Crews head for the Dumfries forests

Jun 26 2008 by George Topp

COUNTY crews will be eyeing up the chance of class honours as the Scottish Rally Championship resumes on Saturday when the RSAC Scottish Rally heads to the forests of Dumfries and Galloway.

This former international event is the fifth round of the County Saab series, and marks a return to forest stages following last month’s Jim Clark Reivers outing on the closed public roads of Berwickshire.

One driver who will be relieved about the return to gravel is Carnwath farmer Walter Henderson, whose first competitive outing on tarmac was cut short when his Subaru Impreza was hit by mechanical problems.

It spoiled what had been a solid return to competition for Henderson and Luxembourg-based co-driver Jim Kinloch after a long break from rallying, and has put them back to 11th in the points.

They start from Dumfries as car 14.

Further down the field are two more local crews. At 27 is the Escort Mk2 of John Crawford and Ian Simpson from Motherwell, and Gavin Miller from Strathaven co-drives Ayr’s Fraser Jones, who start at 37 in a Lancer Evo 6.

Young Bothwell driver Alick Kerr also had a difficult day on the Berwickshire lanes, being forced to retire after getting stuck in a ditch on the penultimate stage in his two-wheel drive Leaker Direct Rangemaster Ford Fiesta ST.

Presently holding third place in the Scottish Junior Championship with co-driver Drew Sturrock, Kerr will concentrate on chasing down Class 6 leader Stevie Brown from Aberdeenshire, whom he trails by just two points after four rounds.

And in the hotly contested Peugeot 205 Challenge, three Clydesdale crews will be fight it out for honours in the1.6 class.

Carluke’s Graeme Schoneville, with Jo Stuchlak of Pitlochry co-driving, starts at 80, followed by Crossford’s Luke McLaren.

His similar car is co-driven by student lawyer and part-time model Anca Baltac, who is also from Crossford.

And at 91 is another Peugeot 205GTi, driven by Scott Erskine from Biggar, with Uddingston co-driver Stuart Louden.

More than 100 cars will line up at the start in Dumfries town centre on Saturday morning – headed by the Ford Focus WRC of 2006 Scottish Champion Dave Weston, who is not contesting the SRC this season.

The first ‘historic’ car is due to leave at 8am, with the first 4-wheel drive car at 9.30.

The route will cover just under 43 stage miles, taking in the famed stages of Ae Forest, Kinharvie and Greskine, with two runs through the popular Heathhall spectator stage, close to the service area on the outskirts of Dumfries.