David Burden, Sam Mason and Max Speed. Going into the final stage, Burden and Peter Williams had a four-second lead over Graffin and Richard Crozier, but Graffin’s Skoda just edged out the Citroen to claim victory by one second.
Results
DCC Stages Rally
Organiser: Dunfermline Car Club When: March 26-27 Where: Ingliston, Edinburgh
Championships: Burnside Piling Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship, AS Performance North of England Rally Championship, HRCR MOTOSCOPE Northern Historic Rally Championship, RSM Hire Scottish Single Venue Rally Championship
Ecosse Junior Rally Championship, Junior 1000 Rally Championship Stages: 8 Starters: 60 and 20 juniors
1 James Ford/Matt Daniels (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 58m54s; 2 Alistair Inglis/Colin Inglis (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +46s; 3 John Marshall/Craig Wallace (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 4 Greg Inglis/Ian Murray (Lotus Exige); 5 Drew Gallagher/David Crosbie (Skodaru Fabia); 6 Andy Horne/Karen Horne (Darrian T90 GTR); 7 Richard Sutherland/ Jack Sutherland (Opel Manta); 8 Chris
McCallum/Peter McCallum (Ford Escort Mk2); 9 Archie Swinscoe/Barry Young (Vauxhall Adam); 10 Iain Sanderson/Kyle Dodds (Ford Escort Mk2). Class winners: Andrew Blackwood/Richard Stewart (Ford Fiesta); Swinscoe/Young; Sutherland/ Sutherland; Inglis/Murray; Ford/Daniels DCC Junior Stages: 1 Kalum Graffin/Richard Crozier (Skoda Citigo) 1h01m30s; 2 David Burden/Peter Williams (Citroen C1) +1s; 3 Sam Mason/James Seymour (Suzuki Alto); 4 Max Speed, Alan Gilbert (Peugeot 107); 5 Oliver Phillips/Emma Morrison (VW Up!); 6 Letisha Conn/Richard Stewart (Skoda Citigo).