Whisky Chaser

 

Sponsorship by a distillery group may seem inappropriate, but it makes the Classic Malts Scottish Six Day Trial unforgettable for all the right reasons, says Malcolm McKay Historic rallying has come a long way since the first tentative Coronation and Monte Carlo retrospectives of the late Eighties. Now there are hundreds of active events for classic cars, ranging from gentle drives through the country to flat-out full-roll-cage forest stages and even endurance drives around the world. The Classic Malts Scottish Six Day Trial combines a week of driving the most beautiful roads in Scotland and visiting the most fascinating places with serious competition, both flat-out driving tests and average speed regularity tests. Cars are divided into age; body type and engine size categories, and then scored only against others in their class, ensuring everyone stands a chance of doing well.

Drinking whisky, of course, is strictly forbidden during the day – but the sponsors make up for this with spectacular hospitality the rest of the time, including a day off at Talisker distillery on Skye with the chance to take a helicopter ride over Skye and a boat trip out from the distilleryís glorious lochside location, explore the mysteries of whisky making and dance the night away at a traditional Ceilidh in a marquee by the sea. The rally finished with a ëminií Edinburgh Tattoo, the pipes and drums of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders serenading the rally crews at Edinburgh Castle at a breathtaking evening reception. It was a stunning finale to a week of faultless sunshine, as evening mist drifted in to cloak the castle in a ghostly glow.


  When taking old cars on a historic rally that is intended to be an endurance test for car as well as crew, covering 1700 miles including a fair amount of hard driving, bumpy roads and steep mountain passes, some mechanical failures are inevitable even with the best-prepared cars. My own entry, a Triumph TR2, finished the rally with a piece of scaffold pipe where there should have been bearings in the steering box. With MGs entered ranging from two TAs to a C roadster, some problems were to be expected.

 Still, all but two made it to the finish. Carol Willis and Robin Clark succumbed to a ëtiredí big end in their 1952 TD less than half way through the first day, but they joined the marshalling team for the rest of the rally and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. For Peter Wallis and Vic Quayle in the sole MGC, the responsibility of upholding MG honours against six Austin-Healey 3000s proved too much. Having mastered a steep learning curve in which they lost their gold medal chance by being too slow on the first test of the first day (as did many others), they recovered to set fastest class time at Rannoch School, later in the day. But on the third day they slid into a wall, damaging the front suspension; they, too, went on to join the marshalling teams.

German journalists Hans-Jorg Gotzl and Norbert Kappes drove the 1939 MG TA of hire company Hooters	Denis and Penny Robson in their 1957 ZB Magnette enjoy the glorious, deserted roads of the north West Coast of Scotland
Guido and Barbara Reinking in the 1958 ZB Magnette clock in at a typical regularity timing point	Far north: the remains of an historic Scottish broch look down as the TF passes on the road to Cape Wrath

 Not all entrants took a highly competitive approach to the rally – for many, it was a holiday that gave them the chance to see parts of Scotland youíd never normally find and to enjoy exceptional hospitality from sponsors Classic Malts, in company with fellow enthusiasts and other beautiful cars.

The results? Andreas Hodeige and Matthias Weckesser in the 1969 MGB roadster were MG stars, winning their class against Alfa, Porsche and Lotus opposition and collecting the Best German entry award and a Silver medal.

Just one error and one slow test prevented them taking home a Gold. Denis and Penny Robson in the 1957 ZB Magnette and Mike and Elaine Pickersgill in the MGA 1600 MkII also won Silver medals and finished second in their classes, while German journalists Hans-Jorg Gotzl and Norbert Kappes in the 1939 MG TA hired from Hooters and Guido and Barbara Reinking in their 1958 ZB Magnette took home Bronze medals.

Blue ribands for visiting every major control went also to Peter and Marilyn Benzing in the 1955 TF1500, to the Norwegian ladiesí team, Randi Asbjornsen and Kristen Andresen in the 1966 MGB roadster and to Simon Clarke/John Mallin in the 1974 MGB roadster. Dr Neil Coutts and Douglas Wilson in the oldest MG, a 1936 TA, collected finishersí medals, as did John and Eileen Barr in a 1972 MGB roadster, each having failed to make it to just one main control on the week-long event.

Entrants from total novices to those with 25 years’ rallying experience proclaimed the event superbly organised, the roads unbeatable and the scenery unsurpassed: many have already taken entries on next yearís event.