MSA report on the Border Hill Rally

---- quote ----
Just to let you all know.

I have today received a letter from David Swinton, the MSA Steward for the Borders Hill Rally.

From which I quote:

You asked me to let you have a copy of my report on the hill rally. Unfortunately I have had major IT problems and seem to have lost a number of files one of which is my Motor Sport file in which I keep (kept) all my reports.

I do however remember much of what I said

'I had the pleasure of commending the organisation for the way in which the event was run, commenting on the way in which everyone seemed to know and understand exactly what was required, and when. I made exceptional comment on the team that worked so hard to make the access road passable on the Sunday morning.'

I had a memorable weekend and hope that I will have the chance to experience hill rallies in the future.

My best wishes to you and all the team

David Swinton

Personally I think it was very kind of him to take the time and effort to send the letter, as most wouldn't nowadays.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the event, the reports that I have had back form a number of competitors and through the 'grapevine' is that it was 'an absolutely fantastic event', 'best event for a long time'

So well done to all. Please pass thanks to everyone else involved.

Andy Mills, Clerk of Course
---- end quote ----

SCCC 2009

We've had a meeting to discuss the 2009 regs for the Championship.

All sorted bar two items:

1) I want to double-check that the definition for the classes matches that used by the Hill Rally (and also check against the regs used in the BCCC), and
2) I can't get the list of clubs I want to invite quite right: 5 regional associations doesn't cover the clubs I want to invite. Gonna pass the buck on this one, I think: let someone else have the headache :)

Peter Ingram, RIP

On the evening of Tuesday 25th November, 2008, Peter Ingram died as a result of complications with his MS.
He was a good, and true, friend... and will be missed by many.

The future of Hill Rallies

People have been concerned about the future of Hill Rallies in Scotland - indeed, I've been hearing that there have been some people going around proclaiming they are actually dead already.

Well, from a purely selfish point of view, Hill Rallies need to be kept alive in scotland:
If there is no Hill Rally, why should people spend tens of thousands of pounds buying the likes of WildCats or ProTrucks?

Ignoring the Hill Rally, which we are postulating as dead, there are basically 4 groups running off-road speed events, as far as I can tell: AWDC (which doesn't really come north of about Manchester); BCCC (which has, erm... Zero scottish entries, and a token event north of the border); NORC (who are also mostly south-ish); and SCCC (ie, the events I run.) Now, AWDC, NORC, SCCC & BCCC all run comp safari events: going round a single circuit lots of times. BCCC are the best for this, as they tend to have 10-mile circuits rather than 3-milers... but BCCC is also Nat A, so is not a club-level event.

So - for Scottish drivers, there are the 3-miler Comp Safari events (7 a year, mostly central belt or southern Scotland)... all run to a 30mph max average, all in the 3-miler category, all sub £50 to enter.

For Scottish competitors to have a challenge, to have a reason to go on from the SCCC, we need Hill Rallies: They need something that is more than 3 miles; more than 30mph max ave; and more than driving round in circles on your own... nice as BCCC is, you can do it as a single driver... there's no TEAMWORK!

That event would be the Hill Rally.

Likewise, the Hill Rally needs the SCCC: where-else will the future entrants come from? Where else will future marshal & senior officials come from?

No - for either to survive, they need each other.
Trying to promote anything else is just shooting yourself in the foot.

Borders Hill Rally countdown

Well, two days before I head down to run the setup for the borders hill rally.

I don't know why, but this year it's more stressful than ever before: there have been a number of times when I've had to mediate between disgruntled factions; sort out things that others should take on; and worry about tasks that are someone else's responsibility.

This event will run, and I really really don't want it to be the last hill rally we ever run... but I can see a number of teddies being thrown at the de-brief meeting.

Such is life.....

Borders is back on!

The Borders Hill Rally is back on!

A reduced mileage and a reduced cost.... but it's on!

£385 for ~75 miles.
£45 for !WARM! bunkhouse accommodation, £35 for a caravan/tent, with access to the commonrooms, kitchens & showers.)

SCCC, Round 7 - Galashiels

This is the final event of the season, and with less that ten points seperating the top five drivers, the championship is still to play for!

Number two, Brian Hilditch, is not expected to enter, having totalled his engine in August, and hard-charging Johnny Drysdale in his big 110 has been steadily improving event on event. Malc Millar, absolutely flying in his diesel 90, may not make a podium finish for the championship, but he has definitely shaken a few drivers out of their complacency.

