2300 Club John Easson Award winner Mark McCulloch and co-driver Craig Wallace survived treacherous and unpredictable conditions to achieve their target of a Top 30 finish on the recent Arnold Clark Thistle Hotel Snowman Rally, the opening round of the Hankook MSA Scottish Championship.
Mark, competing on only his second event in a recently acquired Subaru Impreza following a switch from last season's Vauxhall Corsa, ended the day a very creditable 25th overall.
He said it had been a "day of attrition" for the David Hardie Engineering backed team, but thoroughly enjoyable, nonetheless.
"We started the first stage Meall Mor in fine form – the tyres we got hold of were an open gravel type which seemed to work well in the soft snow. But on the second stage, Millbuie, there was sheet ice everywhere. After a "900 straight", we overshot one junction by about 200 yards – luckily there was nothing sitting in the way, and then 200 yards from the end there was a "left 7" which was just sheet ice and we went off into a banking. We lost roughly two minutes on that stage alone".
The John Easson Award supported duo re-grouped, and Mark said he was delighted with the remainder of the event.
"Stage 3 was great fun because we got back onto the gravel – for about three miles – and it was phenomenal. I can't wait until the Border Counties because the car is excellent in gravel. You can just throw it into the corners, and it drifts round so nicely compared to what you can do in a front-wheel-drive car".
The Newton Stewart based driver said they were now aiming for a top 25 finish on the Brick & Steel Border Counties on March 20th.
