Eighteen entries for Solway Car Club’s first Grass Autotest of the year, with the kind permission of the Graham family at Irelandton Farm near Twynholm on Sunday.
With a wet start making things rather tricky for the competitors to find the best lines, but were soon getting the hang of things with more grip as runs progressed.
In Class 1: The 2021 Club Champion Rab Henderson was quick out of the blocks in the Rover, closely chased by Aaran Ferguson in the Nissan with Grant Carson hot on their tail. A mistake by Aaran on test four hitting a cone dropped him back a bit, but still in front of Grant, leaving Rab to take the class and overall win.
In class 2: The usual class battle between Richard Dickson and Thomas McCarney continued in their Micras, with Richard taking the upper hand to start, but Thomas fighting back – but was not enough and under a second separating them at the finish. Their Wives Nancy and Karen having much the same kind of battle for third, with Karen coming up on top on this one.
In Class 4: The RWD lads found it real tricky on the first few tests, with Craig Smith in his MX5 finding the best grip and lines to take the class from Ian Gemmell in the RWD Fiesta with Hal Renwick in the shared MX5.
In Class 5: The buggies of Mark & Michael McCornick were struggling with the power on the slippy surface, but so enjoyed themselves on their first Solway event, with Mark taking the win.
Results
Class 1 1st Rab Henderson 417.22 2nd Aaron Fergu 426.23 3rd Grant Carson 434.50
Class 2 1st Richard Dickson 418.66 2nd Thomas McCarney 418.90 3rd Karen McCarney 442.44
Class 4 1st Craig Smith 544.23 2nd Iain Gemmell 587.17 3rd Hal Renwick 610.06
Class 5 1st Mark McCornick 565.58 2nd Michael McCornick 575.88
For full results go to solwaycarclub.co.uk
So nice to see some old and new faces at this event, with Ashley Thomson & Jack Gaffney enjoying their very first taste of Grass Autotesting.
After 6 runs, just 1.68 seconds separated the Top 3 finishers, with Rab Henderson taking the Overall win, closely followed by Richard Dickson and Thomas McCarney.
Thanks go to the Graham family again for the venue, to Norman & Leah Gowans for Timing & Results, to Andrew & Nancy for Marshalling, to Albert & Richard for Organising, and to all that helped set up and tidy up at the finish.