THE Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship circus descended on Lockerbie for the final round of the 2024 season, the Caledonian Rally.
Taking their first Scottish Rally Championship win after coming so close on several occasions was Dumfries-born Mark McCulloch and Michael Hendy, who started the day third fastest in SS1 and equal fastest in SS2.
A big push in SS3 saw the Proton Satria hit the front to lead by seven seconds.
They held the lead for the rest of the day, stretching it to 21 seconds with one stage remaining.
They backed off slightly over a nervy final stage to eventually take the win by 15 seconds.
It was a great day for the team and especially for Mark to take the win in his home forests. This result consolidated their runner-up position in the final 2024 Championship standings.
Mark said: “Thank you all so much, I’m totally blown away with everyone’s comments.
“It’s a very special result for Michael, myself and everyone who has helped us to get there after many years of trying! Thank you.”
After taking his first win on the previous round, John Wink was experiencing running first on the road in a rally for the first time. That meant that John and co-driver Jack Bowen were probably getting the slipperiest of the conditions for the four-wheel drive contenders, which resulted in a brief off in SS3, and John didn’t feel he had a clean run until SS4, fastest over the seven miles. Fourth after SS4, they matched the leaders’ time in SS5 and then set fastest time on the final stage to jump from fourth to second, aided by an unfortunate off on the final stage for Ian Forgan/Chris Lees, who were lying third at that point. Second at the finish was enough to give John third in the drivers’ points standings.
Equal fastest in the first two stages, Jock Armstrong and Owen Paterson, led by four seconds from McCulloch/Hendry.
An off at the same point as Wink and a big hit in a compression in SS3 damaged the exhaust of the car and dropped them to third place, 11 seconds off the lead.
Back up to second after SS4 they made a temporary fix to the exhaust in second service but dropped a further nine seconds to McCulloch/Hendry in SS5.
On the final stage Jock nearly put the car off the road trying to avoid a big pothole and they were overtaken in the final standings by the flying Wink/Bowen. Third overall was enough to give Owen third overall in the final co-drivers points in his first season in the SRC, with Jock fourth in the drivers.
Meanwhile, The G&M Mechanical services Two Wheel Drive championship was still to be decided.
Greg McKnight and Harry Marchbank squared up against Paddy Munro and Andrew Stevenson. Such was the pace of the two Escorts that they finished an amazing fifth and sixth overall, with the yellow MK2 just beating the blue car by less than a minute at the finish.
It was a nervy day for Greg and Harry, having to push hard to stay ahead of Paddy and Andrew without throwing it off the road.
They managed exactly that, delighted to wrap up the title in their home forests after a fantastic year-long battle.
