Snowman 2002:

| 2002: View results |

Our thanks to Robert Beck for the text on the 2002 Rally.

No matter when, in February, the organisers of the Snowman run their rally, winter seems guaranteed to start, finish or return that weekend. The day after this year’s event the sun was once again splitting the trees in Inverness, but the previous morning competitors had woken up to an entirely different scene outside their bedroom windows.

Congratulations are due to everyone involved in this year’s event – organisers, competitors and particularly marshals – for ensuring that the event took place at all. Inevitably, delays built up during the day, but no-one was bothered as they concentrated on trying to stay on the road and reaching the finish back at the Thistle Hotel in Inverness.

Kielder can’t possibly be as difficult … can it?

Arnold Clark Thistle Snowman Rally

The original date for the Snowman rally was February 17th, when, I’m told, the weather was glorious! Sod’s law therefore dictated that the snow would wait for a week. The big question the leading competitors had to try and get their head round prior to the Saturday morning city centre start, was whether the snow was as bad on the stages. A little further back the question would maybe be one of whether any snow present would be cleared by the cars ahead or whether it would polish and resemble the winter olympics curling venue rather more than a forest stage.

Inevitably, tyre choice would become a bit of a lottery, but this merely added to the sense of intense competition when one surveyed the entry list. On paper it looks like being one of the most open and fiercely competitive championships for years, and not just for

Of course, not everyone was disappointed to see such a sudden and dramatic change in the weather. Andrew Wood, for example, was delighted, given his pace in winning the last 2 Snowmen(?) in similarly tricky conditions in the Audi that he shares with his missus (oh well, that’s me in bother right away…)

Sure enough, the early times from stage 1 at Millbuie suggested that the Audi was once again performing well, shod in some demon Dunlop snow tyres. Faster by 4 seconds than the Escort WRC of Neale Dougan/Doug Redpath, who had dinked a bale on one of the chicanes, resulting in a distraught driver ruining a broken new kevlar bumper.

However, how well would the lower numbers perform? Would the stage conditions improve for them or become even more treacherous. The former, it would appear, as first the 15-seeded GpN Lancer of Malloch Nicoll/Graham Law and then the 19-seeded GpA Escort of Gordon Smith/Pete Carstairs headed the time sheets, while the GpA Lancer of Callum Guy/Neil Dashfield, seeded at 22, equalled the Audi’s time.

Malloch, however, seemed a wee bit embarrassed about a time set on some not entirely suitable tyres, chosen as a result of advice from the co-driver, who stays just along the road at Fortrose, and who suggested that the stage wouldn’t be too bad! Oops. His ‘ demon’ tyres were then put away for another day and he bolted on some old steel wheels shod with some more suitable rubber.

Eyebrows that had been raised a tad by the times posted by the lower top 20 runners, positively jumped off the scale when the Sierra of Malcolm and Sarah Robertson, running at no. 36, briefly held first place … until a timing anomoly was sorted. Nevertheless, the couple were pleased to go home with a souvenir set of provisional results showing them at the top of the standings, although they wouldn’t finish the event.

The Irish crew of Richard Hogg/Mark Hanna had done well even to get to Inverness, given the weather conditions, but had never driven on snow before. 2nd in GpN on the first stage was a pretty impressive start in that case, while other contenders for top GpN honours fared less well. The Lancers of Stuart McQueen/Alistair Green and Barry Groundwater/Jude Wylie had no really suitable tyres with them and eventually gave up the unequal struggle with the elements to avoid getting in the way of more suitably equipped competitors around them.

The Evo 4 of Andy Kelly/Roy Campbell also struggled on the first stage with the wrong tyres – but at least they had something else to change on to, which they duly did at first service.

With 3 stages to run before the 2nd service area just north of Bonar Bridge, tyre choice would be crucial. Dougan/Redpath took the lead by posting fastest time through Scotsburn and 3rd fastest through Tarlogie, the longest stage of the day. However, a fastest time through Carbisdale brought the Guy/Dashfield GpA Lancer to within 2 seconds of the leading Escort at 2nd service. The Woods were struggling on tyres that they felt were just too wide for the conditions, but the Lancer driver was proving that his last win in the Scottish Championship, the ’95 Valentine in very snowy conditions, was no fluke. A recent spell at the John Haughland Rally School was also proving to be of benefit in the near Arctic conditions.

