Perthshire proved tough test for rally

Oct 11 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

Perthshire proved tough test for rally

THE image of queued up rally cars with engines snarling, light rigs dazzlingly bright and drivers barely visible is an awe-inspiring sight, if not a bit menacing.

This was the scene on Saturday evening at Errochty, near Struan in Highland Perthshire, where wave after wave of rally cars – each worth hundreds of thousands of pounds – and the among the best rally talent took on the among the toughest of Perthshire’s forest tracks and weather for the RACMSA Rally of Scotland.

Perthshire’s stages at Errochty, Drummond Hill and Craigvinean, certainly put the drivers through their paces, with mud, loose rocks and rain providing that extra bit of difficulty for drivers and their co-drivers.

But, the conditions did not deter a hard core of rally fans who ventured out to what seemed like the middle of nowhere to witness the event, which was also the Intercontinental Rally Championships’ penultimate round.

Fans stood at points which hugged the narrow forest track, ushered in by legend Jimmy McRae in the lead car, car zero, set the pace in his son Colin’s famous 20-year-old Subaru.

The roar of approaching engines and backfiring exhausts gave spectators enough time to prepare for the action in the gloom for about a 20 second window of watching cars zip past, leaving behind a trail of scattered mud and stones and the smell of burning hot oil and white hot brakes.

The scene, a long way from the glitz and glamour of their F1 cousins on Sunday, was repeated at Drummond Hill where spectators sheltered under trees along the route.

The fans, who were clearly there for the love of the sport, given the conditions and the difficulty in even getting there – with miles of driving and walking through forest routes and paths – which also nearly claimed a VIP shuttle car as it slid into a ditch on its way to the event.

On Sunday the event came into Perth itself, with a meet and greet with fans and the wider public at the Concert Hall.

The media scrum was swelled by fans, keen to see the mud-splattered, battle-scarred cars, and witnessed an entry from Sweden forced to push their vehicle to the line-up.

This set things up nicely for the showpiece finale at Scone Palace, where the crowds turned out to see the historic grounds torn up.

After 120 miles of competitive forest stages, including in Stirlingshire, Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen, who set the pace early on, emerged victorious with his Skoda UK-backed team, to the delight of the crowd, family and friends.