Blasting Magic SSVRC Round up
Welcome to this edition of SSVRC news, bringing you the 2025 round up of the Glenrothes MSC supported, Blasting Magic sponsored Scottish Single Venue Rally Championship.
We have had tremendous co support for this seasons Championship from McIntyre Masonry, JW Electrical (Fife), Motorwise rescue & recovery, Mercury Motorsport, Airtec, Y- MAC Engineering, Engine 710, Onestop and MAC GRP signs & graphics.
Many thanks to all those who have supported the championship this season.
Knockhill Race Circuit hosted the 2025 season opener, the Border Access Knockhill stages, organised by Border Ecosse Car Club. Ten stages, of some 40 miles over the Fife circuit.
Class F:
Last years SSVRC 1400 cc class winners James and Rebecca Wilson were once again out in the Mg ZR. The siblings finished up the day a very creditable 30th overall to take maximum class points in the championship.
Connor Black and Duncan Daun were back together in the unusual Mazda 323. They finished a very creditable 2nd in the class.
Andrew Milne and father Gordon didn’t have an entry for the season opener,so didn’t get any points on the board.
Class E:
Previous SSVRC winner Des Campbell, with Rhys Donaldson in the Peugeot 206 took the class win.
Dave McIntyre, with unregistered Cammy Dunn in the C2 R2, chased all day ending up 2nd in class.
Colin Hay and Jess Jamieson in the Corsa finished 3rd in class.
Drew Barker and Shona Hale in their Corsa had some misfortune, with a loss of brakes and a spin on the first stage. In Service they discovered a collapsed wheel bearing and a damaged hub ending their day.
Paul Murdoch in the Mk2 Escort alongside non Championship contender Nicola Wareham, had a small engine fire in service after stage 1 which ended the days rallying after just one stage.
Liam Harvey and Chris Wareham in their usual 1600 cc Zetec Fiesta. The pair had some mechanical issues throughout the rally including braking two driveshafts. They did however gain some much needed Championship points finishing 4th in Class.
The beautiful two door Hillman Avenger GT of Kenny Moore, with Fiona Moir in the silly seat always looked to be going well. They put in a good performance finishing 5th in class.
Class D:
Father and son crew Graeme and Jim Rintoul in the Fiesta ST, the pair having some issues with an intermittent misfire they did however finish just inside the top 20 in 19th overall, 1st in class.
Wattie Warwick from Mull and Darrell Clark in their Peugeot 206 GTI finished the rally 2nd in class.
Class C:
The battle of the Mk2 Escorts, as Alistair Crawford and navigator Greg Halfpenny were joined in another Mk2 by Kenneth Dalgliesh and Andrew Side fighting for SSVRC class honours. Crawford/ Halfpenny came out on top finishing one class place in front.
Class B:
Imprezas were still the weapon of choice in Class B, Joe McKeand with navigator Charlotte McDowell were seeded at 9 and finished the rally 7th overall. And 1st in class. Bobby MacDonald and navigator Martin McCabe finished 2nd in class.
Kames Motorsport Complex, on the outskirts of Muirkirk in East Ayrshire played host to round two of the 2025 SSVRC. The Mayfield Garage Services supported Kames Spring Stages.
A total of 14 stages were on offer to the crews, with a total stage mileage of approximately 17 miles.
Class F:
Andrew and Gordon Milne were the only championship entrants in the class. The Suzuki Swift GTI was driven effectively and neatly all day. They finished 15th overall, and managed to take the championship class win.
Class E:
Liam Harvey was once again joined by the evergreen Chris Wareham in the Fiesta Mk7. The pair were going well throughout the day. Things seemed to be coming together for the pairing. they finished a very creditable 7th overall, 1st in the championship class.
Paul Murdoch and Nicola Wareham had an enjoyable rally in the 1600 crossflow powered Mk2 escort. Seeded at 15 the crew finished 10th overall, 2nd in the championship class.
Colin Hay was once again joined by Jess Jamieson in the silly seat of the Corsa B.. Seeded at 11 that’s exactly where the crew finished the day, 3rd in the championship class.
Colin and Pauline Blake were back out together in the Mini, the crew sadly missing round one at Knockhill. Seeded 18th the husband and wife crew finished the rally 13th overall, 4th in the championship class.
Class D:
David Telfer, in only his 4th ever rally, was partnered by young navigator Hayden (Broony) Brown in the Mk2 Escort. The crew used the car to great effect, finishing 3rd overall, 2nd in the championship class.
