Home News Knockhill Grant Construction Rally Stages ’17

Knockhill Grant Construction Rally Stages ’17

February. The warmest, sunniest month in Scotland. Shorts on, taps aff. Bliss. That’s what i tell myself every year we head up to Knockhill for their annual rally stages. Stood there with a wooly hat on, scarf, gloves, 4 layers of underwear and 2 pairs of socks, i’ve just about convinced myself i won’t lose any extremities before the day is out.

It’s snowing when we arrive and it’s icy. So icy, in fact, that the start time has been moved back an hour. Result. Especially when you’ve just moved further south and have a bit of a reputation for sleeping in (HighlandHoon ’11, never forget). Thankfully there’s a full and utterly varied entry list yet again. Ford Ka, Peugeot 206, Novas, Imprezas, Evos, Fiestas, Micras, Escorts, S2000 Skoda Fabia, Hyundai Accent WRC, the lot.

List of entries : https://www.rallies.info/webentry/2017/knockhill/entries.php?type=u

There was even an eRally Renault Zoe which we’ll be bringing you more on very soon.

The 8 stages are laid out to take in the full length of the track, off up onto the hill and back around into the carpark. Overall there’s almost 35 miles of tarmac, mud, gravel and snow to play in and the entrants made sure to use every inch available. It makes you wince when you’re watching a Mk2 Escort come over the top of Duffus, spin backwards and take out a line of cones. It makes you cheer when they knock it back into first, sling the back end round and tear off down the straight.

That’s what makes rallying, and especially special stage rallying like this, so much fun to watch. From anywhere around the track you can see 2 or 3 cars at a time racing against themselves, the clock and quite often one another as they slide door handle to door handle into the hairpin/chicane/crest. It’s always maximum attack and due to the variety of cars and driver experience, it’s always maximum excitement. You don’t even notice the cold. Throttle bodies rasping, straight cut boxes whining, random pieces of bodywork flailing in the wind. Magic.

Wandering around the service area you get up close and personal with each and every team, from the “2 man in a van” single entries right up to the garaged teams with more cars than drivers by the looks of it. They’ve all got plenty of tea on the go and they’re all more than happy for you to get as good a look at their pride and joy as you like, save for staying out their way to let them do their job. The mechanic in me enjoys this side of it as much as the actual driving. There’s something special about a car with interior the same colour as the exterior, white wheels, 2 seats and a cage. The subtleties of an engine and box inched back and lower in the bay with a minimum of ancillaries. It just all screams focus. Lighter, faster, more nimble. Everyone should at least get a passenger ride in a rally car before they die. Wonderful machines.

The action continued right throughout the day and on into dusk with the weather constantly changing and claiming a couple of retirals. Highlight of the day was watching Bob Grant and John Rintoul in the Hyundai Accent WRC, flat everywhere. closely followed by Tom Blackwood and Gordon Winning in the yellow Escort. That thing looks majestic going sideways. And Stuart Walker with Lewis Brown in the Skoda S2000. And Ross Hunter and Callum Atkinson in the Peugeot 205.

Full results from the day are listed here : https://www.ewrc-results.com/final.php?e=38490&t=Grant-Construction-Knockhill-Stages-2017

If you’ve never been to a rally before, go. Don’t think about it, just head along with a friend and a thermos and enjoy yourself. The bug might even bite hard enough you want to have a go for yourself. Knockhill do a variety of taster sessions for you to try your hand at becoming the next Gigi Galli. Expect to see how we get on soon.

Previous articleVolvo V90 Cross Country and R-Design – Review and Test Drive
Next article2017 Car Launches at Geneva Motorshow
Grease monkey, test driver and bald.