Training Rally
The Training Rally, Edinburgh University Motor Sport Club’s first rally of the year went ahead at the end of October, with a number of fresher’s having graduated from Ewan Leeming’s superb Rally School the day before, this was the first opportunity to make use of their newly learned skills. As we gathered in one of the dimly lit car parks of Easter Bush anticipation and expectations were running high.
With all cars passing scrutineering without any problems, the Rally was on. This led to the inevitable smack talk between some of the more regular member’s of the club. Marcus “Dom Toretto” Murray, drawing on a wealth of knowledge from the Fast and the Furious movie series, reminded us all to “double clutch” and not to “granny shift”. Gary Brown took the bait and decided to challenge Murray’s hype, mentioning that his Nissan Micra in fact had more power than Murray’s Skoda Fabia. The extra 4 horse power clearly intimidating Murray remarking “my jeans are not baggy enough for this” and he went off to sit in his car. Brown having won the mind games (by having bigger jeans).
With Katie Stimpson looking slightly frantic trying to organise everything, we were all set for some action. Some last minute additions (Kirsten Dallas only knew she was taking part 30 minutes before the start) meant that seven cars were taking part. With cars waiting at the start line for Ewan Leeming to hand them their first set off clues, there was just enough time for some gesticulating between cars, only increasing the rivalry between Brown and Murray.
The 1st clues were handed out. We were off. The roar of normally aspirated straight 4 engines echoing in the pitch black night as we left the start line. We soon hit the country roads making things interesting (for the drivers at least). Our eventual destination being Fordel services just outside Dalkeith. After the 1st stage Nick Roberts and Robert Edward Starr were the only pair to run the stage without dropping any time.
The 2nd stage caught out a few of the teams with some sneaky clues. One missed turn for Gary Brown and Fearghas Smith meant they ended up on the next stage and were completely thrown when they found a code board but had no idea where they were. Eventually they found their way back to the correct stage and to the check point but were now 20 minutes behind schedule. Stage 3 also had some tricky clues with Ross Hughes and Starr both missing boards. Stupidly Murray and Hughes turned up early to the check point gaining them an inexcusable penalty.
At the end of stage 3 there was an unexpected break. On his way to the check point he was supposed to be marshalling, Bruce Holborn got a bit too close to a wall. Such was the quality of the masonry Bruce’s Mum’s Fiesta came off second best, due to this Holborn spent the rest of the evening chatting to Lothian and Border’s finest. By all accounts Holborn is fine, probably best not to mention the car. The worst part of this being Holborn had plenty of time in order to get to the check point and had no need to either rush or take the route he did.
The break did give everyone a chance to discuss the events so far and try and establish a leader board. The team of Jamie Seth and Kirsten Dallas were singled out as the team to beat, with only 8 minutes dropped. 2nd, 3rd and 4th places were separated by only 5 minutes, so it was very close at the top. The 4th stage got underway once marshals had been moved about to cover for Holborn. Everyone managed to spot every code board on the 4th stage; some just did it quicker than others. The 5th stage saw everyone, except Sarah Bates and Eilidh Urquhart, clear all the boards again. Brown and Smith utilising Dallas as a second opinion by staying close behind Seth’s Corsa, and were rewarded when Seth took what Brown/Smith thought was a wrong turn but instead alerted them to a code board, keeping them on the right course.
The record of all boards cleared in the previous 2 stages was not continued into the 6th and final stage, with a total of 10 boards being dropped. Half of all boards dropped on the night were dropped on this stage. Unfortunately for the chasing pack Seth and Dallas were one of only 2 teams to clear the stage without dropping a board.
With everyone finished safely (except Holborn), we began discussing our own experiences. A lot of the adventures seen to involve ABS and some back end’s trying to get away from people but such is the skill of EUMSC drivers there were no more incidents. A small bridge also creating some memorable moments thanks to its very abrupt crest. The thought then turned to the results; which were promptly announced.
Jamie Seth and Captain Kirsten Dallas took 1st place, with only 14 minutes dropped overall. 2nd place was taken by the unassuming Jessica Garratt and Euan Brodie, who were only 6 minutes off the winner’s time, a sterling performance for Garratt’s navigating debut. There was more of gap after this to the teams that missed boards. 3rd place was taken by Brown and Smith, with 39 minutes dropped having only missed 1 board. An honourable mention goes to Bates and Urquhart, in their first event; Urquhart must only be about 10 years old! Only 3 drivers and 1 navigator had ever done a navigational rally before, which makes the performances even more impressive.
A brilliant time was had by all that took part and there certainly appears to be some fresher’s bitten by the rally bug. The event was a great success with a massive credit to Katie Stimpson and all the helpers for making her first event so successful.
The EUMSC rallying will take a break now for winter and exams; it will start up again next semester. February will see both the Murray cup and Nuit Blanche taking place, where hopefully some of the fresher’s will put in a challenge to take the wooden spoon from current holders Gary Brown and Jamie Thomson.
Full Results: Download