Graeme Rintoul, once again with Father Jim on the notes put in yet another solid consistent performance throughout the day. The pair in their mk5 Fiesta ST150 had a trouble free run. Seeded 8th that was exactly where the father and son duo ended up, 4th overall and 3rd in the championship class.
Stephen Donnelly and navigator Colin McCall had a pretty good day at the office in the historic spec Escort RS1800. Stephen used that car to its full potential with a dominant drive to take 2nd overall, 1st in class D and 1st in the championship class.
Class C:
Duncan Ferguson and Jamie McQue were out together in the glorious looking Vauxhall Chevette, with its wide arch HSR panel work and Iconic Andrew’s Heat for Hire livery. Seeded at 9 in only the pairs 2nd event in the car, they finished 9th overall, 2nd overall in SSVRC and 1st in the championship class.
Crail airfield in the East Neuk of Fife hosted the competitors of the SSVRC for round three, the KVR Motorsport sponsored summer stages, organised by GMSC.
Approximately 60 miles, with 6 stages, run over the fast and flowing airfield runways and perimeter roads were planned for the crews to tackle. Unfortunately two separate red flags on the first stage (after two crews rolled) resulted in stage one being cancelled.
It was looking likely that stage six was in jeopardy too with a five o’clock curfew. Luckily the curfew was extended slightly, and with a bit of juggling of the service and changeover times the last stage was able to be run unabated.
The event was, as usual, extremely hard on cars, resulting in a high attrition rate. Only 40 of the 60 senior crews made it to the finish, many of those that fell by the wayside had transmission problems.
Unusually for Crail the weather was dry and warm, one could have been forgiven for thinking that it was actually summer at times…..
Class F:
James and Rebecca Wilson in the 1400 cc MG ZR suffered a snapped shaft, the result an unfortunate DNF for the local crew.
Connor Black, with unregistered Duncan Daun alongside on the notes, were seeded at 55in the venerable Mazda 323. Connor ended up netting some useful SSVRC points, 9th overall and 2nd in class.
Andrew Milne with father Gordon navigating in the Suzuki Swift. They ended the day 8th overall and 1st in class in the SSVRC. Gordon 7th overall and more problems with the throttle body he decided to retire.
Liam Harvey and Chris Wareham were back out in the 1600 cc Mk7 Fiesta. The pair were going well, until unfortunate engine failure on stage 5 resulted in retirement.
Kenny Moore and Fiona Moir in the beautiful Avenger GT collected another batch of championship points. Kenny finished with an impressive 7th overall and 3rd in class, Fiona taking 6th overall and 3rd in class.
Drew Barker and Shona Hale, they finished 5th overall and 1st in class within the SSVRC, Shona 5th overall and 2nd in class.
Des Campbell and Rhys Donaldson, in their Peugeot 206, seeded at 7 finished the day 5th overall, both taking maximum championship points in the SSVRC.
Class D:
Graeme and Jim Rintoul in car 24 were going well all day in their Fiesta ST, until the last stage. When about a mile and a half before the finish they run out of fuel. An unlucky way not to finish a rally, but luckily no damage to anything other than pride and championship points.
Kevin Paris and father George in the Mk2 Escort, car 42 won the prestigious Tam Ness trophy for best GMSC crew. Unfortunately the crew were only eligible for restricted class Championship points due to lack of entries in the class. Kev, however netted 2nd overall in the Championship and 1st in class.
Class C:
Stephen Donnelly and navigator Colin McCall were seeded at 33 in the historic spec Escort RS1800. They have had issues with the ZF gearbox since a recent rebuild, trouble reared its head again so Stephen decided to withdraw rather than cause any more damage.
Duncan Ferguson, once again with Jamie McQue alongside on the notes, put in a great performance in the fabulous Andrew’s Heat For Hire liveried Chevette. Seeded at 33 the duo went onto win the coveted hard charger award.Duncan was 3rd overall and 2nd in the SSVRC, Jamie 3rd overall and 1st in class.
Class B:
Hayden Broony Brown was in the silly seat of car 36, alongside unregistered Ross Cree in his GC8 Impreza. Unfortunately transmission issues ended their day.
Joe McKenand and Charlotte MacDowell seeded at 9th also suffered gearbox failure after stage 4 in their Subaru, again unfortunately ending their day.
Bobby MacDonald with usual navigator Martin McCabe ended 4th overall in the Championship and 1st in class. Martin, finishing 4th overall and 2nd in the class.
