Following the filming of a feature for STV at the pre-event test day on Friday with their newly-dyed Rally2Raise red hair the team of driver Rachel Clark from Aberdeen and co-driver Katherine Begg from Heysham made a good start on the rally’s opening Fetteresso stage, completing the nine miles of tough forest track in 5th in class as well as moving up 15 places from their 111 position on the entry list.
The second stage was in Drumtochty and the girls put in another great performance to move a further five places up the leaderboard despite being in the lowest powered car on the event.
The 1300cc Micra, which had additional support on the rally from Charles Derby Ecosse, Halo Lettings and San Juan Services, was flying in stage 3, Glenfarquhar, but part way through the back of the car slid slightly and the rear wheel clipped a bridge which bent the axle. Despite this the crew kept pushing hard and managed to continue their climb up the results. However, when they got to the road section it was found that there was too much damage to continue and, with no spare axle, the girls parked up at the roadside to await recovery.
“It’s disappointing not to get the finish that we hoped for but I’m actually really pleased with how we did,” said Clark. “The new Pirelli tyres were absolutely fantastic and they gave us so much grip. We were beating cars with two to three times as much power as our Micra and I am very happy with that.”
“I’ve gained a lot of confidence from our performance and I can’t wait for the next event now. Thank you very much to all the sponsors who made it possible for us to contest the event and thanks also to those who have made donations to help our supported charity this year, the Nystagmus Network. We’ve hopefully already sourced a replacement axle so the car should be ready to rally again soon.”
The team’s next scheduled event is the Scottish rally which takes place in June and is based in Dumfries. For more information on Rally2Raise please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or www.facebook.com/rally2raise. Donations to the team’s supported charity can be made via www.justgiving.com/rally2raise.
