The Gleaner Oil and Gas Speyside Stages is one of the most popular events on the Scottish rally calendar, and the Brick and Steel Ecosse Challenge will be joining the huge number of crews making the trip to Elgin on Saturday 7 August for the event. The Speyside marks the start of the second half of the Challenge season, and there’s still plenty to play for in both the Honda Civic and Peugeot 205 classes.
Glasgow driver Grant Inglis leads the Civic series after four of nine rounds and took his first win of the year on July’s Rally of Argyll. Grant hasn’t finished outside the top three on any of the Challenge rounds this year, and heads to Elgin looking to continue the learning curve.
“We’re getting used to it, it was a slow start, just letting ourselves in gently but the speed is coming now,” admits Inglis, who welcomes usual co-driver Robert Gray back for the Speyside. “You can still get the back end out on the Civic, I don’t know if it’s the fastest way but I’m adapting to the techniques of front-wheel drive cars now – we’re getting there!”
Carluke’s Graeme Schoneville (24) is gunning for Civic glory on the back of two non-finishes. Schoneville was knocking on the door of the top ten outright on the Rally of Argyll when a driveshaft broke, but the junior driver has vowed to bounce back as he continues to get to grips with the car. Forres co-driver Phil Coulby is back alongside Graeme for his local rally. Early season pacesetters Euan Duncan won’t make the Speyside, though – his Honda is still being repaired following a heavy crash in June and with staffing limited it isn’t going be ready in time. Regular frontrunner Ross Hunter will also miss the Moray rally as he takes part in a charity drive to Poland!
In the 205 Ecosse series, East Kilbride student Steven Smith and Stewarton co-driver Russell Fair lead the way after four of nine rounds, the highlight of their year so far being a maiden 205 win on the Dumfries-based RSAC Scottish Rally. Now Steven and Russell have their sights set on the overall title – but will gladly take any win that comes their way in the process.
“We started trying a few things differently, both in terms of the car setup and the way I drive, and it seems to be working,” believes Steven (22). “My aim now is to keep the pace up for the rest of the season and try to win the championship.”
“It was great to see Steven get his first win on the Scottish, but we need to remember our aim is to win the 205 Ecosse Challenge this year,” adds co-driver Fair, who used to navigate for Steven’s father Alistair.
No matter what the outcome is on the Speyside, it looks like the 205 title race is going to go down to the wire. The son-and-father crew of Sean and Iain Robson took their second win of the year in Argyll to close in on Smith and Fair, whereas former Challenge champions Mark McCulloch and Craig Wallace have returned to the series after deciding to leave his Subaru in the garage. Duns teenager Garry Pearson took the 205 honours on the Granite City Rally in April – and although he’s been plagued with reliability issues since then, Pearson feels he’s gaining in confidence thanks to the support of experienced co-driver Tom Hynd. Jamie Watson – son of former Scottish Rally Champion Bob Watson – is another redging ever closer to a 205 win with co-driver Stephen Williamson, and has a rebuilt car ready for the fifth round of the one-make series.
Brick and Steel Ecosse Challenge – Gleaner Oil and Gas Speyside Stages
Entry List
Civic Ecosse Challenge
50 Grant Inglis (Stepps) / Robert Gray (Glasgow)
51 Graeme Schoneville (Carluke) / Phil Coulby (Forres)
74 Ross Hunter (St Boswells) / Eildon Hall (Jedburgh)
81 Ruary MacLeod (Ayr) / Will Rogers (Cinderford)
82 Neil Redford (Pitcaple) / Lorna Weir (Inverness)
83 Duncan Campbell (Ballochmyle) / Gary Patrick (Darvel)
84 Billy Davidson (Glasgow) / Martin MacCabe (Glasgow)
205 Ecosse Challenge
68 Steven Smith (East Kilbride) / Russell Fair (Stewarton)
69 Sean Robson (St Boswells) / Dave Robson (Jedburgh)
70 Mark McCulloch (Newton Stewart) / Craig Wallace (Kirriemuir)
71 Garry Pearson (Duns) / Tom Hynd (Inverbervie)
72 Jamie Watson (Leslie) / Stephen Williamson (Lanark)
85 David Crozier (Wigton) / Alison Crozier (Keswick)
86 Graeme Smith (Crossford) / Laura Marshall (Ayr)
87 Jordan Black (Lanark) / Stuart Loudon (Uddingston)
88 Graeme Sherry (Gartcosh) / Ewan Leeming (Edinburgh)
93 David Brown (Neilston) / Kirstie Marshall (Castle Douglas)
95 Alex Pirie (Keith) / David Law (Huntly)
96 Sarah Hunter (St Boswells) / Gary White (Melrose)
97 Nick Thorne (Lauder) / Scott Hunter (St Boswells)
– Credit: www.rallybuzz.com