The ASRs for the event are here

The SSRs for the event are, as ever, here

A happy PR person

OK, so maybe not a PR person, per sae (and that's a lot of "P"s!)

Sunday was a drive in the country: I have dropped PR letters and posters along the route from Keilder to Newcastleton.

I've still to do Hexam to Keilder, Newcastlton to Castle O'er, and Castle O'er to Moffat.

Galashiels

Popped over to Galashils to look at the bridges we'd built, the hardcore we'd bought, and agree a route with the farmer.

The bridges have stood up to their first test: a field-full of cattle has wandered over them (you can tell, there is cow-shit on them), with zero damage :)

We need more hardcore, but he's going to source that from stuff he already has, and dump it in place (for a fee, of course)

We have a 3 mile route... with almost a mile lost due to politics (the farmer is going to stop renting to one of his tenants, and doesn't want to give them a bargaining chip by asking them to move cattle for the weekend)

Dunning Glen

Went over to Dunning Glen (site of the "Fanny Hill" [now called "Burnt Hill"] stages), on Sunday - to look at the state of the ground after the rains have washed away the worst of the marks, to determine what groundworks need to be done, and to look at potential new route... and I took a man with a digger with me - just the man, the digger will come later - once the Forestry people have looked at my proposed groundworks.

Edit 18/9/08: The forestry are going to look at my proposes, and come back to me.

SCCC, Round 6 - Cancelled

Due to deteriorating ground conditions, and unharvested crops, Round 6 of the Scottish Cross Country Championship has been cancelled, with no intent to postpone or replace it.

Lombard Recce

On Saturday I went down to Newcastleton to meet the Selectif Commander for that stage (from Spadeadam motorsports club), and to have a drive through and see if there where any problems we could identify.

After dropping him back at his car, I went off to Castle O'Er (being run by the Scottish Off Road Club)to do the same checks there.

A wonderful drive in the country: the roads from Jedburgh to Newcastleton; from Langholm to Castle O'Re; and up through Eskdalemuir & Middleton Moor are all true glen roads: mostly single-track or narrow, and following the old cart/horse routes...
The lashing wind and the horizontal rain detracted a bit... but still an amazing drive!

Results from the Bathgate night Comp.

This is the standing after the final 5 laps were cancelled by the Clerk of Course

Comp N0	Driver	Class	ss1	ss2	ss3	ss4	ss5	ss6	ss7	ss8	ss9	ss10	TOTAL	Class Pos.	O/A Pos.
33	George Orr	A	12:54	13:19	13:13	30:00	30:00	24:30	15:22	30:00	13:47	14:31	3:17:36	1	14
--
71	Matt Booth	C	14:31	14:37	14:56	15:17	15:32	14:53	15:29	16:12	15:38	16:06	2:33:11	1	9
31	Andy Bayliss	C	15:11	15:56	16:10	17:30	23:33	16:36	17:15	30:00	30:00	30:00	3:32:11	2	16
--
7	Andy Glover	D	13:21	13:45	14:25	14:04	13:42	14:11	14:16	14:04	14:07	13:46	2:19:41	1	5
90	Michael maxwell	D	13:54	13:56	14:29	14:52	13:48	13:59	14:49	13:36	14:05	14:45	2:22:13	2	6
29	Malc Millar	D	14:23	24:53	19:25	15:56	30:00	16:48	15:20	15:27	15:23	19:49	3:07:24	3	13
14	Kris Anderson	D	14:22	14:14	13:45	14:05	15:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	3:41:26	4	18
--
26	Brian Hilditch	E	13:00	12:46	12:48	13:51	13:38	13:48	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	3:19:51	1	15
30	Jo Bartlett	E	16:19	22:52	18:56	16:33	17:15	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	4:01:55	2	19
--
3	David Bartlett	G	12:02	11:56	12:05	11:54	11:20	12:18	12:23	12:46	12:32	12:28	2:01:44	1	1
20	Johnnie Drysdale	G	11:48	12:31	12:34	12:20	17:16	12:38	12:35	12:32	12:24	12:27	2:09:05	2	3
23	Stu Howie	G	14:26	14:18	13:34	14:24	13:54	16:20	13:40	13:30	15:08	13:47	2:23:01	3	7
19	Paul Aynsley	G	12:19	12:15	12:15	12:25	12:30	30:00	14:20	14:32	13:42	13:25	2:27:43	4	8
5	Robert Law	G	15:05	16:49	30:00	30:00	30:00	17:34	14:07	15:01	30:00	19:11	3:37:47	5	17
22	Tony Rae	G	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	5:00:00	6	21
--
25	Peter Baird	H	12:48	12:19	12:30	12:22	12:26	12:47	12:54	13:01	13:17	12:57	2:07:21	1	2
2	Norrie Deas	H	13:38	13:53	13:33	13:32	13:45	13:29	13:32	14:44	14:14	14:19	2:18:39	2	4
35	Dave Stewart	H	13:22	13:29	13:53	21:29	13:55	15:38	15:31	15:40	16:28	16:03	2:35:28	3	10
36	Mark Caisley	H	13:21	12:57	12:24	12:37	12:23	12:30	12:14	12:21	30:00	30:00	2:40:47	4	11
136	Sandy Murray	H	13:50	13:51	13:32	20:12	14:00	15:29	20:02	26:19	15:31	18:04	2:50:50	5	12
18	Robert Agnew	H	16:31	21:06	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	30:00	4:37:37	6	20

