The Sir Jackie Stewart Classic at Thirlestane Castle.
Well that was nothing short of PHENOMENAL.
It started on Friday with Rab and Andrew slaving over a hot gazebo setting up and fettling our PIER BRASSERIE Audi S3. Rab was entered into the Sprint and the boss gave him only 1 job to do... beat John Cleland in his 90s BTCC Vauxhall. Joking apart Racing Awareness Scotland felt so honoured to be on track with such a legend.
On Saturday the gazebo looked good with 2 of our other cars on display. We met up with Clare and the Race Against Dementia team and discussed the weekend plans the set to work. After all, this was a weekend of us supporting our favoured charities, collecting donations and speaking with the public on Sir Jackies mission to find a cure for dementia. Well that went extremely well with lots of chat and Fiona collecting over £400 over the weekend. We are also sure that with the good weather and the public generosity the final total raised will be huge.
Now onto the sprint race. The first day Rab had 3 runs and it became clear that the track was tricky for big cars at the 2 man-made chicanes. It also showed that Rab was extremely quick and near the top of the allcomers table. As the day developed it looked like it would be a fight between Rab and an 80s Chevette HSR rally car. The day finished with Rab leading overall and things looking good. Bring it on. We have to add here that we didn’t enter expecting to do anything other than have some fun and support the event so to be leading on Saturday night was a shock and a bonus. Well done Rab.
Sunday started early with a breakfast provided by teammate Steve Sadler of Intimation and we were off to work. At this point the sprint looked a bit more serious so a lot of discussion took place. The advantage the Chevette had was it was 80s thin, driven by a really good racer who could straight line the chicane. Rab was also giving away about 500 kilos in his fat shopping trolley.
Anyway, the excitement built over the first 2 runs with S3 and Chevette swapping places. The times were down and Rab was the first over the weekend to break 24 seconds. Yayyy , It was down to the final and whether Rab could possibly get close to a straight line at the top chicane.
The final was awesome with Rab going clear at the top with 23.9s but only to be followed by a 23.3 of the Chevette. Were we disappointed? Of course we were but wait a minute. We came here to support the cause, to have some fun, do some good and run the race. WE ONLY WENT AND WON THE CLASS AND WERE 2ND OVERALL. That is truly unbelievable and a huge testimony to the UNSIGNED racing talent of Rab Jobson. We are so lucky to have this guy in the team and even luckier to have him do most of the work.
Well, the partys over and now on to the next SLS. The usual important thanks go to our sponsors, the event sponsors, the .marshals and medics and the event organisers. Also thanks to the huge numbers who turned up to enjoy the event and support such a worthy cause.
The boss now has to add a few words....Ill try and keep this short which everyone knows is not like me. Rab is an animal. His talents on and off track are unlimited. However, I’ve been involved in a few good teams over 50 years of working and this one is up there with the best. They all work their socks off to get us on track and to support our mission. Like my teammates over 50 years I am so honoured to be able to call them friends so thanks guys. Alex