Driving the Den Motorsport 2.5-litre Ford Escort Mk2 for the first time, Stephen from Kirkcudbright, and co-driver Larry Higton from Newton Mearns, soon got to grips with the powerful car in the tricky conditions over the two-day event including a trio of top ten times on Friday night’s opening leg.

Into Saturday’s daylight stages and the pair continued to match times with the four-wheel drive contingent as they gradually climbed the leaderboard and at the close of the leg, were up to an incredible seventh overall and increasing their class lead.

The final leg was in the early hours of Sunday morning with a gruelling seven stages, but Thompson maintained his challenge to bring the car home to a fantastic seventh place overall and a class win. In addition, they won the Mishnish Lochs Trophy and for the third year running, claimed the Race and Competition Equipment (RACE) Escort Challenge award too.

Making it a successful weekend all round was Stephen’s younger brother Darren who was using the car Stephen normally competes in where along with co-driver Kyle Livingstone, they finished in a deserved 16^th place overall and third in class.

Taking things easily on Friday night to hold 32^nd overall, the pair soon upped the pace throughout Saturday to climb into the top twenty. A big push in the dark of the final leg saw them rewarded with a top sixteen finish on one of the toughest events on the calendar.
 
Stephen Thompson: “We were over the moon to finish seventh overall and first two-wheel drive car. Although it took a bit of getting used to, the car was fantastic and has more to give in the correct weather conditions. We got to grips with it pretty quickly even with limited test time before the event, so I was happy to consistently set top ten times amongst R5 cars in very changeable and tricky conditions. Thanks to Larry, he was brilliant all weekend on the notes and well done to my brother Darren who had a great run in the car I normally use. Thanks to all our team, sponsors, family, and friends for making this weekend happen. Special thanks go to Den Motorsport for the car and a special mention to Calum Duffy for the advice on set up which paid dividends for Saturday. Thanks also to the organisers, marshals and volunteers who put on a great event.”

Note to Editors: Stephen is the General Manager at AMD Contract Services, the Dumfries-based company owned by Fraser and Mary Dykes, where they run a plant hire and contracting business servicing the construction and forestry sectors throughout the UK.

Pictures Attached (courtesy of James Ward – Chicane Media): Stephen Thompson/Larry Higton (car 9) and Darren Thompson/Kyle Livingstone (car 34) in action on the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally 2023.

Stephen Thompson, who is the General Manager at AMD Contract Services, the Dumfries-based company owned by Fraser and Mary Dykes, where they run a plant hire and contracting business servicing the construction and forestry sectors throughout the UK, was contesting the three-day event on the Scottish island once again.

Based at Tobermory with closed road stages all around the island, the event began on Friday evening where straight away, Stephen, from Kirkcudbright and co-driver Larry Higton from Newton Mearns were on the pace to finish the six-stage leg in eighth overall out of the 150 starters and leading their class by nearly a minute in their two-litre AMD Ford Escort Mk2.

The action reconvened in daylight on Saturday with another eight stages where the pair climbed to an amazing fifth overall whilst increasing their class lead to nearly four minutes. However, the event’s traditional sting in the tail was a tough final four stages in the early hours of Sunday morning but unlike last year when they suffered a gearbox problem, they brought the car home to an amazing fifth overall.

In doing so, they took an easy class victory by nearly seven minutes and were the second two-wheel drive car as they claimed their best result to date.

Results

1. Paul MacKinnon/Paul BeatonHyundai Rally 22:13:05.7
2. Daniel Harper/Chris CampbellMini JCW WRC. +0:08.4
3. John MacCrone/Peter MacCroneFord Escort Mk2. +1:49.9
4. David Wright/Paula SwinscoeFord Fiesta R5. +4:43.6
5. Stephen Thompson /Larry Higton AMD Ford Escort Mk2. +9:48.9
6. Neil Roskell /Andrew RougheadFord Fiesta R5. +13:49.5
7. Wayne Sisson/Peredur DaviesMitsubishi Evo X. +14:34.4
8. Craig Rutherford/Michael HendrySubaru Impreza. +15:26.7
9. Stewart Morrison/Jason MacPhail Ford Escort Mk2. +16:42.2
10. Alan Gardiner/Dave RobsonFord Escort Mk1. +16:45.7

Pictures attached, please accredit as watermarked if used:

Larry (left) and Stephen (right) with their awards and also in action in their AMD Ford Escort Mk2 (Lindsay Photo Sport)

Larry and Stephen with their awards

Rally action

Flying high in the Mk2 Ford Escort

Following on from the previous weekend’s class victory on the Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally, Stephen, from Kirkcudbright, was hopeful of another good performance on the event which featured three generations of the McRae family, as well as numerous World champions either competing or in attendance, as part of a tribute to the late, great Colin McRae.

Stephen, who is General Manager at AMD Contract Services, the Dumfries-based company owned by Fraser and Mary Dykes, where they run a plant hire and contracting business servicing the construction and forestry sectors throughout the UK, was once again driving the AMD Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2 with brother Darren as co-driver, due to regular co-driver Larry Higton having work commitments this weekend.

With the stages incorporating both the flowing 1.2-mile track around the venue just north of Dunfermline, as well as the tricky hillside rally experience and circuit access roads, the pair made a steady start to hold a top 20 position at the half way point on Saturday evening.

The mixed weather conditions of Saturday gave way to dryer conditions for Sunday’s final five stages and in front of a huge crowd and despite an altercation with a stage marker which caused minor damage to the rear quarter panel of the 2.0-litre car, they came home in 17^th overall and second in class.

Pictures attached courtesy of John Stewart/Flat Out Photography and Andy Ellis Photography.

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Last year, Irishman Richard Kerr produced a scintillating ride on his debut in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship at Oulton Park aboard the AMD Motorsport Honda followed a week later by the four-wheeled branch of the team taking a class victory on the Argyll Stages Rally in the hands of Stephen Thompson and Larry Rigton in the AMD Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2.

Fast forward a year and fresh from his debut victory at Knockhill on the AMD Motorsport Honda last weekend, Kerr’s success was complimented by Thompson, who is the General Manager at AMD Contract Services, the Dumfries-based company owned by Fraser and Mary Dykes, where they run a plant hire and contracting business servicing the construction and forestry sectors throughout the UK, who took another class win on the Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally.

Once again based at Dunoon Stadium with closed road stages around various locations of the Cowal Peninsular, this years’ Mull Car Club event started on Friday night with four stages during the evening followed by another eight stages throughout Saturday.

In the two-litre AMD Ford Escort Mk2, Stephen, from Kirkcudbright and co-driver Larry Higton from Newton Mearns were seeded at 18 in the 129-car field and got off to a steady start on the two short opening stages around Dunoon town centre before upping the pace out in the lanes to set 16th fastest time on the final stage of Friday night to hold 16th overnight.

Saturday saw two loops of four stages and the pair continued their good form with top fifteen stage times in the morning to move up to 12th overall at one point before consolidating their place in the afternoon stages to set some impressive times which culminated in a superb 13th place overall at the finish.

As a result, they won Class 7 and were second two-wheel drive car home out of the 99 finishers in a field which included many top international drivers in semi-works machinery.

Pictures courtesy of West Coast Photos (WCP) & Alan Scott Photography (ASP)

Most recently, AMD Motorsports driver Stephen, having always meticulously prepared the car himself finished a fantastic 7^th in the Mull rally last time out, they were the first “self prepared” car across the line in a car that is a staggering 38 years older than the winning car.