Rachel's story of the Scottish rally

It’s been a wee while since my last update so I thought I would let you all know how things are going in the Rally2Raise camp after two more rounds of the Scottish Rally Championship.

Firstly, I best start with the sad news that Katherine has had to retire indefinitely as co-driver due to a dicky ticker. The past few months have been quite a challenge with Katherine getting poorly followed by myself catching glandular fever, from which I’m STILL feeling the fatigue.  Thankfully it only took two days to get over the Speyside Stages as opposed to a full week after the Scottish Rally. 

With Katherine and I falling ill at roughly the same time we had to decide whether or not to pull the entry for the Scottish, it was touch and go right up until the week before when I decided I was going to go for it due to a lady who had just passed away.  I had already drafted in Caroline Lodge to co-drive, always a risk when you’re frends with someone and get into a car together but it paid off!

Just before the Scottish we lost a very dear friend and one of the most selfless women I have ever met, Cath Simpson.  I had been chatting to her the week before and she knew it was coming but her attitude to it was something I had never seen before, good humoured and looking on the bright side.  Right till the last.  There was no question that Barry and I would attend her funeral, it just so happened it fell the day before the rally.  Our brief was to wear rally gear so we did.  The ceremony itself was one that suited her down to the ground.  I was doing well until her coffin appeared with her marshals tabard draped over it.  Motorsport in her veins that one!

It was because of  Cath that I wanted to get out and do the event and make sure she was represented in some way so, taking inspiration from her family, we acquired two marshals tabards and hung them up in the rear of the rally car, along with a sticker on the rear window.

With us at the funeral we were extremely grateful  to Colin and Craig Wallace who trailered the car down to Dumfries for us. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to attend the funeral or have had the energy to get down the road and back.  So thank you both!

We completed our pre-event formalities with no problems other than accidentally gatecrashing a photoshoot for the Armed Forces rally team! We then retired to our accommodation.  As everything was last minute Caroline stayed at her house which wasn’t too far away from Dumfries.  I stayed in a posh hotel with a jacuzzi! I’ve never had a jacuzzi in my room before so I made the most of it after completing the finishing touches on the car.  I could get used to that! 

The day of the rally dawned and I set off to meet Caroline at the Heathhall service area. Hampered by a faulty traffic light I found my way unaided! Feeling the usual nerves we left for the pre-start holding area and had the craic with the lads there waiting. 

We loved the start in the centre of Dumfries, it was very well attended and a great advert for the sport! We set off from the control and headed up to Ae for the first of two stages in the forests there. I realized quickly during the first stage that I would have to take it very easy.  I was pretty shattered but we were getting on very well in the car and enjoying it.  

Two stages down we headed for service, luckily there was nothing required on the car except a spanner check. Then we headed out to the last three stages.  I really enjoyed the spectator stage with the watersplash which was stage three,  loads of folk watching and taking photos showing the E.Watson and Son/BSW Ltd and Pirelli stickers on the front of the car!

By that point we had gained a crew to help.  I won’t embarrass them but they were two drivers in one car as opposed to the two co-drivers in our car.  So we thought it only fair to give them a hand on the road section by helping them with times and making sure they didn’t go wrong.  It was gutting to see them off in the penultimate stage. 

We made our way through the final two stages incident free, I think the only moment we had was a slight slide.  I was very glad to cross the flying finish, I have never felt that tired after an event.  I only had one wobble during the day that had me questioning whether I could continue and I soon got rid of that! Once again our Pirelli tyres were brilliant, thanks to AW Motorsport for their help supplying them.

We got to the finish in the centre of Dumfries and there were even more people stood watching including Steven McPherson from our sponsor McPherson Document Solutions. We had avoided results all day and hadn’t looked at our phones.  Sat in the queue waiting to go into the control we snuck a peek only to discover we’d won second in class and first female driver! There were more than two finishers in the class and more than one female driver started the event so it wasn’t a given.  Unfortunately, as we approached the finish line I was made to get out the car and face a bank of photographers!!! I can’t say I was looking my best and was holding the trophy which can only be described as slightly phallic!!  Ha ha ha!!  All joking aside it was an absolute honour to receive it, past recipients such as Louise Aitken-Walker have stood there so it only seemed right to dedicate it to Cath. And yes, she would have found the phallic element to it absolutely hilarious.



As the Scottish was also a round of the British Rally Championship I didn’t let the awareness raising side of Rally2Raise slip.  I made sure that we weren’t overlooked by the press or the increased number of spectators and higher ups.    We were spoken to by a number of journalists and lots of people asked about Rally2Raise and our two supported causes, the Nystagmus Network and Bottle Stop.

