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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.
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