The lows and highs of rallying - Rally2Raise's 2012

2012 was a very mixed year for us, the lowest we could ever be followed by massive highs.  We learnt an awful lot along the way and made some lifelong friends.

The last blog was after the Saltire Classic rally and our next event was the Granite City. It’s been well documented what happened there and I won’t lie, it knocked the wind right out of our sails and made getting in the car again very hard. 

 

We were invited to perform course car duties at the Highland Car Club-run Stravaigers Lodge Gravel Sprint at Fort Augustus a month later and it did the world of good for one of us to get back in the car so that when the time came for a proper rally I could give Katherine a bit of confidence. 

A few months passed and with the Merrick Stages looming we realised we needed to get out together in the car on our own and see if we were ok driving non- competitively.  It was around this time we received a call from Quintin Milne et al about tagging along on a test day.  After a bit of persuasion we agreed and turned up at the unofficial Speyside shake down and prepared for our runs round by each having a recce with Andy Horne in the DAM 4100.  It possibly wasn’t the best idea as it put the fear of god into me and Katherine appeared back with a look that can only be described as terror? Enjoyment? No, terroyment.  Our turn to drive came and we set off, had a rather large moment and returned to the start.  It had been radioed back to the start and everyone knew so they made us go straight back in and after that we got faster and faster but more importantly, we got us some confidence.

We were to run as car 000 on the Speyside Stages, our car club’s award-winning event.  Although we were only to do the Cooper Park city centre stage and one of the gravel ones, Rosarie, we were more than happy with this as it gave us another chance to get out non-competitively with spectators around.  We didn’t have notes so we had a bit of a laugh on the Cooper Park stage with Katherine reading me passages from 50 Shades of Grey instead.  That stage needs to be longer as it was such good fun to drive! We then went round with our buckets collecting change and made a lot for the charities before heading out to Rosarie to have a laugh with the assembled officials who couldn’t figure out why 000 was there already.  What a fantastic stage that was, by the end of it we wanted to do more again which was testament to how much confidence it had given us.  A massive thanks to the 63 Car Club for allowing us the opportunity.  We’ll be back!

So then it was on to our first event proper since the Granite, the real thing, the Merrick.  Unfortunately due to my other half being at work, there was no access to a tow or service crew so I had to drive the rally car from Aberdeen to Newton Stewart.  A journey I can only describe as long.  The service crew of driver Dave Wright from Bentham offered to help us which was very kind of them, although, with the lack of spares and the drive home after, if anything happened it would be game over for us. 

We can only describe our day as awesome.  The elation at finishing our first event was unbelievable (although if you’ve seen the YouTube in car footage you may have some idea, sorry for the language).  We hung around at the prize giving as we weren’t heading home until the following day so wanted to support the event that had supported us.  Tucked in at the back we thought we were safe enjoying everyone else collect their awards.  It wasn’t until the “man of the rally” award was mentioned and they said it would be changed to “women” that we suddenly twigged… our mentality at driving the car from the North of Scotland, competing and then driving it home again hadn’t gone unnoticed.  So we gratefully received an award previously held by such greats as Colin McRae! A huge thank you to the Marshall family for all their generosity in helping us also.

We next went to perform “duties” at the Knockhill Festival of Speed.  I say “duties” as we basically had two days fun driving the circuit’s special stage with the Saltire Rally Club boys and girls and raising lots of charity awareness and quite a bit of funds for which we were extremely grateful. 

Our last official event of the year, and where we had a final push at fundraising, was the McRae Stages organised by Coltness Car Club.  We managed to sell a fair few raffle tickets by setting up in the signing on hall before the event after collecting some brilliant prizes from various sources. 

The rally itself was again fantastic. Errochty stood out for me as a fast and flowing stage, although there was one scary point on ss5 that obviously had some form of rally car magnet turned on as it was claiming cars by the dozen and causing carnage.  We made it past though, after a marshal slowed us down and we received ample warning from the start crews.  Unfortunately the rally car suffered damage on the penultimate stage after a rock kinked the fuel line and we went into the final stage feeling like we could go quicker if we ran.  And that’s saying something from the car with the lowest BHP on every event it does!  We coasted to the end and celebrated by heading across to Mull.  Again, a huge thanks to Coltness Car Club for all they did for us.

