7 December 2009

John MacCrone wins trip to China in 2010

 

We should have known it was going to be a good year for Scottish rallying when the MSA announced the new intake of Academy members for 2009. Four out of the five members were from Scotland. 

 

John MacCrone was one of the surprise nominations for the MSA Academy due to his relative inexperience but he emerged from his first full campaign fully justifying the decision. Impressing masses of people in the process John claimed the Brick and Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge, the Scottish Junior Championship the SRC class 3 Championship and to top off a perfect year he has won the Hankook Prize drive in China next year. 

 

Euan Thorburn has been an SRC regular for years finishing 3rd overall and 1st Group N this year in which he also tackled the BRC. Dave Weston Jnr also competed in the BRC finishing an incredible 4th overall and he showed very strongly in the Rally of Scotland against much quicker S2000 cars until he went off. 

 

The final Scottish Academy member was Scotmaps very own Drew Sturrock. A win on a snow stage in Fiesta ST, a gravel stage win in a Subaru, a fourth overall on tarmac in a WRC, a class win by 5 minutes in a Nova on Mull and an S2000 outing in the South African desert. That’s a pretty comprehensive list for one season of rallying. 

 

Finally we ended with the Rally of Scotland. Our newly crowned Scottish Champion, David Bogie, featured strongly until a last stage roll blocked the stage that Kris Meeke claimed was the best he has ever driven. Roll on 2010 where hopefully some of our youngsters will be nipping at the heels of the IRC regulars. If anything the young talent we are seeing come through, whilst no doubt inspired by Colin McRae, have been reaping the benefits of the Hankook SRC Junior programme and long may it continue. Scotmaps wish the best of luck to John MacCrone who has won the Hankook fully supported Group N prize drive on a Chinese Championship event, may it be the start of a long career.

  

 

 2nd November 2009

Six manufacturers enter Rally of Scotland

 

All but one of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge’s seven manufacturers will represented on RACMSA Rally of Scotland next month, the man in charge of running the event has confirmed.

Clerk of the course Iain Campbell said he was pleased with the level of interest showed by competitors so far and added that the variety of different cars would guarantee thrilling action on the stages when the event runs from November 19-21.

“Although both the IRC and 2WD Cup titles are wrapped up, almost every manufacturer will be represented and that’s great news,” said Campbell. “It’s fair to say we haven’t got as many entries as we had hoped but the quality is impeccable and it will be good for the British drivers who will get a lot of the attention.” 

Great news for the fans that have followed the action in 2009 is that Czech hero Jan Kopecky is one of those set to take part. Despite surrendering the battle for this year's IRC crown to Kris Meeke in Sanremo last month, Kopecky will aim to end his season on a high in Scotland.

Kopecky, who cannot be caught for second in the drivers’ standings, is likely to drive a privately-run Skoda Fabia 2000 because the factory team, who whom he has driven all season, have not included the Scottish round in its original schedule.

 

David Bogie, the winner of the Scottish Rally Championship, will make his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut on Rally of Scotland next month.

 

“There was no way I was going to miss this – it’s such a huge event and it’s coming to my country,” said Bogie, who will drive a Ralliart Lancer E9. “I know the terrain and the stages but I don’t for one minute think I will be on the same pace as the leading IRC boys. But I’d like to think I can put on a good show.”

 

He joins a wealth of top talent from across Great Britain and Ireland including newly-crowned IRC champion Kris Meeke, this year's MSA British Rally Championship winner Keith Cronin and former British and Asia-Pacific champion Alister McRae.

 

For those competing on the National B event Scotmaps will be offering the usual services such as route notes, Safety DVD, map books and camera hire. If you fancy taking on the likes of Meeke and McRae on the International event we can also offer recce car hire. We have two available for the event and information on prices can be found in the competitors section of this site. Should you wish to enquire about any of our services for either of the Rally of Scotland events please call the office or email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

 

15th October 2009

Rally of Scotland - National B event

 

 

The inaugural RACMSA Rally of Scotland takes place at the end of November. The final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the organiser’s have managed to open up the field for a National B event to follow the International field over the first 3 stages of the Saturday loop.

 

These stages are all central to Aberfoyle, a previous rallying mecca that has laid dormant to the sound of highly tuned engines and the smell of Castrol R for almost two decades. The Trossachs are back as a rallying territory and names such as Achray and Fairy Knowe are about to become known to a whole new generation.

