2008 Moonshine Rally Report

5 December 2008

John and Amanda Lindsay took a clear victory in Queen's University Motor Club's Moonshine Rally.  They had to fight for the win, for the husband and wife crew reached the half way halt in 5th place in their Austin Mini.

The rally was held on a crisp clear December night, with the competitors always weary of the threat of ice.  A wide variety of cars left the Killyleagh start venue, ranging from an MG Midget to an Alfa 145 and from a Porsche 924 to a Nissan Micra.  The half way leaders were Ronnie and Aaron Mitchell in their Sierra XR4x4 on one mark.  The Mitchells had two bad sections in the second half to drop them down the field.  Philip Sommerville and Russell Allen took over at the head of field, but quickly went completely wrong, missing two successive controls to scupper their winning chances.  Shakeel Huq and Alison McAleese threatened to take over the lead, but they went wrong on the last section to leave victory to the Lindsays.

The Beginners class was won by Philip Campbell and Victoria Greer, who were on their first rally after graduating from the University Motor Club's rally school.

It normally takes several rallies before a navigator can start to challenge for overall victories, but to her credit, this was only Amanda's third rally, and her first in three years.  The win also marked a rare double in that John, who regularly navigates in the Northern Ireland championship, has now won a navigation rally from both sides of the car.