REDEMPTION FOR MARSHALL AND TE G TO TAKE KNOCK HILL WIN
Organiser: Border Ecosse Car Club When: February 25 Where: Knockhill, Fife Championships: Scottish Tarmack Championship, North of England Tarmac Championship, Borders Rally Challenge, Border Ecosse Car Club Championship Stages: 8 Starters: 59
A week after an engine failure at Snetterton, John Marshall and Scott Crawford came out on top at the Grant Construction Knockhill Stages Rally after an enthralling day-long tussle with David Hardie and Mark Mcculloch.
At the half way point of the eight-stage event, there were just five seconds separating the two Subaru Imprezas.
Running first car on the road was a serious disadvantage to the top seed Marshall. “There was ice all the way around the track,” he said. “I had to decide whether to follow the tracks left by the course cars or take the proper racing line and drive on the ice!”
Marshall’s exploratory run was therefore a very cautious affair, and yet he shared second fastest stage time with the Subarus of Ian Paterson and Gordon Morrison. Five seconds faster than these three was the Mitsubishi Lancer of ninth seed, James Gibb, while Hardie was a few seconds further back.
As the sun rose into the clear blue sky, conditions improved for the second stage with Marshall and Hardie equal fastest, but there were perils aplenty awaiting.
First to find that out was Morrison whose Subaru smacked a gatepost and John Rintoul got his Millington-engined Skoda Fabia stuck in a ditch when it slithered off the road.
Even though conditions were perfect for the third and fourth stages, and cars were even kicking up dust on the gravel section, Gibb lost the rally lead when he spun the Lancer on the third test leaving Marshall and Hardie to go head-to-head to the finish.
Hardie was fastest over SS5 and SS6 but the car stalled twice on SS7 allowing Marshall to open up the gap with one stage to go. On the final test, Hardie’s Subaru hiccupped again. The car caught a tyre marker and slid off the road just 100 yards short of the finish line.
Marshall’s win was sweet, especially for engine builder TEG which worked all week to make sure the car was ready for the Scottish Tarmack Championship opener at the Fife circuit.
With Hardie’s issues, Paterson took second place overall running his Subaru with the same rear tyres all day. “I only had four softs for the front,” said Paterson, “and two wets for the rear. The car was sliding about quite a bit – but it was good fun.”
Lee Hastings therefore scored a surprise third in his Subaru Impreza. “If it hadn’t been for an ECU problem on the first stage, I might have been more in the mix,” he reckoned.
Just missing out on the podium was Donnie Macdonald, back in his Lancer E9. “I was far too cautious on the first stage, I dropped half a minute to the other boys, that was just too much to pull back,” he said.
Gibb recovered from his earlier indiscretion to take fifth overall with Tom Blackwood rounding off the top six and scoring top two-wheel drive in his Ford Escort. First time out in his new Mk2, Iain Wilson was seventh while first time in a rally car for over 12 years was Willie Paterson finishing eighth.
Scoring a mighty impressive ninth overall was the 1400 class-winning Vauxhall Corsa of Joe Cunningham. Having scored two class wins at the two recent Winter rallies at Croft, Cunningham found himself in the overall lead of the North of England Tarmac Championship. “I had no intention of doing the full championship,” he said, “but felt I just had to come to Scotland after that, and I’ve won the class again.” He’s now having to rethink his rallying plans for the rest of the season.
Completing the top 10 was the 1600 class-winning Vauxhall Nova of Stevie Irwin which prevailed by eight seconds from Michael Harbour’s Citroen C2. Results 1 John Marshall/ Scott Crawford (Subaru Impreza) 41m56s; 2 Ian Paterson/alan Paterson (Impreza) +34s; 3 Lee Hastings/ Cole Hastings (Impreza); 4 Donnie Macdonald/alison Horne (Mitsubishi Lancer E9); 5 James Gibb/ Paul Tonner (Lancer E8); 6 Tom Blackwood/ Gordon Winning (Ford Escort Mk2); 7 Iain Wilson/ Chris Williams (Escort Mk2); 8 Willie Paterson/ Euan O’neill (Mitsubishi Lancer); 9 Joe Cunningham/ Marc Fowler (Vauxhall Corsa); 10 Stevie Irwin/ Ian Middleton (Vauxhall Nova).
Class winners: Cunningham/ Fowler; Irwin/ Middleton; Chris Mccallum/ Richard Stewart (Escort); Blackwood/ Winning; Marshall/ Crawford.