SCCC Standings after 4 events

After 4 rounds, covering 4 very different terrains, the results are as follows:

Name	Pumph.Bing (March)	Biggar (April)	Drumclog (Night Comp, May)	Coulport (June)	Total
Mark Caisley	8.70	10.00	6.88	6.67	32.25
Brian Hilditch	6.52	5.38	8.13	9.17	29.20
Ian Spowart	7.83	9.23	6.25	5.83	29.14
Lee Bartlett	10.00		10.00	8.33	28.33
Norrie Deas	8.26		8.75	4.17	21.18
Johnnie Drysdale	2.61	3.08	3.13	7.50	16.32
Tony Rae		8.46	7.50		15.96
Martyn Smith	4.35	7.69	3.75		15.79
Annette Chatham	3.91	3.85	5.00	2.50	15.26
Billy Phillips	7.39	4.62	2.50		14.51
Jo Bartlett	6.96		5.63	0.83	13.42
David Bartlett	833	9.57		3.33	12.90
Malcolm Millar	6.09	6.15			12.24
Sandy Murray	5.22	6.92			12.14
Dave Stewart	0.43	0.77	4.38	5.00	10.58
Rick Wells				10.00	10.00
Paul Aynsley			9.38		9.38
Brian Carlin	9.13				9.13
Kris Anderson	5.65				5.65
Peter Baird	4.78				4.78
Robert Law	2.17	1.54	0.63		4.34
David Drysdale		2.31	1.25		3.56
David Mitchell	3.48				3.48
Emma Bartlett	1.74			1.67	3.41
John O'Mara	3.04				3.04
Robert Agnew			1.88		1.88
Graham Provest	1.30				1.30
Martin Jenkins	0.87				0.87

Next event is the extremely popular Night Comp at Bathgate, where we have a number of visitors from down south come and play.

A Trialler again, and not last!

After what I reckon to be almost three years, I went to a CCV Trial (Cross Country Vehicle Trial: the one where you need some foolhardinessexperience, where you could get it wrong and fall over or bend something) AND COMPETED!

OK, so I came second-last.... but I'd forgotten just how much FUN these events are!

I really must get on and fix my own vehicle!
(and AJs van, and the rear floor in the disco, and Alex's new toy, and scrap the range rover, and ...)

De-Brief

The De-Brief has happened.

The usual things were highlighted (such as "The safety plan was late again"), and the usual reasons were given ("The information doesn't become available until the last minute").

We are going to try to attend more off-road events (all the BCCC and SCCC events for competitors, Knockhill & other events to garner SMMC marshals)

A useful meeting, highlighting how difficult the event is to put on.

Final Results, Scottish Perthshire Hill Rally

Final results are available from the Flying Finish web site.

Congratulations to MaxTractions' John Cockburn for a well-deserved first place, to Steve & Ollie Lloyd for completing their first proper Hill Rally, and to seven (yes, 7) SLROC drivers who entered (and they all finished too!)

The Bathgate Night Comp (SCCC, round 5)

The regs for round five of the Scottish Cross Country Championship are available.

Standing Supplementary Regulations are at: http://docs.google.com/View?docID=df8ssf5n_16q4m8p
Additional Supplementary regulations are at: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df8ssf5n_22hbk97wcz

This is the famous Night Comp: Racing at night, over the Bathgate Hills ("UFOs Over Bathgate: Residents of the sleepy rural town of Bathgate, Scotland, were amazed to see bright lights shining in the clouds to the north of the town. The lights would appear and disappear, moving with great speed across the sky, and seeming to dance in pairs..")

