Crash claims media team on Colin McRae Forest Stages
The Castrol/ProSpeed team succumbed to wet and treacherous conditions on the hills around Perth when Sky Sports presenter Tony Jardine and his guest co-driver, Motor Sport Magazine editor Damien Smith, smashed into the rocks on the notorious Errochty test during the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally (Saturday 3 October).
Smith was competing on the event in order to settle unfinished business, having retired on his rally debut with Jardine on the Swansea Bay Rally a year earlier. The lure of the famous McRae name drew him to make his return in Scotland. On a rally in which even newly-crowned Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) Champion Kris Meeke failed to finish, and a crew had to be cut out of their Vauxhall Nova on the first stage of the day, Jardine and Smith were frustrated by disruptions and ever-changing conditions. Smith said, “After a difficult start to our rally we began to settle down to a good pace on the second stage, Drummond Hill, only for a red flag caused by a rolled Escort Mk II to stop us in our tracks. We got back into a rhythm on the next stage only for a fast left-hander to catch Tony out. It was disappointing not to make the finish but once again the ProSpeed team have given me an experience I will never forget.” Jardine said, “The Colin McRae Stages was a very challenging event, just as the great man himself would have wished. Damien had his hands full trying to navigate and call the pace notes as the scenery and surface changed so rapidly in the pouring rain and team technician Andy Beale had to lower the pressures on our Kumho tyres to give us better grip in the mud. “During the weekend we even got into trouble with the law at one point after a couple of navigational misdemeanours caused us to be escorted back to the service area by two police motorcycle patrol men! I reckon Damien was relieved when we crashed out as his purgatory was over!”
ProSpeed boss Olly Marshall said after the long rescue operation to retrieve the stricken Castrol Fiesta from the remote Scottish hills late on Saturday night, “Tony doesn’t often crash. He and Damien had finally got into their stride after all the disruptions and they were pushing a bit too hard, as often happens in rallying. We were relieved that they were both uninjured, and the car will live to fight another day.” The Castrol / ProSpeed team will be back in action on the Cheviot Rally when Tom Cary, from the Daily Telegraph, resumes his co-driving duties in two weeks time.