Andrew Side enjoyed his first ever visit to Crail navigating for unregistered Ross Chalmers in the Impreza. The pair finishing an impressive 7th overall and 1st in class.
Machrahanish air force base, in Argyle and Bute, hosted rounds four and five of the SSVRC. Just under 100 stage miles, over twelve stages, and two days were on offer to the crews.
Class F:
James and Rebecca Wilson had misfortune in the MG ZR, with a catastrophic engine failure putting them out of the points.
Gordon Milne managed to secure 10 useful points with Marshalling duties over the weekend.
Class E:
Liam Harvey, once again joined by Chris Wareham on the notes had a good rally, netting a haul of points taking the class win.
Kenny Moore and Fiona Moir took 2nd in class in the Avenger GT.
Des Campbell and Rhys had an uncharacteristic retirement.
Colin Hay with Jess Jamieson too had issues and a non finish in their Corsa.
Class D:
Stephen Donnelly and Colin McCall took Class honours in the Mk2 Escort.
Wattie Warrick and Darrell Clark took 2nd in class in their Peugeot 206 GTI.
Class C:
Duncan Ferguson was another competitor that failed to finish at Mach 1 in his Chevette.
Class B:
Cameron and Eilidh Williamson in the Impreza took 1st in class.
Joe McKeand, with unregistered Derek Keir on the notes was 2nd in class.
Bobby MacDonald and Martin McCabe were 3rd in class in their Subaru.
Kames Motorsport Complex, on the outskirts of Muirkirk in East Ayrshire played host to round six of the 2025 SSVRC. The April Blair Motorsport supported Kames Summer Stages.
A total of 14 stages were on offer to the 15 SSVRC registered competitors, with a total stage mileage of approximately 13 miles.
Unfortunately all crew were only eligible for restricted class Championship points due to lack of SSVRC entries.
Class F:
Andrew and Gordon Milne were the only championship entrants in class F, The Suzuki Swift GTI was driven effectively and neatly all day. The father and son crew were happy how things were going reporting no problems. They were seeded 17th and finished 7th overall, 1st in class.
Class E:
Liam Harvey was once again joined by Chris Wareham in the Fiesta Mk7. Seeded at 10 they finished a very creditable 5th overall, 1st in class.
Colin and Pauline Blake were back out together in the Mini. Seeded 12th the husband and wife crew finished the rally 9th overall, 2nd in class.
In Class D David Telfer, was partnered once again by young navigator Hayden (Broony) Brown in the baby blue Mk2 Escort. The pair had some trouble throughout the day with brakes. Seeded 5th the pair finished 4th overall 2nd in class.
Stephen Donnelly and navigator Colin McCall were once again out together in the lovely Historic Mk2, they were seeded 3rd that’s exactly where the finished overall and 1st in class.
Father and son Graeme and Jim Rintoul in the Fiesta ST had trouble with a crank sensor and had another unfortunate DNF.
Andrew Side was navigating for unregistered Nick Stafford in his Subaru Impreza GD, the pair finish 8th overall in the SSVRC and 1st in class B
Kenny Dalgliesh, with unregistered navigator Scott Wightman alongside, in his Mk2 Escort finished 2nd overall and 2nd in class C.
Duncan Ferguson and Jamie McQue were out together again in the Vauxhall Chevette. Not only did the car look great it was going even better all day! The pair took a well deserved SSVRC win in an impressive, quick and committed performance.
2025 SSVRC Award Winners
1st overall driver: Liam Harvey
1st overall navigator: Andrew Side
2nd overall driver: Stephen Donnelly
2nd Overall navigator: Haydon Brown
3rd overall driver: Bobby MacDonald
3rd overall navigator: Chris Wareham
1st in Class F Driver: Andrew Milne
1st in Class F Navigator: Gordon Milne
2nd Class F Driver: Connor Black
2nd Class F Navigator: Rebecca Wilson
1st in Class E Driver: Des Campbell
1st in Class E Navigator: Rhys Donaldson
2nd Class E Driver: Kenny Moore
2nd Class E Navigator: Fiona Moir
1st Class D Driver: David Telfor
1st Class D Navigator: Colin McCabe
2nd Class D Driver: Graeme Rintoul
2nd Class D Navigator Jim Rintoul
1st GMSC Crew Andrew and Gordon Milne
The Championship awards ceremony for this year’s championship is 8th November at 730pm at The Laurel Bank Hotel, Markinch, Fife.
We look forward to seeing as many competitors and sponsors from this years SSVRC as possible to celebrate.
