Snow, ice, sleet and multiple punctures were not enough to keep the smiles off the faces of Watermans Rally Team duo John MacCrone and Rhianon Gelsomino at the finish of the Snowman Rally.
The opening round of the 2016 Scottish Rally Championship took place across 44 miles and five demanding stages in the Highlands on Saturday 20th February, with over 120 entries battling the worst of the ever-contrary Scottish winter weather.
The event was the first time the new pairing of MacCrone and Gelsomino had competed together, and also the comeback outing for J-Mac following a serious accident at the Mull Rally in 2015.
The Flying Islander and the Australian gelled well over the weekend as they battled through the elements in the Watermans Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5.
Despite the wickedly changeable elements confounding their tyre choices on a number of stages, the crew ran comfortably inside the top ten for most of the rally until punctures to two of their snow tyres in the fierce blizzard on the final Raven Rock stage cost them the chance to attack and seek to a top six finish.
However, both were happy to have made it through the event with no serious dramas and notched up valuable seat time on the way to an 18th place finish overall.
Hear J-Mac’s thoughts on the rally in this interview from the service park before the final stage:
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