We ended the year having raised £2,500 for our chosen charities.  Thank you to EVERYONE who helped us and supported us. The incident at the start of the year really knocked us more than we can say, I think we could have raised more but we had to take things as they came for a while. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and you can’t change it, all you can do is learn and move on and be thankful for the positive things that arose from it.

Speaking of positive things, the next installment will be about this year and the new things we’re doing…stay tuned!

Rachel

Rally2Raise team secure support for SRC campaign

The Rally2Raise team have secured a sponsorship deal which will see them compete in several Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) events this season. The team’s Nissan Micra car will be supported by E.Watson and Son, a groundwork contracting business based in Stonehaven.

After a very successful debut season in 2012 when £2,500 was raised for four charities the team are using rallying to support two causes this year, the Nystagmus Network and the Bottle Stop campaign.

The team of driver Rachel Clark, from Aberdeen, and co-driver Katherine Begg, from Heysham, will start their SRC programme with the Granite City rally on 20th April.

“After the unfortunate events of last year’s Granite City rally we were determined to enter again,” said Clark. “The generous support of E.Watson and Son has enabled us to do that. We’ve got an ambitious plan to do five SRC events this year and the sponsorship has meant we are much nearer to achieving our goal.”

“By competing on the events we will continue the good work we did last year in supporting charities, especially as the two causes for this year are not commonly known – we aim to change that.”

Brian Watson of E.Watson and Son commented: “We’re delighted to support Rally2Raise, the team did really well with their fundraising last year and we’re happy that we can help them progress the project in 2013.”

The girls will be dying their hair a Rally2Raise red colour for the Granite City rally so look out for them and their distinctive yellow and blue Micra on the event!

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

Rally2Raise team aiming to compete in SRC

After a highly successful 2012 which saw £2,500 raised for four charities the Rally2Raise rally team are hoping to contest up to five rounds of the ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) this season to help continue their funds and awareness raising project.

For 2013 Rally2Raise is continuing its support of the Nystagmus Network and it will also raise awareness of the Bottle Stop campaign. Driver Rachel Clark, from Aberdeen, has already used the Rally2Raise Nissan Micra on two events this season, running as course car on the E.Watson and Son Coneyhatch rally sprint in January and the Edradour Saltire Classic rally in March. Fundraising for the Nystagmus Network has got off to a good start with over £250 raised from a raffle that was held at the Saltire.

After taking part in selected SRC rounds last year Clark and co-driver Katherine Begg, from Heysham, are aiming to contest five rounds this year starting with Clark’s home event, the Coltel Granite City rally in April.

“Rally2Raise did really well last year and thanks to all our supporters we raised £2,500 for the causes we were helping, hopefully we can do even better this year,” said Clark. “Ideally we’d like to do five SRC rounds but that will depend on us getting the budget together to enter the events.”

“We’re selling advertising space on the car and other promotional opportunities so if any company can help us please get in touch via rally2raise@gmail.com. Katherine and myself are planning on dying our hair bright red for the Granite City rally so we are sure to get noticed and get publicity! We’re also willing to sell advertising on our cheeks!”

More information on the project can be found at www.rally2raise.co.uk or www.facebook.com/rally2raise.

Rally2Raise team battle through to finish Saltire Classic rally

The Rally2Raise team travelled to Dunkeld last weekend to drive in the Saltire Classic Rally as part of the Saltire Rally Club’s generous support of the Rally2Raise project which this year is raising funds for the Nystagmus Network and raising awareness of the Bottle Stop campaign.
 
The popular event was based at the Birnam hotel and it attracted a full entry including some unusual rally cars such as an Austin Maxi and Fiat 127. The crews faced a challenging 95 mile route through some gorgeous scenery around Pitlochry and Loch Tummel which included 17 tests and three regularity sections.

The Rally2Raise Micra was running as “0” car ahead of the competitors with Rachel Clark driving and Gary Simpson, who is usually outside of the car photographing it, making his debut in the co-driver’s seat.

After a short road section the crew arrived at the first test which was like a mini-rally stage featuring a gravel road surface, several very slippery hairpins and a “stop-astride” finish on snow. The Micra successfully completed the test in a good time. Tests 2-5 also went well but ominous noises were heard coming from the engine bay in test 6, a test which also saw the Micra almost collide with a large bale on one particularly slippy section. At the end of the test the bonnet was lifted and it was found that the exhaust manifold had cracked.

