July 18th, 2013
Auchenbainzie Scorcher. July 14th.
On this hot summers day, nineteen drivers tackled seven demanding tests in the hills above Penpont, (when we say demanding we mean that Willie Keaning plonked a rake of cones out and we all just went for it).
The first test started sharp and everybody was eager to get underway. James Clark was very quick out of the box and father Ronnie was clipping at his heels. This was a pattern that we would see all day, with James taking the overall win and dad having to settle for second place.
Another father and son combo were Stephen and Nathan Hogg, this time the older fiddle played the finer tune with Stephen sailing to third in class. Nathan’s times were hurt with 30 seconds worth of cone penalties and if he can stop hitting the orange blighters, then this could be a boy to watch over the coming years.
Peter Masters made the long drive up from Durham in his Suzuki Alto relacement, a Proton Savvy, the little grey Savvy went well and managed 4th in class. and this time he drove off under his own steam after the sorry death of his Alto at the Guid Nychburris autotest, which required rescue .
David Crosbie and Greg McKnight finished fifth and sixth in class respectively in the forest arched KA, although David was lucky to finish when he had an oopsee. Greg entertained the crowds with some very well controlled drfting of the little Ford, I think he’s just preparing for driving an escort using only the side windows.
Gordon Clendinning came to test a corsa he was building for a junior we will hopefully see shortly but had to leave early and Stephen Marshall finished the test which seemed to go well.
Warren Gillespie was the fastest man in class 2 with the old 106 being driven with less mercy, now that poor Kelsey doesn’t have to drive it to work. Graham Currie was right on his back bumper though, with only a second between them, after over 8 minutes of competition.
Heather Currie went well in the family Fiesta, managing to trump mother Shirley by half a dozen seconds. Just your old man to catch now Heather !.
The Gillespie siblings were also out in the family 106 and it was ‘game on’ for who was to get the bragging rights in their house this week. It was Kelsey who showed Dean the colour of the back bumper this weekend but just wait untill he gets some more experience and the tables might turn.
There was a new man in class 4 today. Drew Mclean brought his very tidy Mazda mx 5 and then let Willie Keaning loose in it, it taking Willie a couple of tests and a couple of cones to get used to the Mazda’s long, blind bonnet but the fact the drive went to different wheels than he was used to, meant that you could see the smile even through his helmet.
Drew had a great drive in the Mazda with some very competitive test times but the 5% penalty for having a limited slip diff saw the pair tumble down the overall standings.
New member, Graham Rogerson, brought along a very pukka Mini (a real one, not the plastic version) with all the bells and whistles on it. You would have thought it was a topless supermodel the way Mr Gillespie was ogling it. Unfortunatley, a combination of no chunky tyres and a very cammy engine meant it wasn’t as quick on the grass as some might hope. Second in class five was Niall Cowan Jr in his Rover rally car. When will we see this on the stages Niall ?.
Finally, I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the landowner Mr Kirkpatrick, Donald Caruthers for timekeeping and everybody that helped pick up and reposition the many cones that jumped out in front of the drivers.
Willie Keaning.