McDonald and Munro Speyside Stages podium spot is best yet for Elgin navigator Daniel Forsyth and driver Scott MacBeth, behind the legendary David Bogie
A rally navigator was overjoyed with a podium place at his home event for the first time.
Saturday’s McDonald and Munro Speyside Stages had a very familiar winner, with Dumfries legend David Bogie winning the event for the 12th time, co-driver by Irishman John Rowan.
Representing the organising 63 Car Club (Elgin), Daniel Forsyth celebrated his greatest result yet as he navigated Muir of Ord driver Scoptt MacBeth to second place.
The pair produce a thrilling performance in MacBeth’s Skoda Fabia R5, twice matching six-time Scottish champion Bogie in stages and overtaking four-time Scottish championship winner Euan Thorburn in the last stage.
MacBeth and Forsyth earned their first SRC podium when they were third at last year’s Snowman Rally, the driver’s home event.
So to beat that performance in Elgin-based Forsyth’s homecoming rally was a huge thrill for the 31-year-old.
“Being third at the Snowman set the target for last weekend,” he said. “We knew we could mix it with everyone else in the top ten and we started with the idea that we should be looking to be in that third podium place.
“To better that at my home event was incredible, because there were no two better events for us in the championship to get these results.
“To get second to David Bogie, who's a 12-time champion, it's incredible really.”
MacBeth and Forsyth were equal fastest in the Cooper Park, and again at Whiteash near Fochabers when they matched Bogie and Rowan over stage six.
Expecting to come in third overall when they started the final stage, they learned that Duns driver and two-time Speyside champ Thorburn, who started 13 seconds ahead of them, lost the brakes on his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 and slipped by 19 seconds, having to settle for third spot.
Forsyth paid tribute to his colleague MacBeth, who can only compete in two more events before his wife gives birth to their child in June.
“In the last year, Scott’s put a lot of effort into improving his driving, his fitness and the cars have been faultless,” he said.
“The Dom Buckley team that runs us has been absolutely faultless. Anything that this car's needed, any problems it's had, they've been on the ball to get it fixed.
Forsyth was able to rub shoulders on the podium at the UHI Moray finish - just a stone’s throw away from his Elgin home - with someone he regards as a hero in his sport - the legendary Bogie.
“David was great when I spoke to him. I’ve known him for years and years, and he was really chuffed for us.
“He gave us a good soaking with the champagne at the finish.
“He’s a different level. He's a British champion level, a six-time Scottish champion, one-time British champion and he's probably the best driver Scotland's seen in the last decade.
“He really is a class act, so to tie on that stage (six) and to have the same time as him, it shows how far, how far Scott’s came.”
It was the 25th rally that MacBeth and Forsyth have competed in together, but they came into the Speyside in great form.
Their last outing at the Kielder Carlisle Stages two weeks earlier landed a top ten British Championship placing, and a victory in their class.
It was their sixth Speyside Stages together, and the 12th time Forsyth has navigated on his home soil rally since debuting as a 16-year-old in 2010.
As if finishing second wasn’t enough of an achievement for the 63 Car Club co-driver, he discovered one more feat after the rally.
“It's 20 years since somebody from Elgin was on the podium at the Speyside, so I’m chuffed with that,” he said.
The last to achieve that was Neil Shanks, who these days can’t compete in the event as he is clerk of the course.
The battle for the Challengers title saw Brett McKenzie (Elgin) and Barry Young (Navenby) in an Evo tying on time at the finish with Duncan Campbell (Ayr) and Michael Cruickshank (Crieff).
The Elgin driver put on a late charge to equal Campbell’s Subaru’s time and got the nod due to his quicker time in SS1.
That tie at the finish was actually a three-way one with the eventual G & M Mechanical Services 2 Wheel Drive winners Dougal Brown (Forres) & Lewis Rochford (Keith).
After their 2024 Snowman ended very early with engine issues, they were keen to bounce back here. Experimenting with different tyre choices they were right in the 2wd mix, fastest two-wheel drive in the first gravel stage and lying second behind Ross Jarrett (Dingwall) and Susan Shanks (Elgin) after six stages.
When Jarrett’s blue Escort retired with brake issues, Brown was perfectly placed to capitalize, grabbing 17th overall in a nice return to the top of the 2wd rankings.
