Junior 1000 Ecosse: Deer collision caps difficult day for Jack

Castletown driver Jack Ryan had a day to forget when he travelled to Kinloss at the weekend for round seven of the Junior 1000 Ecosse challenge.

He and his navigator Robin Nicolson had a series of setbacks in the race itself, and on his way home Jack was involved in a collision with a deer. His car looked worse for wear but thankfully Jack was said to have emerged relatively unscathed.

Jack and Robin were among 17 crews competing in the Autosave Components Autumn Stages Rally. The Kinloss event offered something different for the junior crews with no splits or merges, and the feeling was that the stages were even faster than at the airfield venues of Crail and Machrihanish.

Leading from start to finish were Rian Walker and Stuart McBride. Stuart was feeling unwell on a couple of the stages, leaving Rian to drive unassisted, but the Citigo was fastest on five of the six stages on the way to victory by 24 seconds.

Oliver Phillips and Barry Young were second throughout, with Oliver topping things off with a fastest time on the last stage.

It was a tough day for Jack and Robin in the Volkswagen Up. On the first loop they had a jammed rear brake and an argument with a chicane. That left them in third place and they stayed there for the rest of the day, despite some grassy moments.

Ollie Forrester and George Myatt finished fourth in their Citigo, ahead of the Nissan Micra of Thomas Milne and Neil Jeffrey.

Jack is second behind Oliver in the standings in the season-long championship for drivers aged 14-17.

Round eight sees a second visit of the year to Crail airfield for the Kingdom Stages on November 4.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.