 

The National B event offers around 40 miles of competition with the opportunity for a 15 minute service in the centre of Aberfoyle. The last stage is the monster 20 mile (35.5KM) Loch Ard test that will be covered live on Eurosport for the top 10 International competitors. This test has never been used before in this guise and will round of a good season’s rallying for all involved.

 

The event finishes at Stirling Castle esplanade just before the International crews return for their celebrations ensuring that the National B competitors get the recognition they deserve.

 

The entry has been set at just £350+VAT. This includes the Service Pack, passes and route book for the event. The closing date for entries is 16th October. Full details are available on the event website; www.rallyofscotland.com.

 

Scotmaps are able to provide detailed Route Notes and safety DVD of the stages for both the National B and the full International Rally. If any competitors require camera hire or recce car hire for the International event please check the relevant sections on our website. 

 

5th October 2009

Win a pair of passes for the Rally of Scotland

 

Organisers of the RACMSA Rally of Scotland have given Scotmaps a pair of Alba Rally Passes to give away – the free passes give access to the entire three day event meaning the winner won’t miss out on a thing.

 

The inaugural event and final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge is being held from 19^th-21^st November and will be the first time in over 20 years that Scotland has hosted a motorsport event of such calibre. Taking place across Stirling and Perth and Kinross, the rally sees more than 210 kilometres of competitive driving action over 13 special stages.

 

To add to the celebrations of the inaugural event, Peugeot’s Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle, will come to Scotland as winners of the IRC Drivers’ Championship. The pair secured the title on the penultimate round, the Rally Sanremo and will be basking in their glory throughout the Rally of Scotland’s 13 stages. Meeke and Nagle now only have one goal ahead of them – to end the year with victory at their home event and they will be looking to fans to show their support to help make it happen.

 

The passes up for grabs will give access to all stages, service parks and car parks for the duration of the event and two copies of the official programme. To keep up to date with news and information about the Rally of Scotland, visit www.rallyofscotland.com. Tickets are available now and can be purchased by calling 0844 847 2488.

 

For a chance to win these tickets, just answer the following question:

 

Which British driver has just won the IRC Drivers’ Championship?

 

Please send your answer, along with your name, telephone number and address, to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Entries close on 1^st November 2009.

 

 

 3rd August 2009

Sasol South African National Rally Championship

Leon Botha in action 

Our man in South Africa, Leon Botha, explains below his first experience of meeting Bill Sturrock. Leon will highlight some of the difficult communication barriers they both had to overcome and he very kindly provided us with an amusing video of a watersplash. Never mind the crocodile infested waters, this one was nasty for a whole other reason.

 

What the hell is a “fah’rem”?

Most Scotmap Newsletter readers will probably not know that Bill Sturrock came out to South Africa in 2006 to teach yours truly the ways and means on making Route Notes the Scotmaps way.

Mr Sturrock arrived at Jun Smuts Airport – and actually recognised me. “Oh dear” I thought, “he’s a drinker!” due to his red nose and sort of worn out look! With my luck he was not and the red nose was due to the forerunner of Scottish Bird Flu or something deadly he suffered from!

During the drive home I caught whatever it was and the next morning we were on our way to Cape Town to go and do the Route Notes for the Subaru Rally both carrying our share of the flu! With my ears singing worse than they usually do – you see I believed only the finer type of guys wore earmuffs in road sections and I did drive a few very noisy cars in my time – it was hell to understand anything the Scot said, let alone hear what it was. I watched closely and said, “yes” to about 60%; “I don’t think so” to about 25% and the rest were either ignored or met by an uncertain “no”.

Arriving at Cape Town International we were met by the CEO of the Subaru franchise who agreed to lend us a car to do the notes with. I was immediately worried when he handed us the keys to a brand new Outback! Did this guy know what the car was in for? I asked if he did not have something “more used” available and he said no it was ok, we should use the one he gave us! Bill immediately jumped into the drivers seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar the nightmare experience in the passenger seat my life suddenly consisted of Right three’s, Left five’s, Hairpin Right, Acute Hairpin into something or another and caution this that and the other – while we drove through the stages.

I had to write and Bill made the calls. When I fell behind I left a few instructions that did not sound too serious out and pretended to find this a breeze. That was still OK – but then we had to check the notes and I had to read.

To say that it took me a while to realise that certain things such as Crest and what happens after that goes hand in hand, and Right Three tightens to Right Nine is a call you need to make within some reasonable time – will be a lie.

We have an expression in South Africa when someone gets a bit more than angry we say that the person got “de moer in” (pronounced “the moor in” by most foreigners) – this means truly pissed or whatever you nice guys call it over there?

