Emily Easton-Page endured a frustrating day on the RSAC Scottish Rally, despite finishing tenth overall alongside Hugh Brunton.
The 2300 Club’s John Easson Award winner was a late call-up to navigate the Arbroath driver for the first time in his distinctive Skoda Fabia Rally2.
Despite the unfamiliarity, the pair got off to a great start on the morning stages, clocking seventh fastest in the Glengap opener.
But it all went wrong on the startline of SS4 in the afternoon, when a fuse blew on the windscreen wipers – just as the heavens opened.
Explained Emily: “The wipers died on us as we were about the set off.. Apparently, it’s not an uncommon fault as the fuse trips out.
“Hugh couldn’t reach the controls, so I was frantically pressing every button to see if they would come back on, and then we were flagged off onto the stage.
“I was busy trying to get the wipers going so couldn’t read the notes, and Hugh could barely see out in the torrential rain. We lost so much time in the stage, we were caught by the car behind us, although luckily we didn’t hold him up.
“It was really frustrating as we were on for a seventh place finish, in the end we had to settle for tenth.”
Despite the disappointment, Emily was quick to point out the positives from the day.
She said: “We enjoyed the day, and got on well in the car. It’s always difficult getting into a flow of reading the notes with a new driver, but Hugh soon felt very comfortable with pushing on in the stages with my pacenote delivery.
“When we got the finish, I asked Hugh if he would have me back, and he said ‘yes’, so that’s definitely a good result!”
Emily Easton-Page would like to thank
2300 Club John Easson Award
Motorsport UK Academy
Interim Results, Saturday Afternoon for Printing