This article is reprinted with kind permission of the Ecosse 205 Challenge
Speedfair Rally 09 by Leslie Mabon
The weather at Knockhill last weekend was good. Yes, we had howling gales, bitter cold and monsoon rains, but we didn't have hail, ice or snow. And by Knockhill standards, that constitutes a good day. Saturday and Sunday saw the fourth running of the Knockhill Speedfair, the event that seems to be Scotland's answer to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Admittedly there were no superstar attractions this year and the static displays and trade tents seemed a little thinner on the ground I can remember throngs of people clamouring for Sir Jackie Stewart's autograph during the inaugural Speedfair but the Saltire Rally Club crews were there with undiminished enthusiasm.
The Club put together an impressive wee series of courses using the perimeter rally stage, with a few 360 degree rotations peppered along the route to turn the tests into challenges of close car control rather than flat-out blasts from A to B. And it seemed to be these lower-speed sections that sorted out the sheep from the goats it takes a limited amount of skill to keep your foot planted in a straight line, but a heck of a lot more skill to execute a perfect spin round a cone or come to a complete standstill straddling a line for the minimum amount of time possible. Over the course of the two days, I saw a whole range of different techniques for negotiating the bales, ranging from perfect, always-moving-forward twirls through to jinking left just before the bale in an attempt to steer right the way round in one manoeuvre right the way through to conking out halfway round and having to engage reverse before trundling onwards. And then there were those who just barrelled right through without stopping. But what mattered most of all was that everyone was having an absolute ball.
"Err"Digby"I think the zero car's just gone the wrong way round some of the cones "what should I do" an anxious first-time marshal called over the walkie-talkie early on in the first day. Just leave him to it, he'll know what he's done? chuckled the response over the airwaves. It was that sort of professional yet relaxed event that is what motorsport should be all about. Said zero car was the stunning bright green Saab 96 that is well known in historic rallying circles. It belongs to Colin Wallace Saltire Car Club head honcho and father of 2008 205 Ecosse Challenge champion co-driver Craig Wallace and can generally be found being driven flat-out over a mixture of tarmac, mud and gravel on any number of regularity events running up and down the country. I was going to use the metaphor "Colin drives the wheels off it" here, until I remembered that sometime around lunchtime on the first day of the Speedfair, the Saab was temporarily sidelined when the wheel, or at least something reasonable close to it, sustained some sort of damage during one of the tests that necessitated a lengthy repair.ΓΏ
I am a great fan of anyone that goes rallying in something a wee bit different, which is why I was delighted to see such rare and interesting things as a couple of Saab 96s, a Clan Crusader and an old Volvo in among the Minis, Hillman Imps and Escorts that tend to populate these kind of events. There was even a DKW Auto-Union (i.e. a really old Audi) doing stuff on the circuit. The Clan actually turned out to be lightning-quick, driven by Scott Clements who cut his historic rallying teeth going gung-ho about the place in a tuned-up Hillman Imp. I can remember pushing Scott's Imp out of the gravel at the Knockhill hairpin two years ago after an over-enthusiastic attack on the tight right-hander ended in disaster, and I was delighted to see his all-out driving style has transferred very successfully to the Clan. Equally exciting was a chap from north-east England with a Mark 1 Ford Escort that seemed to spend most of its time going sideways instead of forwards, lurching away from the cones in a series of flicks to the left and right with its throttle being blipped furiously in an attempt to regain control. (For all you young readers out there, however, it's worth mentioning that the sideways Mark 1 was considerably outpaced by the much neater and forward-facing Mark 1 running just behind it).
Nobody could get anywhere near the MG Midget of Archie and Richard Simmonds, though. God, he's even so tidy he's got a wee box on the floor for his money!, remarked one rival competitor upon peering inside the Simmonds, immaculate blue machine, complete with a wee Mackie's ice cream tub anchored to the side of the gearbox tunnel for the purposes of holding loose change and mobile phones during the tests. The small crowd gathered round the car first thing on Sunday morning parted as Archie made his way through with a bucket of warm soapy water and a sponge, ready to give the car a wee wash down before the second day of Saltire action. If anyone, at any level of rallying, wants to learn about the meticulous levels of car preparation that are required to be successful in motorsport then they could do a lot worse than have a wee peek at one of the Simmonds Midgets next time they're at a historic regularity event. It really was that good, and blooming quick to boot. Quite a crowd had gathered for the "shootout" on the Sunday round the Knockhill hairpin, where cars were eliminated one after the other in a bid to find the fastest historic competitor, and it was almost entirely down to the skill of the two guys in the MG. Now if only we could get them in a 205.
As well as helping to run the historic rallying section of the Speedfair, I was also up at Knockhill to help promote our premier one-make rally series. The Brick and Steel van was joined on our stand by Jamie Watson's cracking, albeit still slightly muddy from the Scottish, machine, and a number of interested customers came up to the display to find out more about getting involved. Perhaps most encouraging of all were two fifteen year-old boys from Perth who just couldn't wait to get started. One had already built a grasstest car and would be out rallying next weekend if a sudden change in the law allowed him to, and the other was equally champing at the bit to get inside a car and out on the stages. It's really great to see young competitors such as this who are desperate to get going and I know of many more like them all across Scotland,but all of them share one factor in common. Motorsport in the family. Nobody else at our school is interested, just the two of us, moaned one of the boys that visited us decked out in full Suzuki WRC clothing. If we want to get involved in rallying then we'll have to do it ourselves.
This made me think back to the phenomenal amounts of energy, time and dedication Colin Wallace and his Saltire team were putting in to make their weekend of fun come off, and also back to Ron Orr and his efforts down at Dalbeattie High School. Rallying in Scotland might appear to be thriving at the moment, but that's in no small part down to the unpaid and unrewarded effort being put in at grass roots level by clubman organisers, clubman competitors, volunteer marshals, interested teachers, dads, mums, uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, friends, the list goes on and on. The challenge for our governing body, as I see it, is to really get behind these enthusiasts and listen to what they want and need. Then, and only then, will we be able to build the bridge, ladder or whatever you want to call it that we need to produce another Scottish rally world champion.
Thanks to Leslie Mabon who is no small contributor himself to Scottish motor sport himself through his excellent work and media contributions for the Ecosse 205 Challenge
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