Notwithstanding being frustrated Bill had to be civilised and not drive away while I got out opening and closing one of what felt like a million farm gates. Worst of all was that he seemed to remember the roads better than I did.

Anyway – every so often he wanted me to read faster and at first he waved his hand to try and indicate that I should speed up. When he put his hand out I greeted him – thinking that he wanted to congratulate me on my progress. I could not understand the tears in his eyes.

Then he tried to speed me up by saying; “yes, yes?” after I stopped reading and I then wanted to know “yes, what?”

I thought I was witnessing a Scot’s tradition when he got out of the car, ran into a tree twice and fell down crying. Touched by his antics I got out of the car and asked if he had to do this everyday at 11h00?

He sat there with tears flowing over his dust covered cheeks and in a broken stuttering voice tried to explain the workings of the Route Notes to me again – I realised that the man was having problems and that despite the whistling in my ears I would have to concentrate and try to get his outlandish pronunciations under the belt.

We persevered and by now at least I had the calls about 90% under control, which was according to me and about 12% according to his master’s voice next to me!

On the final run while we made the video of the stages I managed to slip up only once or twice when I concentrated so hard on the Scottish accent that I forgot to turn where I had to and needless to say, his bugger-ups we edited out but mine had to stay as they were for the world to see!

Anyway, on one stage we were doing fine, I kept the car at a brisk pace and the calls came well in time from the left side – read by his truly. Then suddenly as I approached a farmer’s yard Bill said: “Straight thru fah’rem!”

Jeepers, I hit the brakes and he settled his nose against his knee. “What are you fekkin doing?” came the surprised question from him as he started to collect all his tools.

“What the hell is a fah’rem?” I wanted to know, still looking around! Then after about five minutes it became clear that he wanted me to go straight through the farm yard! (You see we pronounce the word like I suppose you would say the first part of “pharmacy”.)

Having come from blind rallying, it took me a while to get up to speed with route notes. However on about the fifth day of having the flu, we started feeling better and the notes also started to make some sense to me.

Two and a half years down the line – I still think back about the first few days with my one and only Scottish friend! Lots and lots of calls were made between then and now and I had to adapt quite a lot of things to suit the South African culture, but I will always admit having been taught by certainly one of the best.

The fact that I recently got 10/10 from every competitor except one who rated the Route Notes as 8/10 must be some sort of proof? Not bad for a guy who could not distinguish his fah’rem from his elbow?

Regards to all

Leon Botha

Scotmaps (South Africa) &

CEO Rallystar Motorsport Academy

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   Mobile 27825553119

 

 

1st August 2009

 MERRICK FOREST STAGES RALLY – SEPT 5TH.

 

The regulations and entry forms for the Merrick Forest Stages Rally on September 5th are now available to download from the event website at www.merrickstages.co.uk .

 

The penultimate round in the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship will again be based in Newton Stewart and will feature three stages not previously used on the event in its current format.

 

One of those – Palgowan - has not been used for almost a decade whilst the return of the classic Black Loch stage will see competitors head east of Newton Stewart for the first time.

 

The renowned Glentrool forest complex features once again, with only three miles of double usage this year.

 

As well as being a counter in the Hankook series, the event will also be a round of the Brick & Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge, in addition to the return of the Borders Rally Championship.

 

The Glentrool Mini Rally will run in conjunction with the main event once again and offers competitors a reduced mileage event of approximately 30 stage miles which forms the counter in the Five of Clubs Championship.

 

There will also be a Trophy Rally for those competitors who are forced to retire early, giving them the opportunity of a run through the final stage in Glentrool forest.

 

Various discounts remain on offer in a continued effort to build on the success of the last two years.

 

In addition to continuing to offer an incentive to ALL overseas competitors, the organisers are offering 1 FREE entry should the event attract 90 entries and another 4 FREE entries should numbers reach 100.

 

Servicing on the day will again be based at the purpose-built facility at Glencaird, north of Glentrool village.

 

The event will start and finish from the Riverside car park in Newton Stewart, with the Rally HQ switching this year to the Merrick Leisure Centre in the town, following news of the immediate closure of the local college annexe, which had served as a very successful rally base in recent years. 

 

 

29th June 2009

Faulkner doubles up

 

Mike Faulkner had a stirring drive at the Scottish Rally in Dumfries to win four stages and take the overall win becoming the first competitor to win two events in the 2009 Hankook Scottish Rally Championship.