Roadbook checking

Just spent two days checking the roadbook for the Perthshire Hillrally.

400 miles, two breakfasts, four lunches, several cups of coffee, and three pizza... and I now need to compose some covering notes to feed my corrections back into the system.

Drumclog results

Name	Door No.	Total Lap Time	Position
Lee Bartlett	4	01:33:49	1
Paul Aynsley	380	01:40:56	2
Norrie Deas	2	01:42:39	3
Brian Hilditch	26	01:44:22	4
Tony Rae	202	01:45:37	5
Mark Caisley	36	01:46:05	6
Ian Spowart	39	01:54:56	7
Jo Bartlett	30	01:57:03	8
Annette Chatham	38	02:03:20	9
David Stewart	35	02:05:13	10
Martyn Smith	32	02:16:40	11
Johnnie Drysdale	2000	02:22:51 (retired, lap 14)	12
Billy Philips	6	02:25:37	13
Robert Agnew	18	02:43:54 (retired, lap 14)	14
David Drysdale	2001	03:17:16 (retired, lap 12)	15
Robert Law	5	03:19:48 (retired, lap 11)	16

SCCC Round 4, Coulport

The Additional Supplementary Regulations for Round 4 of the SCCC are available via Google Docs.

(The Standing Supplementary Regulations are also available)

Perthshire Hill Rally reccies

Been to look at various woods around Kiellour, and down into Glendevon. Some work needed, but it should be interesting driving :)

Lombard Rally, 2008

I am co-ordination the running of a small section of the Lombard 2008 rally (http://www.lombardrally.com/).

Specifically I am running two sections: On Thursday the 6th of November, I'm organising all marshaling from a lunch-stop at Hexham Auction Mart, with Selectives through Keilder, Kershop, Newcastleton, and Castle O're and handing over to Moffet motorsports club for an evening break at Moffet town centre.

From there, the competitors head to an overnight halt in Glasgow. Friday, they tour around Argyle & Bute and the Trossachs Park before returning to Glasgow for Friday night. On Saturday, the Lombard tours Dumfries & Galloway, before returning to my sphere, where the tour goes through Twiglees, Castle O're and Newcastleton again, before an overnight halt in Carlisle.

I'm trying to get the local clubs to run Selectives, giving them as much responsibility as they want for each Selective... and that can be quite a lot of people! Each Selective needs:

• A Selective Commander (the person in charge of that challenge)
• 3+ crew at the start and end of each stage (preferably with an 81 radio at each end)
• (ideally) a marshal watching each in-stage marker point
• an 81 radio every 2 miles of special stage (more is good).

The route

Thursday:
Keilder: 14 miles, 30-40 markers
Newcastleton: 6 miles, 18-30 markers
Castle O'Re: 8 miles, 20-30 markers

Satruday:
Twiglees: 8 miles, 20-30 markers
Castle O'Re: 8 miles, 20-30 markers
Newcastleton: 6 miles, 18-30 markers

So far I have a Selective Commander for Castle O're, and a couple of (4x4) recovery vehicles (again, for Castle O'Re)

Results from SCCC Round 2

Name	Door No	SCC Class	Total Lap Time	Position
Mark Casiley	36	H	00:40:59	1
Ian Spowart	39	E	00:41:44	2
Tony Rae	202	G	00:41:52	3
Martyn Smith	32	G	00:42:01	4
Sandy Murray	136	H	00:44:38	5
Malcolm Millar	31	D	00:45:38	6
Brian Hilditch	26	E	00:47:02	7
Billy Phillips	6	E	00:47:14	8
Annette Chatham	38	E	00:48:40	9
Johnnie Drysdale	2000	G	00:52:23	10
David Drysdale	2001	F	00:58:08	11
Robert Law	5	G	01:04:35	12
Dave Stewart	35	H	Retired, Lap 7	13

SCCC Round 3, Drumclog

The Additional Supplementary Regulations for Round 3 of the SCCC are available via Google Docs.

Scottish Cross Country Championship, 2008

The basic regulations for all seven rounds of the 2008 Scottish Cross Country Championship are on Google Documents

This defines the fundamental Standing Supplementary Regulations, and Additional Supplementary Regulations will be issued for each event.

Initial note

This will be the preferred location for all regs and comments on the motorsports events I'm part of.