After a slow start, the recently-acquired ex-Steve Petch Escort WRC of Brian Lyall/Martin Forrest was going much better and had moved into 4th place with a pleasantly surprised Barry Johnson/Peter Croft consolidating their 5th place in the GpA Impreza.

Nicoll/Law were unable to maintain their pace at the head of the GpN field, but Kelly/Campbell had posted 3 top 10 stage times to close the gap to Hogg/Hanna to only 5 seconds, with the leading Metro 6R4 of Jim Carty/Fred Bell the meat in their Lancer sandwich. The other 2 Metros to start the event had already departed the fray. Jon Burn/Stan Quirk started well enough, lying 6th overall after 2 stages, but a boxful of neutrals on the 3rd stage led to their retirement. Meanwhile, the Seriously Strong Cheddar example of Alastair McSkimming/Alan Stark had come to a sorry end on Scotsburn after sliding into a metal gatepost at the end of a fast straight and wiping out the driver’s rear quarter – and the car didn’t look too healthy either…

3 daunting stages remained before the sanctuary of the Thistle Hotel, including a re-run of stage 1. Guy/Dashfield kept up their momentum in Balblair and took the overall lead of the event. Dougan/Redpath’s expected riposte came to naught with a puncture-induced trip into a ditch in Morangie, losing about 30 seconds and with it any realistic hope of victory. Sure enough, the Escort crew were able to claw back only 9 seconds on the final stage, leaving Guy/Dashfield to take the top honours on the former’s return to the Scottish Rally Championship. The Woods could do nothing about the pace of the 2 ahead of them, but were quite comfortable in 3rd place ahead of the improving Lyall/Forrest Escort WRC, the latter starting to get to grips with the new car.

Johnson/Croft completed the top 5 after a very steady run in the treacherous conditions, ahead of the GpA Escort of early leaders Smith/Carstairs. Running with a rear puncture for 10 miles of stage 3 didn’t help their cause, but they were confident that a new ECU fitted to the car over the winter had solved the engine problems that plagued the car last year.

Carty/Bell managed to squeeze ahead of the battle for top GpN honours – but only just! Kelly/Campbell had set equal fastest time on Balblair to jump ahead of Hogg/Hanna for the first time, but the Irishmen hit back on Morangie, leaving the 2 Lancers separated by 2 seconds with one stage remaining. The final outcome was decided on that penultimate stage, however, when the Irish crew suffered a puncture and were forced to complete the final stage on gravel tyres, leaving them 9th overall with Kelly/Campbell one place ahead, only losing 7th place to the sole Metro on a tie-break.

Despite the lack of suitable snow tyres (ask Dave why, I’m not going to tell you) and a knackered turbo, AND 30 seconds road penalties, the GpA Lancer of Daves Weston & Robson fought back over the last 2 stages – setting fastest time on Easter Brae – to pip the GpN Impreza of Ian Baumgart/Gail Hislop for 10th overall by 2 seconds.

Nicoll/Law would have been in the battle for top GpN but for a 2 minute road penalty that dropped them to 12th overall, ahead of John Hamilton/Eric Brown in their newly-acquired ‘Hammi’ Impreza. After the Metro, anything would have seemed the lap of luxury, but this car seems to suit their image better somehow – more refined and classy! You can just imagine, somehow, a crate of champers, a wicker picnic basket, and the ubiquituous jelly babies coming out at service.

14th overall, and first 2 wheel drive car, represented another superb drive from Steve Bannister in the latest reincarnation of ‘Ethel’, in what was, I think, his first trip ‘oop nawth’. Steve had the services of local man Graham Watson – more used to navigational rallies – in the co-drivers seat, who seemed to spend the entire day with a wide grin on his face. Now this may have been sheer enjoyment, mild hysteria, or simply wind, or perhaps it was a combination of all 3!

