Sunday, 30 June 2013

Successful Scottish for Rally2Raise team

 
The Rally2Raise team of Aberdeen’s Rachel Clark and Brampton’s Caroline Lodge enjoyed a successful Scottish rally last weekend when they finished second in class with driver Rachel also picking up the trophy for the best lady driver.

After a disappointing Granite City rally in April the team’s aim for the Scottish was to get to the finish in their E.Watson & Son, Pirelli, AW Motorsport, McPherson Document Solutions, Charles Derby Ecosse and San Juan Services-supported Nissan Micra 1300.

The event started with a pair of stages near the village of Ae. Both of these went well  although with Rachel recovering from glandular fever she was suffering at the end of the 14 mile-long second stage.

“I was pleased with the first two stages, it was the first time Caroline and I have competed together but we quickly gelled and had a troublefree run,” said Rachel.  “The second stage left me worn out, the glandular fever totally zapped my energy and I’m not back to full health yet so doing a 14 mile stage in a very hot rally car wasn’t ideal but we made it through and it was great to find we were third in class going into service.”

After the service halt the team faced three more stages. The first was a short blast through Heathhall where the Micra entertained the huge crowd of spectators watching at the watersplash. The event ended with two stages near Gatehouse of Fleet which the team completed with no problems and they headed back to the finish in Dumfries town centre in second in class.

“I’m delighted with the result and winning a trophy that has previously been won by the likes of Louise Aitken-Walker just topped off what was a fantastic weekend. I’d like to dedicate the trophy to Cath Simpson who we lost recently, a true rally enthusiast that will be greatly missed by many including me and the team.”

“Thanks to Caroline for a spot-on job with the notes and keeping me alive with drinks and sweets all day, Colin and Craig Wallace for transporting the car to and from the event, Clark Motorsport for servicing, Paul at Motorsport Mugs for sorting our last minute graphics request and all our sponsors for their support.”

The Rally2Raise team will be back in action on the Speyside Stages in early August. Please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or www.facebook.com/rally2raise for more information.