First ever event win kicks off Chris Collie’s season on the Grant Construction Stages at Knockhill on the 4th January
Chris Collie had headed to Knockhill for the Grant Construction Knockhill Stages Rally looking to shakedown the car ahead of the start of the 2014 Scottish Rally Championship. The weather was changeable all day making tyre selection crucial, however, Chris did not have Intermediate tyres which, on reflection, he thinks would have been the ideal choice.
With a quality field entered, Chris was seeded at car 3. The first stage was slippery on the outskirts of the track and after a few ‘moments’ the “cobwebs” were dusted off, and Chris managed to post the quickest time and jumped straight into the event lead.
From there, the day went very well. Spins on stages 4 and 5 saw the loss of some time, however Chris managed to stay ahead of the chasing pack. With the weather turning to rain and then snow, there was a change to full wet compound tyres which initially, made the car a handful in the tricky conditions, however Chris’s determination allowed him to avoid any major incidents and to maintain his lead.
With the win in sight, Chris managed to hold off the challenge of the following competitors, who were only seconds behind, to take the victory. A good result with Chris recording his first ever outright win and a great start to the 2014 season!
At the end of the event Chris was quick to thank his stand in navigator for the day, Quintin Milne, and to thank Tim Finch and the guys at TF Rallyesport for preparing and looking after the car!
With one sponsor, Titan Torque, confirmed for the 2014 SRC season, Chris has shown what he is capable of.
Stuart Walker, in his Evo 8, was a close second to Chris and was followed, in third place overall, by Lee Hastings in his Impreza.
Steven Hay took class One honours in his Corsa in front of James Thomson and Alison Woodcock in their Nova.
Class Two winner was Iain Wilson in his Nova with John and Nick Rintoul finishing second in their Skoda Fabia.
Class Three was taken by Ross Hunter in his Peugeot 205, with the Honda of Graeme Schoneville following in second place.
Class Four was an all Escort finish with Gary Adam followed by Ross Marshall
Class Five finished with the Evo of Gerry Gaffney first followed by the Subaru of Stuart Paterson
