Photo by Alan Scott
THIRD in class and 27th overall was Johnnie Mackay’s reward for an excellent performance on the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally.
Even a puncture halfway through the rally failed to deflate the John Easson Award winner, who produced a storming drive on the last stage of the day to clock 16th fastest in his Mitsubishi Evo7.
“I’m pretty happy with how the day went. The first two stages went to plan, but we picked up a puncture three miles into the Drumtochty North ten-miler, and although we opted to carry on, we still lost around 40 seconds,” explained Johnnie, who was co-driven by Rachel Matheson.
“That put us out of contention for the class win, but on the plus side, driving on the rim for seven miles didn’t damage the car.
“I think at that point we decided to give the last stage, Lairds Ley, a real go with a heads-down, properly focused drive. We were conscious of needing to get the car home in one piece, but even driving at 90 per cent has given me a good insight into just what the car is capable of. I felt very comfortable behind the wheel too, which bodes well for the future.”
Round seven of the Scottish Rally Championship, the Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally, takes place on September 16, and after a mechanically trouble-free run, Johnnie has only a very short job list in preparation.
He said: “A quick spanner check and a wash and we’re ready to go!”
Johnnie Mackay would like to thank his supporters
2300 Club John Easson Award
ISS Aberdeen Ltd
Kewtech
Vans4u Aberdeen
Strathdon Solutions
GPM
Stark Motorsport
Pirelli Motorsport
Andrew Wood Motorsport
DamperTek
