After a fantastic season on two wheels which saw their rider Richard Kerr take two wins on his way to fifth place overall in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship which culminated at Brands Hatch last weekend, another branch of AMD Motorsport were again in action on four wheels on the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally 2022.
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
- Paul MacKinnon/Paul BeatonHyundai Rally 22:13:05.7
- Daniel Harper/Chris CampbellMini JCW WRC. +0:08.4
- John MacCrone/Peter MacCroneFord Escort Mk2. +1:49.9
- David Wright/Paula SwinscoeFord Fiesta R5. +4:43.6
- Stephen Thompson /Larry Higton AMD Ford Escort Mk2. +9:48.9
- Neil Roskell /Andrew RougheadFord Fiesta R5. +13:49.5
- Wayne Sisson/Peredur DaviesMitsubishi Evo X. +14:34.4
- Craig Rutherford/Michael HendrySubaru Impreza. +15:26.7
- Stewart Morrison/Jason MacPhail Ford Escort Mk2. +16:42.2
- 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)