 

Faulkner did not have it all his own way though with the event having three different leaders throughout the day. Jimmy Girvan led at one stage as did Richard Cathcart but both were to retire from the event. So intense was the battle for the lead that at final service only 7 seconds covered the top 5 drivers.

 

Reigning Champion Jimmy Girvan went into the last stage only 1 second behind rally leader Mike Faulkner but the Ae East stage was to prove decisive in this particular battle with Jimmy rolling off the road and into retirement.

 

Local crew Jock Armstrong and reigning Scottish Champion co-driver Kirsty Riddick finished on the final SRC podium spot with Euan Thorburn taking second place despite his car feeling underpowered.

 

With David Bogie crashing and Willie Bonniewell failing to finish due to mechanical problems Jock Armstrong now has a healthy lead of 28 points thanks to his third podium spot of the year. The new second placed man Mike Faulkner will be looking to make it a hat trick of his own by winning on the next round the Speyside Stages.

 

It is a quiet July for the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship with no competitive events this month, but if you are a Hankook SRC junior then you will be looking forward to the training day on Saturday 25^th July in the forest estate near St Johns Town of Dalry. The rest of us will wait in anticipation of the Speyside Stages on August 8^th.

 

 

 

1st June 2009

Four from four

  

The 2009 Jim Clark Reivers rally threw up yet another event winner for the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship. With four events completed this year so far and at the half way point of the season we have had four different winners ensuring an incredibly tight battle for the 2009 crown. 

It is exciting enough to have a different winner on every event so far, but when you consider that the two main protagonists; the reigning champion and the current championship leader, have not climbed onto the top step of the podium in 2009 it makes the championship race all the more incredible.

The Scottish rally is next up for the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship on the 27^th June. With 100% single usage and a return to Eskdalemuir the event is sure to be an enjoyable one for the competitors. Famous stages such as Castle O’Er and Twiglees will feature on the rally for the first time since 2006.

The lead up to the event will be busy enough for the organisers with a preview day in Dumfries on the 13^th June and a Rally Forum on Thursday 25^th June where some top names in Scottish rallying will be fielding questions. Regulations for the event are available from the websitewww.scottishrally.co.uk and the closing date for entries is 16th June.

Scotmaps route notes & DVD are available to order now and if you want to enjoy your SRC registered competitor discount you will have to order before the cut off date of June 12^th. So give Scotmaps a phone to order now.

Championship warming up nicely 

Granite City Rally - noted!

The Station Garage Mitsubishi Granite City Rally is celebrating the 40^th running of the event as a daylight forest stage rally in a few weeks time.

The event will again have the rally HQ based in the Thistle Hotel in Altens and the competitors and spectators alike will be interested to see if the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship will be celebrating the third different winner in as many events.

After a successful Border Counties rally with Steve Perez attributing his Friday night lead to the Scotmaps route notes and DVD; Bill Sturrock took to the forests again last weekend to create the route notes and DVD for the Granite.

The safety DVD produced on the Borders provided some great insight into the night driving for the National A competitors. Bill is confident that the DVD for the Granite will produce similar little gems that can make all the difference in the titanic battles we see throughout the SRC field.

Aberdeen and District Motor Club are celebrating the centenary year and the Scotmaps team wish them all the best for a successful year and Granite City Rally on Saturday April 25^th.

Notes are available to order now through the downloads section  of this site or by phone on 01356 625080. Let’s not leave the orders to the day before the event again because by that time they are printed and you might not get what you are looking for. 

Rallyings Dark Crusader

On the 10^th anniversary of Jedburgh hosting the event, the organisers have chosen to celebrate by running two stages in the dark on the Friday night. The last running of a Scottish forest stage at night is thought to have been in the 1980’s which leaves generations of drivers with limited or no competitive driving on night forest stages.

Scotmaps recorded the runs through the two Wauchope stages at night and during the day in order to give competitors an idea of what to expect on Friday 20th March. The Friday night stages are part of the National A event but the National B competitors of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship can compete on the night stages should they wish.

“Many of the current competitors have never competed at night on forest stages so the safety DVD we produce will give the competitors a valuable insight into the limited view they may not be prepared for.” said Sturrock.

As the recording is also available in daylight on the safety DVD every competitor on the event whether National A or National B registered has the opportunity to see what dangers may be lurking stage side.

With the event just over two weeks away competitors are urged to place orders now. All competitors can order route notes and the safety DVD for the 2009 Brick & Steel Border Counties by replying to this email, from the Scotmaps website (www.scotmaps.co.uk) or by calling 01356 625080.