Day 6: Oban to Edinburgh
As the rally wound its way back into the lowlands, there was still spectacle aplenty, and many crews had all to play for. The day included four tests and a regularity: plenty of opportunity for Ian Crammond to jump ahead of Paul Wignall on driving tests. The crew of the stricken Porsche Carrera managed to revive it in time for the start at Oban, so the regularity competition was still alive too. But after splendidly entertaining tests at Ederline,Inveraray Castle, Rest and be Thankful and Forrestburn, Paul Wignall came out on top, taking honours in the scratch penalty competition by just one second. Crammond and navigator Caroline Ward won out by 10 seconds in the regularity stakes, though, holding onto their lead over Paul Hernaman and Ray Crowther in the Carrera. Crammond's car was another winner, too: part of the SL AllStars trio of Mercedes together with Richard Fenhalls/Heather Milne-Taylor and Jac Nelleman/ Joseph Huber. These three crews go home today with the prestigious Talisker Trophy, as well as their Gold and Silver medals and class awards for individual achievement.
One or two crews were fortunate enough to move back up to Gold status on the final day, with opponents in their class coming to grief in one or other of the driving tests. Among them were Nicholas Pryor / Lesley Stockwell (MGA), who lost their Gold on Day One by one second, but otherwise had had a consistently excellent run.
Gearbox rebuild - 2
Ken Burnett was unlucky enough to suffer a recurrence of his gearbox problems in the lovely red Alvis today at Inveraray. Yet again, they took the floorboards out, removed the cover, freed the jammed gears - and put everything back together again - all in the middle of a test with the clock running against them. When this happened a few days ago, their class rival, Bill Ainscough's Vauxhall, suffered problems of its own and failed to make it to the test. So a test penalty of some 16 minutes was no problem, and no loss of Ken's Gold medal. But this time, the Vauxhall was running in fine fettle. They were under starters' orders, so were compelled to start the test. To help Ken preserve his Gold, Bill sportingly entered the test, then pulled up alongside Ken until he'd sorted his box. Ken chuckles, 'We've got our time down to 14 minutes now.' Once they'd finished the mini rebuild, Bill, moved off behind them. Both cars had significant penalties, but Bill's Gold remained intact, thanks to a bit of quick-thinking by a rival who has no axe to grind.
How do you set about entering a rally when your car is thousands of miles away from the start location? Well, two of our foreign national crews had the same idea: buy a car in the country you'll be starting from. Miguel and Ann Porta from Uruguay enlisted the services of journalist Malcolm McKay, and have done well in the pale blue Triumph TR4 that he found for them. Around the same time, Alan Curry was buying a Sunbeam Rapier by phone from his home in New Zealand from Kent. Alan and his navigator have a lifetime's experience in rallying back home in New Zealand - driving Sunbeams, of course. Both the TR4 and the Rapier have performed well. We hope we'll see both crews back in this country again before too long.
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Sunbeam Alpine is put through its paces
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Winning Marque Team - the SL Allstars - arrive in style
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Congratulations
... to all our entrants for being such excellent sports. People keep commenting on the splendid atmosphere that the Malts generates each year - and 2001 has been no exception. It may be invidious, then, to single out particular crews, but here are a handful of mentions...
... to Paul Hernaman and Ray Crowther, whose Carrera's replacement torsion bars arrived at 1.15am yesterday in Oban. They had them fitted by 6.30am - and were back on the start line at 8:00am for the final day's drive. Well done for showing so much commitment to the cause - and keeping the tussle with Ian Crammond and Caroline Ward alive into the final day.
... to Nicola and Denis Vernon, who won a Gold medal this time around. Last year they were complete beginners, but Denis was determined to get to the bottom of the tricks of navigation. One event later, they're on top of the world. Well done - and other newcomers take note. It really can be done.
... to Caroline Ward. At lunchtime at Drymen, she mysteriously disappeared with a key to one of the hotel rooms in her hand. 'I'm going to watch my horse run at Newbury,' she admitted. Ten minutes later she emerged, wreathed in smiles. It won at 10-1, thrashing highly-fancied opposition by some two lengths. The Trader's next outing - if you fancy backing it - is at Longchamps in a couple of weeks' time during the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe festival
... to Andrew Buchanan. He heard yesterday evening that his daughter had just presented him with his fourth grandchild, a healthy 8lb 9oz girl. Well done to all concerned.
And commiserations
... to Andy Nash and Melanie Kanarek. They were in the running for a Gold medal in their Sunbeam Tiger, and had had a good day yesterday. Then they stopped to allow cows to cross the road in front of them. Andy turned off the engine, and couldn't switch it on again. The engine had simply died. No loss of water, no loss of oil. Just no engine. 'We were towed home - and then pushed the car across the line at the hotel. We enjoyed the event - but what a way to finish with a newly-rebuilt engine!'
Sight unseen
How do you set about entering a rally when your car is thousands of miles away from the start location? Well, two of our foreign national crews had the same idea: buy a car in the country you'll be starting from. Miguel and Ann Porta from Uruguay enlisted the services of journalist Malcolm McKay, and have done well in the pale blue Triumph TR4 that he found for them. Around the same time, Alan Curry was buying a Sunbeam Rapier by phone from his home in New Zealand from Kent. Alan and his navigator have a lifetime's experience in rallying back home in New Zealand - driving Sunbeams, of course. Both the TR4 and the Rapier have performed well. We hope we'll see both crews back in this country again before too long.
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