Rally Round-up 3:
Still game after an enforced 24 year ‘sabbatical’
A loaned car and a new Rally event on the Isle of Skye saw Murdo making a return to competitive forest rallying after an enforced rallying ‘sabbatical’ which lasted far too long!
In September 2010 the inaugural Skeabost Rallysprint saw him pitting himself against the stopwatch on a forest rallying event for the first time in 24 years after being offered the use of a 4wd Ford Sierra by Dunvegan-based Sandy Morrison.
In very wet conditions a tentative approach after such a long lay-off secured 13th O/A on that inaugural event – the competitive instinct having to be balanced against the desire to bring the car to the finish - and return it to the owner - in one piece!
The overall winner was Fort Augustus driver Reay MacKay in his Subaru Impreza WRC.
A tentative approach after a 24 year ‘sabbatical’ netted 13th O/A in very wet conditions on the inaugural Skeabost Rallysprint
[photo courtesy of www.superpics.co.uk ]
With the Skye Rally Club’s new 2011 date being just one week after Rally Hebrides, the clearing-up was in progress and the Rally’s co-founder was already looking towards the next weekend of high octane Motorsport for the second time on the Isle of Skye.
Murdo had again been offered the loan of the same Ford Sierra to compete - Sandy repeating the offer of the use of his car again when they met at the finish of the 2011 Snowman Rally in Inverness in February. Only this time the car’s owner was also intending to compete – the car was to be double entered!
In dry dusty conditions Murdo went one better this time, recording 12th O/A having been holding 11th at the lunch halt, but he was edged back one place by a meagre 8/10ths of a second during the afternoon by one of the Skye drivers.
Skye high!
Airborne in his loaned Ford Sierra over one of the many crests in Skeabost Forest, on the way to securing 12th O/A on the second Skeabost Rallysprint.
[photo courtesy of www.thetartanlens.com ]
The 2010 runner-up Dougal Brown (Inverness) was back with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4, and also went one better taking his first outright win on a National status event with some truly spectacular driving.
A day or two before the 2011 event it looked as though two members of the Graham rallying family were to compete against each other but at the eleventh hour Murdo’s nephew Alasdair withdrew due to Insurance difficulties for his loaned Subaru Impreza.
In the other car loaned to the Graham family, the car’s owner took the double-entered Sierra to an overall placing of 19th.
The event had an increased entry, SkyesatTV & HHF Furniture & Flooring as main sponsors for 2011, and was again centred at Highland Motors in Borve.
Drivers had six runs through a 1.9 mile stage in Skeabost Forest – a fast flowing stage with numerous crests, some of which are blind, and most drivers found the surface ‘very loose’ with one Skye driver commenting that "it was like driving over marbles"
Murdo is deeply indebted to Sandy Morrison for providing and entrusting him with his 4wd Ford Sierra, and to Croft-Tech Engineering, Morrison Power Products & Neil Morrison Marine Engineering for support.
With the use of the Sierra offered for the third Skeabost Rallysprint, scheduled for Saturday 22 Sept 2012, an entry was duly submitted to the Skye Rally Club with the added anticipation of sampling the extra power produced by a newly fitted 24 valve Cosworth engine.
Sadly the Rally Club were forced to cancel their premier event due to a shortage of entries.
The hope is that there’s more still to add to the Rally Round-ups……………..
