WATCH: Huntly rally driver John Wink and 63 Car Club colleague skid into ditch at AM Phillip Trucktech Snowman Rally but recover to finish in first round of KNC Groundworks Scottish Rally Championships
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A RETURN to the Snowman Rally saw Huntly driver John Wink end up in a ditch before recovering to secure 23rd position overall.
The 63 Car Club stalwart, navigated by Elgin club colleague Neil Shanks, lost four minutes as a result of his mishap in his Hyundai i20 R5 on stage three in the Highlands event.
See in-car footage (below) of Wink's roll - Warning: video contains strong language.
“We left the braking a fraction late, locked up and slid wide on a junction dropping into a ditch, and the momentum just tipped the car on its side,” he said.
“Despite the best efforts of the marshals there, it needed more manpower, and we had to exit the car on its side to push the car back onto its wheels.”
Wink is determined to bounce back to form with the next race in the championships being on home soil and one of his favourites, the McDonald and Munro Speyside Stages next month.
“We were pretty unlucky to be honest,” he said. “We could do that ten times and that would only happen once.
“Neil and I were unscathed and the car is needing nothing more than a little bit of TLC so we are very lucky in that respect.”
“We set some good stage times in the next two stages. I think we were fifth or sixth quickest in the last stage after rolling the car, so that is not too bad.
“You have to take the positives from it and look ahead to the next one.
“It’s just the nature of the stages, lots of folk were caught out. It’s just a shame as that particular stage was going well to that point.”
The only damage to his car was a broken wing mirror.
Cornhill-on-Tweed driver Michael Binnie retained his Snowman Rally title with Kelso co-driver Claire Mole. The pair also won the event when it was last staged in 2020.
Wink said there was a great sense of anticipation for the return of the Snowman.
“Everybody was buzzing for it for the weekend, it was brilliant,” he said. “Well done to Michael and Clare for their second victory in a row. They are going to be a force this year, definitely.”
Wink revealed that he didn’t manage to do a test run in his car prior to the event because of heavy work commitments. He has entered this weekend’s Malcolm Wilson Rally in the Lake District and aims to get a test run prior to the Speyside Stages on April 23.
“I can’t wait for it. It’s our local event and such a great event, right on our doorstep. I’m really, really looking forward to it, I always do.
“The Speyside is one of my favourite events by far.
“I’ve got a lot of sponsorship backing this year so it would be good to get them out on the stages and let them see what it is all about.
“We need the results to back it up so I am under a bit of pressure to deliver something soon.
“I’ve had a wee bit of a run of bad luck so I need to focus on everything, relax a bit and hopefully it will happen.”
Wink hopes to secure a navigator for their home leg of the championships, as current co-driver Shanks is clerk for the course at the Speyside Stages, which is organised by their club.