Beaten by the similar car of Malcolm Buchanan/Murdo Maccaulay on stage 1, Banner then bolted on a set of snow tyres that he’d never used before and proceeded to disappear out of sight, setting top 10 times on the next 2 stages into the bargain. He even likened Tarlogie to Dalby with its long straights and 90-degree bends! I’ve heard of snow blindness, but snow mentalness, well that’s a new one on me…

Behind the Mk2, normal 4-wheel drive service was resumed, with 2 Subarus and 2 Lancers filling the next 4 places. Alan Barr/Bill Ballantyne tootled around for 5 stages, totally flummoxed by the weather, then woke up for the last 2 stages to post top 10 times, and dream of what might have been had they got their act together earlier. Gordon Cunningham was debuting his Prodrive example of the breed, similar to that used by Jim Carty on last year’s Speyside, and didn’t do anything silly, bringing the car home safely in one piece, helped by regular co-driver Stuart McManus. The whole entourage looked the part, but the team shirts will have to go as they depict a red Escort instead of a blue Impreza. More darning for mummy? Aye, that’ll be right.

Not far behind the Impreza, the GpN Lancer of Peter & Chris Heatherington from the North of England pipped the similar example of the rather more local John Morrison/Alistair Mackay only on a tie-break.

And then we had another giant-killing act in the form of the top 1600 runner, namely the Vauxhall Nova of Andrew & Nicola Morrison. None of your fancy 16-valve jobbies here, simply an 8-valve motor being well driven and an indication of what an appropriate tyre choice could do to enhance your chances on the day.

Despite problems with the car cutting out under braking, the Peugeot 106 of Barry Morrison/Roger Clark set the 1600 pace on stage 1, followed closely by Bruce McCombie/Neil Shanks in their 16-valve, Proflexed Vauxhall Nova. This followed what was either a major out-psyching maneouvre or crap driving when Barry drove into the back of Bruce at the start of the first stage.

At first service, the great tyre debate raged, and it was here that Andrew got it right – luck or good judgement, who knows? But, over the next 3 stages he took almost 2 minutes off the other leading 1600’s, having bolted on some snow tyres.

Morrison/Clark departed with a broken clutch on stage 3, while Quintin Milne/Duncan McIntosh, after setting an excellent time on stage 2 to bring them right into contention, slid off into a ditch on stage 3 while attempting to pass a car and dropped over 10 minutes. As the car is up for sale, and Quintin is purchasing a 206 with which to compete in the Peugeot challenge, discretion was deemed to be the better part of valour and they retired.

By the time the crews reached 2nd service, McCombie/Shanks knew they had chosen the wrong tyres, and in the best ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ tradition, fitted the same tyres that the Morrisons were running. No imagination, some folk.

Despite stage 5 being more ‘black’ than the previous stages, the tyres obviously worked well as McCombie/Shanks posted equal 8th fastest time – yet still only pulled back a couple of seconds on the class leaders, both crews beating the Bannister/Watson Escort, such was their pace.

McCombie/Shanks pulled back a massive 50 seconds on the penultimate stage as the Morrison Nova got held up behind another car, and due to some confusion at the quick service halt before the final stage, the latter crew thought they only had a 2 second lead going in to the final stage. As a result they went for it and succeeded only in losing it big time TWICE flat out on 2 straights. Thinking they had blown it, it was only just before the prize-giving started that they discovered they had in fact won the class, and the £50 from Anderson of Chirnside, by 32 seconds!

Tom Hynd/Sue Foster were debuting a very smart GpA Honda Civic, complete with dog box, and for a couple of stages at least were mixing it with the leaders. Gremlins caused them to drop back a bit later in the day, but 3rd in class 3 and 28th overall was an encouraging debut in the unique car.

Ian Watson/Tom Middlemiss were another crew to debut a new car, the long-awaited Corsa finally breaking cover. And it was well worth the wait as the Kit car looked the part. Granted, the conditions were not the best place to show off your shiny new wheels and so a steady run to 4th in class and 35th overall was the order of the day.

After months of looking at a Prodrive Impreza, George McDonald finally managed to get his hands on one just days before the Snowman. Unable to go the whole hog, he struck a deal with Brian Lyall to purchase the GpN Impreza with which the latter had originally intended to compete on last year’s Network Q. Without any real chance to test the car, the conditions made it very difficult for George and co-driver Ian Nicoll to get to grips with the car. I’m sure the crew was disappointed with 20th overall, but it will be interesting to monitor their progress as they become more familiar with the car.

Phil Walker spent a frustrating day thinking about what tyres to put on his Mazda, and invariably getting it wrong every time. A 2nd fastest time on the penultimate stage was the highlight of his and co-driver Jim Howie’s day.

