Action and gales at Rally Hebrides 23/8/10
Gales, treacherous tracks and a somersaulting car created a day of drama and excitement at the fundraising Rally Hebrides events on Saturday.
Ali Graham and John Robbie Macaskill walked away unscathed after their car lost control and flipped over on a high speed circuit at the Lewis Karting Centre.
Earlier, Lewis Car Club’s plans were thrown into chaos with ten cars stuck on the mainland when the Stornoway ferry was cancelled by a Force 9 gale on Friday.
Fortunately, 17 cars were already on the island, having arrived in the morning sailing or via Tarbert on Friday afternoon, so the popular scrutineering event proceeded as planned in D R Macleod’s yard that night.
Caledonian MacBrayne kindly offered to sail from Ullapool at 6am on Saturday to enable the remaining 10 stranded cars to reach Stornoway in time for the 10am start in Special Stages 1 and 2, Lews Castle Grounds.
At Scrutineering on Friday evening, Donnie Ross, Motorsports Association (MSA) Scrutineer, checked the available cars for technical compliance while passenger rides in some of the top cars were auctioned off.
At auction, Donald ‘Cudeag’ Macleod paid an astonishing £600 for the privilege of sitting alongside Alan Mackay of Brora in the blue Ford Anglia. Meanwhile, Hamish Kinloch of Solway Car Club kept the large crowd entertained with an incredibly precise Gymkhana demonstration in his Toyota Corolla Rear Wheel Drive rally car. Hamish paced out the location of the cones before drifting his Toyota around the cones in a series of impeccably controlled manoeuvres.
The action proper got underway when the Lews Castle Grounds stage went live at 10am on Saturday. Conditions were treacherous in the Grounds due to overnight rain and leaves on the track.
Drivers reported that tackling the area around the Woodlands Centre was like driving on ice and Calum George Buchanan was the first victim with a spin and puncture at the foot of the Woodlands Brae.
Further up the stage, Donnie Campbell left the road behind the Lady Matheson Memorial and had to await recovery once the Stage was finished. There was more drama at the Flying Finish just short of Creed Lodge when Alan Mackay left the road having carried too much speed over the finish. Neither car sustained damage.
Throughout the morning, a large crowd on Lews Castle Green was treated to the sight and sound of top flight Scottish Rallying at close quarters.
The action then moved to Melbost Farm where the fast flowing Stages ran without incident. Many drivers enjoyed the open, flowing nature of the Farm Stages and were disappointed that they were so short.
An unforgettable day of motorsport was rounded off at Lewis Karting Centre with the increasingly popular Tarmac Superspecial. A huge crowd braved heavy rain showers to watch the cars negotiate the extremely slippery and tight kart circuit.
The action was fast and furious from the outset. It was inevitable that the wet conditions would claim one of the cars and Alasdair Graham was the unfortunate victim.
Running wide at the top loop to improve his line into the tightening left hander, Alasdair’s car lost grip on the wet grass and slid into the tyre wall which flipped the Subaru round and onto its roof in a slow motion half roll. Like all the cars competing in Rally Hebrides, Alasdair’s Subaru was fitted with a full roll cage and four point seat harnesses so Alasdair and his passenger for the day, John Robbie Macaskill, were able to walk away from the incident.
The car was quickly recovered by marshals to allow the action to continue and neither Alasdair nor John were any the worse for the experience. As a precaution, they were checked over by the NHS Doctor and Ambulance Crew on duty at the event. Alasdair’s car sustained superficial panel damage but he was the first to acknowledge that “that’s Rallying.”
Highlights of the Tarmac Superspecial included Reay Mackay of Fort Augustus power sliding his ex Richard Burns Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRC around the circuit with inch perfect precision. As the day wore on, many of the Escort drivers were beginning to match Reay’s display and, for the crowd, it was all over too soon.
At the after Rally dinner, laid on as a thank you to crews and sponsors, it was announced that, although the financial situation of Rally Hebrides was still fluid with money still coming in and going out, the net donation to Macmillan Cancer Support from the event would likely be well in excess of £10,000.
All participants were highly complimentary of the event. Dave Lucas, MSA Observer, stated that the Lews Castle Grounds Stage was a match for anything in the UK and all the drivers vowed to return next year for Rally Hebrides 2011. Lewis Car Club will now organise reinstatement of the various Stages before turning their attention to next year’s event.
Rally Hebrides was established to raise money for local charities. This year, the UBC Group came on board as title sponsor and all proceeds are going to the Western Isles branch of Macmillan Cancer Support.
Since its inception in 2008, Rally Hebrides has grown into a major niche event within the Scottish Rally scene and many top crews agreed to come over to Lewis at their own expense to run in the event and support the work of Macmillan.