With an hours rest halt after test 10 which would give the chance to make a temporary fix the crew decided to carry on at a reduced pace in the hope that the exhaust would not completely fall off. Test 7 was a run around a course in the grounds of event sponsor Edradour’s distillery with several whisky barrels to hit if you got it wrong but Clark and Simpson got through unscathed and headed through Pitlochry to tests 8, 9 and 10. The exhaust situation was getting worse with fumes filling the car but the crew managed to make it to the very picturesque lunch halt venue of Ardgualich Farm where the course car crew of Craig Wallace and Ryan Hay patched up the exhaust sufficiently to allow Micra to continue in the event.

“We were pleased to reach the lunch halt,” said Clark. “After looking at the exhaust following test 6 we were doubtful we’d make it that far. We’re very grateful to Craig and Ryan for their efforts in keeping us in the event.”

The afternoon section had another 7 tests and two regularity sections including a run across the mountain road north of Trinafour which was surrrounded by snow-capped peaks. Despite the exhaust problems returning in that latter stages of the rally the Micra successfully completed all the tests and made it to the finish.

“It was a brilliant event, we thoroughly enjoyed it. The tests were great fun and the road sections went through some absolutely fantastic scenery. We didn’t have any problems with the navigation despite it being Gary’s first time on the maps so that was good too!”

At the event finish the team organised a raffle to support the Nystagmus Network and £251 was raised. Event winners Noel Cochrane and Olly McCollum generously donated two bottles of Edradour for a future Rally2Raise raffle.

“Thanks to everyone who bought raffle tickets, we were amazed to raise so much. Thanks also to Colin Wallace and all at the Saltire Rally Club for their continued support of Rally2Raise.”

The team is hoping to contest the Coltel Granite City rally in April if a budget can be pulled together. Promotional opportunities with the team are available, please email rally2raise@gmail.com for further information. More information on the Rally2Raise project can be found at www.rally2raise.co.uk.

Rally2Raise team aiming for more success in 2013

After a very successful 2012 where £2,500 was raised for four charities the Rally2Raise project will continue in 2013.

The project, founded by Aberdeen's Rachel Clark, is using motorsport to raise funds and awareness for charitable causes and for this year the Nystagmus Network will once again be supported.

John Sanders of the Nystagmus Network said: "The Nystagmus Network funded research in Leicester University and Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2012. We helped more than 800 people directly by email and phone and thousands more through the support and information on our website.”

“We also published our ‘The Challenge of Nystagmus’ book and wrote a new ‘easy guide to nystagmus’ for teachers. All of these achievements were only possible thanks to the support of Rally2Raise and many other fundraisers and donors. We hope to do a lot more in 2013 and are really pleased that Rally2Raise continues to support us."

In addition Rally2Raise will help raise awareness of the Bottle Stop campaign, a campaign started by Jane Sherriff after her husband tragically died after being attacked and stabbed with a broken glass bottle at a corporate event In London. The aim of the campaign is to ban glass bottles from late night pubs and clubs.

Rally2Raise has already had a great start to the year with the news that the Saltire Rally Club have very generously agreed to continue their support, part of which will involve the Rally2Raise Micra running as course car on the popular Saltire Classic rally in March.

Colin Wallace of the Saltire Rally Club said: "The Saltire Rally Club were delighted to support Rally2Raise in 2012. We look forward to continuing our association in 2013 and contributing to the superb work of the nominated charities.”

Rachel is hoping to compete on selected Scottish Rally Championship events this year but her first event will be running as course car on the E.Watson and Son Coneyhatch rally time trial next Sunday.

Rachel commented: "I'm delighted that Rally2Raise was such a success last year and we are hoping to build on that this year. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported us, we raised far more than I expected and I think the awareness raising, particularly of the lesser known causes such as nystagmus, went really well."

"We have decided to continue to support the Nystagmus Network this year. My son suffers from nystagmus and I want to do all I can to help find a cure for it. We will also help raise awareness for Bottle Stop. Both myself and fellow Rally2Raise team member Katherine have seen the trauma due to glass incidents through our work. Jane has been through her worst nightmare in losing her husband and she has founded Bottle Stop to try and prevent more families from going through that pain. The cause really resonated with us.”

