The NessRallySport Team of Don Murray and Andy Philip started their 2009 campaign with an excellent 40th place on the Snowman Rally, last weekend. Despite treacherous conditions, which made keeping the car on the straight and narrow a real challenge the crew kept their calm, and improved 21 places on their initial seeding, to record their best ever Scottish Rally Championship score.

Don said;-

“We were really looking forward to this event, being our home event, and there was a lot of speculation in the week running up to the event as to whether it would run or not. In the end we are delighted that it did, but it was really hard work. Running on completely the wrong tyres all day, and with a failing rear differential, we decided that ‘slow and steady’ was the theme for the day, and that’s just the way it turned out. I damaged the front right suspension again, just as I did on the last gravel round of 2008, and that meant that I did the last 19 miles of the event with my front wheels pointing in slightly different directions, which made the straights difficult to get any pace on. Delighted to have done it, but equally delighted if we don’t see snow for a very long time again!”

The car is now back at its base in Carlisle and will next appear on the Border Counties Rally on the 21st of March in Jedburgh. The team would like thank their sponsors, Highland Cars, Signed Graphics, Rallyimages and Macritchie Highland Distribution for their financial support, and to Tim Finch Rallyesport of Carlisle for their car preparation skills.