Rally2Raise get Merrick backing

The Rally2Raise charity project is delighted to announce that it will be supported by the Merrick Forest Stages Rally this year.

The project, founded by rally competitor and rescue volunteer Rachel Medich, is using rallying to help raise funds and awareness for four charities - Cancer Research UK, the Nystagmus Network, the MS Society and the Joanne Bingley Memorial Foundation for post-natal depression.

The "Merrick" will be offering navigator-turned-driver Rachel a free entry to the September 1st event, which will again be based in Wigtown in South West Scotland. The rally will be the penultimate round of the MSA Scottish Rally Championship.

Competitors on the event will be invited to make a donation to the project when they enter online through the event website.

"We are delighted to name Rally2Raise as our nominated charity for this year's Merrick", said Rally Manager Allan Marshall: "Rachel and the girls are raising funds for such very good causes. Hopefully our efforts will help them in reaching their target".

Rachel Medich commented: “The support that the Merrick organisers have offered Rally2Raise is absolutely fantastic and it will greatly assist us in achieving our goals of raising funds and awareness. The project is really taking off now and we have lots of exciting things planned for the forthcoming months.”

Please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or www.facebook.com/rally2raise for more information on the project. Donations can be made online via uk.virginmoneygiving.com/rally2raise.

Cones, slaloms and bouncy whites!

The Edradour Saltire Classic rally came up very fast after the Snowman rally and I was really looking forward to it!

We loaded the car and set off from Aberdeen on Saturday, arriving at Dunkeld in time for scrutineering and signing on. Sailing through these we headed off to peruse the maps and get our heads into rally mode.

Sunday morning dawned, a bit overcast but not as bad as predicted. We had a hearty full Scottish breakfast and went to get the car fuelled. Unfortunately the local garage didn't open until 9am, our leaving time for the first test! Luckily the organiser, Colin Wallace, assured me we'd manage the mileage to Pitlochry and six tests on the fuel we had. He was right!

What can I say about the tests? Well, test 1 was hilarious. Anyone who's driven a rally car before will know that lock to lock on the steering consists of about one turn. So a test involving manoeuvring round cones in small spaces would mean many, many shunts. Cue a clever comment from my future husband "wouldn't it be funny if I hadn't installed power steering?"…No Barry, it would be downright annoying! And heavy! Never the less, test 1 was brilliant, I loved every single shunt of it.

Test 2 was more like a special stage/hill climb. A steep ascent followed by a descent with cones either side of the road where you have to stop astride, or in my case pull a skiddy and stop with the cone at shoulder level… then giggle, thumbs up to the marshal, giggle again then set off. O-kaaaaay!

Test 3 was a muddy blast around a woodyard, unfortunately the event photographer came a cropper in there and broke his ankle quite badly in a fall. Hopefully he'll be on the mend soon!

Tests 4,5 and 6 happened in quick succession and were equally brilliant. Wiping the grin off my face was going to take some doing! I'd done many, many WD's (wrong directions) by this point, including adding in a reverse manoeuvre in our own interpretation of the test diagram. But we were having the best fun in a long time.

The next test followed a regularity section, of course we weren't sticking to that one so we could get to test 7 via the fuel station. The roads used for the regularity would have made a pretty cool stage themselves!

I made a hash of test 7 at the Edradour Distillery, being obsessed with a barrel I wasn't allowed to go around until lap 2. But we got round and I learnt a new direction... slalom. I like slalom. It means a quick wiggle on the steering wheel and managing to avoid whatever we're slaloming through. I didn't realise the Edradour Distillery was the smallest in Scotland, so not only did I learn how to slalom the car, I learnt that too!

After test 7 we headed towards Tummel Bridge and test 8. This was brilliant, a blast down a grassy lane, a handbrake turn round a cone and a blast back. I didn't even have to steer as the track pulled the car round on its own! A fact I shared with Mags and I don't think she was impressed.

The lunch halt followed test 9 which was in the running for my favourite. A blast around a caravan site. As we were first in we got to watch everyone else around the test once we’d finished. The only problem was that everyone then got to watch us being the first out on test 10 which used the same roads. I got a bit more confident and used the handbrake. Thankfully it didn't go wrong and we entertained the other competitors. Test 11 was a fun blast down a hill with two hairpins and then back up to the Loch Tummel road

Test 12, Dunalastair, was probably my second favourite of the day, it was a mini special stage and included a pretty cool old ruin to drive round. I really had fun on that one!!! Test 13 was a nice run up a farm track and it preceded a road section with the whitest white roads I had ever seen which I thoroughly enjoyed bouncing along. Luckily we had someone behind us to close the gates!

Test 14 was my out and out favourite. And I think it was many others too! It involved being flat out around a quarry and pulling handbrake turns around cones. Now, I swear down, and Mags will back me up, I pulled off one of the four perfectly. Of course there was no one there to see our Ken Block style triumph (Mag's words, not mine) so it will be forever consigned to my perfect turn memory banks.

Another trip to the Edradour Distillery followed and we aced it that time, then a regularity over yet more scenic roads. The last test was another visit to the wood yard then a short road section to the finish. I could easily have gone round again. It was definitely the most fun I've had on a rally for a long time.

A massive thank you has to go to Colin Wallace and all the officials of the rally, all marshals and of course everyone who donated to Rally2Raise. At last count we were told over £400 was raised, absolutely amazing!

I highly recommend this event to everyone and would love to return next year if they'll have us.

Fundraising boost for Rally2Raise at Saltire Classic rally

The Rally2Raise team took part in their second event of 2012 last weekend when they ran their Nissan Micra on the Edradour Saltire Classic rally.

The Birnam-based event was organised by the Saltire Rally Club, who have nominated Rally2Raise as their chosen charitable cause for this year, and it consisted of 16 tests and three regularity sections on a route around the area of Pitlochry and Loch Tummel.

The tests provided good experience for driver Rachel Medich as they consisted of a mix of surfaces including tarmac, gravel and muddy tracks, enabling Rachel to learn more about how the car handled in preparation for future events.

Rachel completed all the tests in her Clark Motorsport-supported car which performed faultlessly all day.

“It was a brilliant event, I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Rachel. “The tests were fantastic and great fun. My favourite was one which ran around a quarry on gravel, I could really throw the car around there and it was very useful experience for driving on forest rallies.”

At the awards ceremony at the end of the event organiser Colin Wallace announced that over £400 had been raised by the event for the four Rally2Raise causes - Cancer Research UK, the Nystagmus Network, the MS Society and the Joanne Bingley Memorial Foundation.

“I am very grateful to Colin, all the organisers and marshals, the competitors and event sponsor Edradour, to raise over £400 is fantastic and I am sure our four causes will be delighted.”

The next event for the Rally2Raise team is likely to be the Granite City rally in April where Rachel will be joined by Katherine Begg who will co-drive on her first ever rally. Please visit http://www.rally2raise.co.uk or http://www.facebook.com/rally2raise for more information on the project. Donations can be made online via http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/rally2raise.