Top 1300 contender, Mintex award winner and 24th overall constituted a good day out for Callum Munro in his Vauxhall Nova. However, it could have been a lot better, as at one point he was lying as high as 14th overall. After such heady stuff, he was ultimately quite fortunate to finish, being pulled out of a ditch by a fellow competitor, still finishing ahead of such more exotic machinery as the GpN Lancer of Richard Moore/Jim Kitson and the GpA Escort Cosworth of Mike Ramsay/Bruce Hosie.

Willie Stuart had dispensed with the troublesome 1600 engine in his Mk2 Escort and had replaced it with a 2-litre. Just what you need in the slippery conditions – more power and rear wheel drive. Great fun, I’m sure, and the car certainly performed well enough, finishing 2nd in class 6 behind Mr. Bannister but well ahead of early leader Malcolm Buchanan. Malcolm was rather disappointed to be so far off the pace, particularly after his good start, but he discovered after the event that the car’s rear axle was bent. The strange handling on the stages he had been attributing to the conditions turned out to be something more fundamental. Rumours that the car is up for sale are a bit premature. Instead, the axle will have to be sent to Gartrac for repair, and Malcolm is hopeful of being out again in Argyll in April – unless the price is right!

Niall Cowan and Craig McMiken had both made the long trip north from Dumfries & Galloway in their respective Lancers. Niall had acquired his version quite recently and had only just got the car finished in time for the Snowman. There was no time to test the car, so it was all a bit of a steep learning curve and somewhat different from the VW Polo that he and co-driver Mark Simpson have campaigned for a couple of years in the Polo challenge. Despite the conditions, Niall was quite enjoying himself, although he felt he could have been a lot quicker if he’d been more used to the car, while Craig hated the conditions and was just pleased to get round in one piece in his ex-Dom Buckley Evo 1.

Top Junior driver, winning a set of Mintex brake pads, and 2nd 1300 represented a good showing on his first Scottish Championship event by the disgustingly young Niki Cleland, out in the Ford Ka with which he will contest the 2002 Ka Championship. Using the event as a way of getting some mileage in the car, father John was not happy when the car emerged from stage 1 with rear-end damage. However, the damage was done even before the stage had started. Having run into the back of the car in front approaching the start, he then got punted up the bum, much harder, by the following car. With the experienced, but still youthful, Steven Clark along for the ride, Niki quickly learned that if you’re going to go off, make sure it’s on the co-driver’s side.

A day long battle with fellow debutant Innes Clark – co-driven by the much in demand Ian Morrison - in the family Nova campaigned for the last couple of years by big brother Barry, was resolved in favour of the Ka only after a couple of faster times over the final 2 stages. Innes’ reward for his strong showing was the Mintex award for best improvement in seeding and a free entry into the Argyll Stages. The Clark dynasty looks like it’s unearthed another youngster with a promising future, adding some more spice to this year’s Junior category and ensuring that father Graham has no trouble in finding another outlet for some of his pocket money!

Going in to the first round of the Scottish 1300 Championship, I guess the Suzuki Novas of Bill & Stewart Davidson and Gordon Alexander/Ian Clark would be regarded as likely front runners. Both, however, struggled in the conditions although crucially both finished, 5th and 4th in class respectively. Gordon and Ian had only got the car going about 1pm on Friday afternoon after last minute panics installing the gearbox. On the road section to stage 6 they lost first and second gears, managing to find first again when the engine was switched off at the start of the stage. This enabled them to get going again but they were fortunate to negotiate an uphill hairpin with the car stuck in 3rd gear. The problem, which was with the gear selector, was fixed at emergency service and they had a clear run over the final stage, catching a Mk2 Escort which had suffered an off earlier in the stage.

Given the traumas they suffered the night before, any kind of result came as a bonus for the Davidson’s, however. Someone had tried to nick the rally car from the Hotel car park during the night. Believe it or not, Stewart’s wife awoke in the middle of the night and announced to Stewart that someone had started the rally car down below in the car park! Stewart didn’t believe it at first, but when he eventually did as he was told (as he always does, of course) and got out of bed to investigate he found that it was indeed true and the car was disappearing down the street. I think Vicky needs to get out more…

Stewart dashed out of the room and gave chase. The thief hadn’t a clue how the handbrake worked and was making his getaway with it jammed on, which slowed his progress somewhat. Stewart inquired loudly what the b h they were doing with his car, only to be told by a somewhat bemused chap that he was trying to pinch it to go home. Obviously, that was a pretty stupid question of Stewart to ask under the circumstances. The chap duly legged it, leaving Stewart to recover the car, no harm done.