"I can't wait for the season to start, Stonehaven and District Motor Club have kindly let me run as course car on their time trial so that will be a good way to blow away the cobwebs. Hopefully we will be able to run on a few of the Scottish championship rounds again this year but that will depend on funding – if anyone can help with the costs of running the Rally2Raise Micra please get in touch via our website.”

For more information please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or follow the team on Facebook www.facebook.com/rally2raise and Twitter @rally2raise.

End of season success for Rally2Raise team

The Rally2Raise team of Aberdeen’s Rachel Medich and Morecambe’s Katherine Begg enjoyed a very successful end to their rally season when they won the fastest female crew award on the Colin McRae Forest Stages as well as finishing 43rd overall and 6th in class.

The Aberfeldy-based event started with the Craigvinean and Griffin stages and, with the exception of a near miss when half-spinning at a bridge in the opening stage, Rachel and Katherine had a clear run in their Clark Motorsport and DMACK Tyres-supported Nissan Micra 1300.

“The first two stage were pretty slippy so I concentrated on getting through unscathed,” said Rachel. “Despite this we almost hit a bridge in Craigvinean after the rear of the car slid around. Fortunately I got the car stopped just in time.”

After a service halt in Aberfeldy the crews headed to Errochty which, at over 13 miles, was the longest stage of the rally. Rachel and Katherine had another good run and moved 7 places up the leaderboard. Stages in Kindrogan and Black Craig were next and these proved to be very difficult with several crews retiring after going off the road or having mechanical problems. The Rally2Raise Micra powered through with no problems, even catching and passing a car in Black Craig.

“Errochty was my favourite stage of the event, it was great fun. Kindrogan went ok but Black Craig was extremely slippery and there were a few cars off the road so we took it fairly steady in there.”

The rally ended with a second Craigvinean stage. The Micra was very down on power and struggled to get up the hills in the stage but it got through the 11 miles of tracks and made it back to the event finish in Aberfeldy.

“The last stage was difficult for us, we do not have much power so we cannot afford to lose any. The car was spluttering and misfiring and the engine had no pull at all. I was relieved to get to the finish. We think it’s an issue with the fuel pressure so hopefully it can be sorted out. I was delighted to win the award for first female crew home, it’s a really nice way to end my first season as a driver.”

“Thanks to the organisers for the event entry and thanks also to everyone who supported the Rally2Raise charity raffle on Friday.”

Although competing is over for 2012 the Rally2Raise project continues with raffle tickets available from www.rally2raise.co.uk for the prize draw which will take place on 1st December at the SRC awards presentation night. The prize list now includes a large framed photograph signed by Sebastien Loeb, a subscription to Motorsport News, DVDs from Duke, loads of Tunnock’s products, a motorsport figurine from Out of Caricature, mugs from Motorsport Mugs and items signed by Colin McRae, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala. All proceeds from the raffle will go to the charities that Rally2Raise is supporting.

Please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or www.facebook.com/rally2raise for more information on the project.

Rachel ready for McRae Stages challenge

Rally2Raise team driver Rachel Medich is all set to complete her first season in the driving seat of her DMACK and Clark Motorsport-supported Nissan Micra 1300 at next weekend’s Colin McRae Forest Stages rally.

Rachel, from Aberdeen, and co-driver Katherine Begg are looking to build on their excellent finish in the Merrick Stages rally in early September with another good performance on the Aberfeldy-based event which is the final round of the Scottish Rally Championship.

To support the Rally2Raise project the event organisers, Coltness Car Club, have given the crew an entry to the rally which will help the team raise awareness of their supported charitable causes.

“It is extremely generous of the club to donate an entry to us,” said Rachel. “It’s a rally I have rescued on many times and it is amazing that I will be competing this year.”

“We’ll be aiming to get to the finish as we did on the Merrick, I’m still learning about driving and Katherine has only done one full event on the notes so we’re still beginners. It looks like the route will be very challenging so we’ll be delighted to arrive at the finish in Aberfeldy.”

The rally starts on Saturday morning with the crews facing 45 miles of competition in the forests of Perthshire.

As well as competing the team will be at rally headquarters on Friday (5th October) selling the popular “McRae: Rallying’s Most Spectacular Icon” bookazine as well as tickets to for the Rally2Raise raffle which includes items signed by WRC drivers, a subscription to Motorsport News, DVDs, mugs, a motorsport caricature figurine and framed photographs amongst its prizes.