Photo by JCCB Rally Photography
Gear selection problems cost Johnnie Mackay a potential top twenty finish on last weekend’s
RSAC Scottish Rally.
The reigning John Easson Award winner endured a frustrating day in the forests around Dalbeattie, with the issue appearing as early as stage two.
“We had a really good run through the first stage in Kinharvie, and I was feeling chuffed with our time, given we didn’t know the forest that well,” explained Johnnie, who had new co-driver Rachel Matheson alongside.
“But early into SS2 I went for fourth gear, and it simply wouldn’t engage. We had to make a quick decision, do we stop or try and keep going?
“With a service halt immediately after Ae, we decided to carry on and nurse the car to the end of the stage. The service crew soon established it wasn’t the gearbox, so we tried a few adjustments with the selector cables in the hope that that would work.”
A tentative run through the next stage at Dalbeattie saw the Evo7 still struggling with fourth gear, but Johnnie opted to keep going and try and get the car to the finish.
Despite dropping time throughout the day, Johnnie still finished third in class and 25th overall, less than a minute behind the 20th placed crew. A highly creditable result in the circumstances.
“Even with all the difficulties, I did quite enjoy the day. The Kilnhavie stage was very fast and Dalbeattie very technical, and running a reverse seeding, starting behind the two-wheel-drives was an interesting experience, especially in the afternoon as the stages began to cut up,” added Johnnie.
“It was great as well to see the marshalling team from the 2300 Club on the Ae stage. I’d like to thank them for coming up to support me and the rally, hopefully I can put on a better show for them next time!”
*Johnnie and Rachel will be back in action on August 12 for round six of the SRC, the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally.
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
