Jardine impresses in IRC Rally of Scotland (From This Is Local London)

Jardine impresses in IRC Rally of Scotland

3:56pm Wednesday 25th November 2009

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Twickenham’s Tony Jardine and co-driver Tom Cary finished in 18th place overall at the IRC Rally of Scotland last weekend, completing 12 gruelling stages over three days.

32 entrants started out at Scone Palace in Perthshire (19 November), with the treacherous conditions then claiming many cars the following day on the muddy Craigvinean and Drummond Hill stages.

A broken drive shaft from the numerous pot holes lost Jardine and Cary valuable time at the start of the second day, but due to the hard work of the ProSpeed team and the hardiness of the Castrol Fiesta, an elated Cary could complete his mission and cross the finish line at Stirling Castle on Saturday night (21 November).

Wandsworth based Cary started his training to become a co-driver back in July of this year, and said after Rally Scotland: “I was a little anxious coming into the weekend, especially after the recce.

"It was horrible weather and it looked as if it was going to be very muddy and slippery for the event, which it was. We had the drive shaft problem first thing on Friday; we were going well at the time, had a good rhythm and it just killed us and lost us about eight minutes.

"Because of that, looking at the overall leader board was quite frustrating as we were actually faster than three or four other cars in Saturday’s stages but just couldn’t claw back any positions due to the final stage, stage 13, having to be cancelled.

“Rally Scotland has been a big step up for me from the national rallies we have been doing - the time controls, re-grouping, the weighing of the cars, the whole thing has just been on another level.”

Following the inaugural Rally of Scotland, driver and Twickenham businessman Jardine was full of praise for the event and his navigator. He said: “As far as I’m concerned Rally Scotland is a feat in itself, it’s an incredible event.

"It’s got the most awe-inspiring scenery and is one of the most adventurous and punishing rallies. We just had to keep the car going despite a broken drive shaft, broken uprights and broken suspension arms, it was a question of patching the Fiesta up all the time.

"Tom has done a fantastic job. He had no intercom on one of the stages in the dark, guided us home successfully, and has been cool and calm throughout.

"Getting to the finish was a great achievement and down to the hard work of Tom and the ProSpeed team.”

In just under three months time the Castrol / Daily Telegraph team will be reunited once again, this time for the opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship – Rally Sweden.

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