He’s been threatening to do it
for a couple of events now, but the father-and-son
team of Gary and Gordon Adam finally clocked up
their first outright rally win since 2002 by
clinching overall honours on the Arnold
Clark-Thistle Hotels Snowman Rally, the first round
of the 2007 County Saab MSA Scottish Rally
Championship. Adam, returning to full-season
rallying for this year, built up his pace over the
course of the day to deny two-time Scottish champion
Barry Johnson a hat-trick of Snowman wins. After a
steady first few stages, the company director from
Dollar posted a stunning time on the fourth test of
the day in his Subaru Impreza, taking 21 seconds out
of his Shildon-based rival’s Subaru Impreza WRC in
the process. “We’ve been at this for a few years now
so it’s good to win,” declared co-driver Gordon.
“That was quite an event – taking a right-hand
corner at 110 mph is scary to say the least.” 
Rounding out the podium
positions, Inverness restaurant proprietor Jimmy
Girvan and Forres businessman Mike Ramsay took third
place on their home event as they continue to
develop their Subaru Impreza, edging out
Cockermouth’s Paul Benn on the Snowman’s final
stage. Nonetheless, Benn and co-driver Richard Cooke
were satisfied with another solid run in their Ford
Focus WRC as they kept their car on the road in
slippery conditions to get their 2007 campaign off
to a solid start. Rounding out the top five, local
hero Andy Horne produced a brilliant recovery drive
in his custom-built DAM 4100 GTi after overheating
problems sent him down the field early in the day.
“I had a good feeling about today this morning and
was delighted to win the first stage, but then the
engine started to overheat and went into limp mode,”
admitted Horne. “Having said that, I’ve had a lot of
fun throughout the day – and continued to have fun
after the problems were cured!”
In the Group N category – for
showroom-specification cars – former Scottish Junior
Champion Mike Faulkner brought his Mitsubishi Lancer
home for a class win, narrowly finishing ahead of
Dundee’s Malloch Nicoll in a similar Lancer. “We
thought we were on for the Group N win, but then
Mike pulled something out of the bag on the last
stage,” conceded Nicoll. “But it was still a good
day for us and the new car is going well, so things
are looking good for the season.” Third Group N home
was Elgin’s Steven Clark, the 2006 Scottish Champion
Co-Driver, who proved he’s just as capable on the
right-hand side of the car as he is on the left with
a terrific drive in difficult conditions.
Nonetheless, the result could have been very
different if talented Motherwell youngster Kevin
Ross had managed to escape engine troubles – a
massive engine fire put paid to the 2007 Albar
Junior Programme Winner’s chances of notching up a
debut win for his new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
8.
Elsewhere in the overall
standings, Glasgow’s Jim Carty finished sixth
overall in his Subaru Impreza WRC, narrowly beating
Inverurie’s Calum Mackenzie, who delighted crowds
with a spectacular display in his Ford Escort Mark
2. The result was good enough
to allow MacKenzie and co-driver Martin Forrest to
finish first two-wheel drive car, and comes on the
back of MacKenzie’s storming drive on last year’s
season finale. “I didn’t have to push him at all –
let’s put it like that,” joked Forrest. “That
machine was awesome – we were going round corners at
all sorts of funny angles!” David Hughes and Ian
Campbell endured difficult days as they got used to
their newly-acquired Mitsubishi Lancer WRCs, whereas
power steering failure robbed Aberdeen builder
George MacDonald of the chance to challenge in his
ex-Kris Meeke Opel Corsa S1600.
MacDonald’s difficulties allowed
Ayr-based Fiesta Sporting Trophy contender Fraser
Jones to finish as second two-wheel drive in his
Ford Fiesta ST, with Liam Wood and Keir Beaton
picking up the last podium position for cars without
the benefit of four-wheel drive. Similarly strong
performances from Alick Kerr, Douglas Brydon and
Euan Thorburn in the 1.9 Challenge-spec 205 GTIs
confirmed that this year’s race for the two-wheel
drive title could be just as exciting as the overall
battle for the championship. 
It may have been a rough and
slippy 45 miles for the crews getting their 2007
season underway on the Arnold Clark-Thistle Hotels
Snowman Rally, but one thing definitely managed to
shine through the drizzle: with so much exciting
machinery and talent from both sides of the car on
offer, this year’s County Saab MSA Scottish Rally
Championship is going to be too close to call for
quite some time yet. And if the next championship
round – the Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally on
Saturday, 24 March – is anything near as thrilling
as the Snowman, the County Saab Scottish Rally
Championship will continue to live up to its name as
Scotland’s top motorsport championship.
