Crawford goes second in class

Aug 14 2008 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

MOTHERWELL’S John Crawford powered his Ford Escort Mk2 to an impressive ninth overall and second in class in Saturday’s County Saab Scottish Rally Championship Speyside Stages at Moray.

Crawford, assisted by Ian Simpson of Dumfries, finished the eight challenging stages in a total time of 46 minutes 40 seconds, just 11 seconds adrift of the Escort driven by former two-wheel drive champion Calum Mackenzie, of Aberdeenshire.

After a tentative start on the two spectator tarmac stages in Elgin’s Cooper Park, Crawford and Simpson got into their stride out in the forests – despite the slippery conditions.

Seventeenth and 20th-fastest stage times on SS3 and SS4, respectively, were followed by 10th-fastest on the first round through the famed Gartly Moor test – ahead of both Mackenzie and Yorkshire legend Steve Bannister in his two-litre Mk2 – added to 10th-fastest again on the Balloch stage.

The pair kept the pressure on Mackenzie on the final two tests, and there was just a second in it on the final run through Gartly Moor.