Next up in the 1300 Championship were the class 1 winning Skoda Felicia of Andrew Mallinson/Malcolm Burke and the final finisher Rob Ashwell’s Nova on what I believe was his first Scottish Championship event.

Many people had battled against the elements just to reach the sanctity of the Thistle Hotel. The Irish crews, for example, and those from the Aberdeen area who were faced with a closed A96 on Friday evening. But Junior competitor Lorna Smith, attempting her first Scottish Championship event in a 1700cc Ford Fiesta, no less, had to contend with more than most, I think.

Lorna works for Prodrive and was supposed to fly up from Birmingham to Aberdeen, presumably to meet up with father and novice co-driver Andrew. However, her flight was cancelled so she had to fly to Edinburgh, then get a bus to Aberdeen, arriving there about 11:30pm on the Friday. A 5:30 start on Saturday morning got them across to Inverness, where they had a great day, a trip into a ditch on stage 7 being the most challenging test – which they survived thanks to the presence of lots of spectators – to finish 41st with a car in one piece and top Lady driver points as well as 4th Junior driver.

Past Colin McRae Scholarship winner – and still Junior driver – Craig McKnight finished one place ahead of the Smiths after a cautious drive in his recently-acquired Peugeot 205, while the final Junior finisher was local man Stuart Glendinning in a rear-wheel drive 2-litre Sierra with regular co-driver Mark Hornby alongside.

So, all in all a memorable start to the season. The event maintained its ability to surprise and frustrate many competitors thanks to the vagaries of the weather. The coverage on Moray Firth radio – both on the day and in the weeks before the event - continues to be superb and it remains the biggest sporting event in the area. Well done to Iain Campbell, David Fraser and the whole team up there on their efforts.

And the competition was every bit as fierce as it looked like it would be on paper.

Snowman Results

I think I’m right in saying that the Snowman was the first event in the Championship run under the updated results system from Tynemouth Computer Services. As ever, Brian Thomson was in charge of the system, which, unbeknown to me at the time, included live updates throughout the day to a web site that Brian had set up for the purpose. Brian had never properly tested this facility before, hence his reluctance to tell anyone about it in case it didn’t work out. Not without its problems on the day, most of which seemed to be attributable to the ISP he was using (which is just your Donald Duck, really), it nevertheless will be a welcome addition to all future events. Links can be made to each event’s results space beforehand, allowing people to see regular updates throughout the day as well as the usual comprehensive final results service.

The Frozen North

It really did turn quite wintry in the Highlands before and during the Snowman rally. Covered superbly once again by Titch McCooey and Moray Firth Radio, both on the day and the weeks leading up to the event, it once again attracted a huge following of spectators despite the weather.

The huge interest in the event can give both the organisers and the competitors some major headaches. I bet a lot of the people out watching thought that these guys really knew how to drive in such extreme weather conditions! The reality is somewhat different, of course, but that doesn’t stop people standing in the most stupid of places. Perhaps it’s an educational thing, and I guess we all need to think of ways of getting the message across that this is a dangerous sport – much more so for those watching than for those taking part. Some people, of course, you will never be able to educate, and one of the most amazing aspects of the casual rally spectator is their attire. Posin’ but frozen. High heels, short-sleeves, mini skirts in the middle of February – and the girls aren’t much better, har, har. And appendages such as dogs and buggies don’t help either. You would think people didn’t like their offspring or pets the way they treat them, wouldn’t you?

At first service, when the news filtered through that stage 1 was stopped and the ambulance was in the stage, the initial story was that a spectator had been hit by a car. Unfortunately, this came as no surprise to any competitor that I talked to.

Thankfully, the story wasn’t quite true. Yes, the stage had been stopped and an ambulance had been sent in, but this was to attend to a spectator who had keeled over and was actually suffering from hypothermia! Now, I don’t know what they were dressed in, but I’ll bet there wasn’t a thermal semmit or pair of drawers anywhere to be seen.