All in all the Scottish Rally wasn’t what we expected when we first made our 2013 plans but we adapted and now have a team with a new member which plays to everyone’s strengths... except mine.... I am not the best driver ha ha ha!!

So the Scotttish was done and we were ready to put the entry in for the Speyside Stages in Elgin. And our adventures there will be the next report!

Rach

Rally2Raise: The project continues!

After the highs and lows of 2012 we decided to have a conversation about whether to continue in 2013 and, if so, how and where and, finally, who the beneficiaries would be.

It didn’t take long to decide to continue. It was a no brainer but we needed to plan how it would be possible given that we aren’t rich and there’s always too much month left at the end of the money.  We needed sponsors.  We decided what we could afford ourselves and what we would need to cover. Fuel, accommodation, parts etc could be provided from our own pockets but we’d need help with entry fees and tyres. A plan was made to try and attract sponsorship. More of that later!

Next we had to plan what events to do. We decided that we would stay with the Scottish Rally Championship and aim to compete in five events. We wanted to support the clubs who helped us last year where possible so, as it was too late to enter the Snowman rally, we decided that the first event would be the Granite (to be featured in the next blog – stay tuned!). The plan after the Granite, subject to getting a budget together, would be the Scottish, the Speyside Stages, the Merrick and McRae Stages.

Deciding on charities to support was actually very easy.  As most people are aware, the idea of Rally2Raise is using rallying to raise funds and awareness for the chosen charities by competing and getting the car seen in as many different places and in as many forms of media as possible.  2012 was very successful and £2,500 was raised but, as we supported four charities, the total was watered down somewhat by splitting in four ways. 2013 is to be the year we take “raising funds, raising awareness” literally and have one charity for fund raising and one for awareness raising which doesn’t necessarily require funds to be effective in its message.  We also wanted the charities to be small and not especially well known. 

The Nystagmus Network was chosen as the fund raising cause as Archie, Rachel’s son and Katherine’s Godson, has the nystagmus eye condition which normally renders most sufferers unable to drive.  Archie comes from a very motorsport orientated family on both his parents’ sides. He attended his first rally when he was 4 weeks old. The fact that he is unlikely to ever be allowed behind the wheel will be a huge blow when he’s old enough to understand.  The Nystagmus Network helps to fund research into the condition as well as assisting sufferers to live as normal a life as possible.  They offer information to everyone from schools to hospitals as well as anyone else interested in the condition.  For more information about anything to do with them please visit their website at www.nystagmusnet.org.

The Bottle Stop Campaign caught our eye as perfect for awareness raising.  It is trying to get glasses and glass bottles swapped for plastic ones after certain times in late night town centre pubs and clubs.  We had seen the campaign founder Jane’s story via mutual friends on Facebook and decided to look into it some more.   What we discovered saddened us as the story of how Bottle Stop came to be was revealed.  We realised we wanted to support Jane’s cause as she had shown tremendous courage in everything she has been through and is an example of true bravery.  Also, in our jobs, we regularly see the aftermath of people under the influence using glass bottles as weapons. When people get to a certain level of intoxication they wouldn’t care what they were drinking from and the more sober amongst them should understand the reasons for the swap.  There are people who consider themselves responsible and would never act in such a manner but all it takes is a moment and lives are ruined forever.  Again, more information can be found by visiting www.facebook.com/bottlestopnow.

So, we have our events and we have our charities and through some blooming hard work we managed to secure sponsorship from E. Watson and Son, Pirelli, Andrew Wood Motorport, McPhersons Document Solutions, Charles Derby Ecosse, Halo Lettings and San Juan Services in addition to the long standing support from Songasport, Clark Motorsport and Motorsport Mugs.  We still have a lot to raise to enable us to realise the aim of five SRC rounds but we’re quietly confident and have had a lot of interest. 

How do we intend on generating publicity and donations? Well, we have decided to not only challenge ourselves to the competitions themselves, we will also do something out of the ordinary before every event.  The Granite idea was to dye our normally blonde hair Rally2Raise red.  In doing so we have raised over £300! A massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far.  It will all be explained further in the Granite City Rally blog, coming to an internet site near you soon!

There we have it, the Rally2Raise plan for 2013.  We will, of course, be part of other events, such as running as course car on the excellent Saltire Classic Rally near Perth which we did in March. There will also be non-rally related appearances and events. We will also not be asking for donations for the sake of them, we will be earning them and, of course, running another raffle as last year’s was so popular - we already have some prizes donated!  However, if you wish to make a donation to the Nystagmus Network regardless of what we’re doing please visit www.justgiving.com/rally2raise.

We are eternally grateful to everyone who has donated previously, both this year and last, and we look forward to an even larger total at the end of 2013!

Rachel and Katherine