The McDonald & Munro Speyside Stages

I had the pleasure of attending the Speyside Stages on Friday and Saturday. It is true that rallying is one of the world's most exciting and adrenaline-fueled motorsports. Whether you're a fan or a driver, there's something undeniably thrilling about hurtling down narrow tracks, across dirt and gravel, at breakneck speeds. The spectator areas for stages 2, 7 & 9 did not disappoint, ensuring you felt like you were in the middle of the action but also ensuring everyone was kept safe.

This event is great for meeting people with the same passion, for sharing stories, and building new friendships. If you have never been to a Rally event before, I couldn't recommend it highly enough. I came away from the Speyside Stages having met some really great people.

I want to extend a huge thanks to the organisers, the competitors and especially the marshalls. The marshalls were helpful and pleasant at each spectator area, and while using a bit of humour they were able to ensure everyone attending was safe and in the correct location.

Elgin High Street

This is an excellent part of the event, allowing the public to get nice and close to the rally cars as they get scrutinised for the weekend's events. I found myself situated just after the exit where the cars were being released. This is where I captured various images of the competitors and their cars, ranging from modern to classic models.

Elgin is also where Stages 3 & 4 took place, in Cooper Park, where the public could be close to the action as they flew through the park.

Below are some images I captured of the cars leaving the high street.

Stage 2 - Whiteash

This was a night stage in the forest between Keith & Fochabers, over a distance of 7.72 km. The spectator area was on a tight hairpin at the end of a downhill straight. This location was great as you could hear the cars coming flat out and see the headlights getting closer and closer until they had to brake sharply, which made for some great images of brakes glowing and sparking. Another exciting part of this location was if the drivers were tempted to cut the corner, as they were sent air born by the bump on the inside of the corner, which resulted in one of my favourite images from the weekend.

After the first two stages, the results are Car No. 12 - Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton with a total time of 10:17 in the first place, followed by Car No. 1 - Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop & Car No. 8 - Bruce Mccombie & Michael Coutts with the joint total time of 10:14 in joint second.

Below are the images of the top three cars taking the tight hairpin on stage 2.

Stage 7 - Gartly Moor

This was a day stage in the forest just outside of Huntly, with a distance of 8.01 km. The spectator area was on a 90-degree corner at the end of a downhill straight. This location was great as it covered three other corners if you walked through the forest. For this stage, I chose to stand at the 90-degree corner to capture the competitors drifting around the corner. Another exciting part of this corner was just after the apex; where a dip in the track sent the car's front-end air born. In the second part of this stage, I moved up to capture the cars taking a left to the right corner in quick succession.

The three fastest cars of this stage were, Car No. 4 - David Henderson & Chris Lees with a time of 4:35, followed by Car No. 5 - John Wink & Will Atkins with a time of 4:41 & Car No. 1 - Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop with a time of 4:42.

After this stage, the standing is Car No. 12 - Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton with a total time of 28:37, still in first place, followed by Car No. 1 - Jock Armstrong with a time of a total of 28:49 in second place & third place Car No. 5 - John Wink & Will Atkins with a total time of 29:10.

Below are the images of the fastest three cars of this stage, taking the 90-degree corner on stage 7.

Stage 9 - Gartly Moor

Stage 9 was a re-run of stage 7, with the same distance of 8.01 km. For this, I moved to the final corner before the back straight. I located myself well up into the tree line, with a clear view of left to right before the back straight. Once they were in the back straight, I had a gap in the trees, where I had to time my shot right to capture them in the hole, and oh boy, I am so pleased with how the images turned out.

The three fastest cars of this stage were, Car No. 4 - David Henderson & Chris Lees with a time of 4:33, followed by Car No. 2 - Michael Binnie & Claire Mole with a time of 4:34 & Car No. 1 - Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop with a time of 4:37.

After this stage, the standing is Car No. 12 - Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton with a total time of 40:02, still in first place, followed by Car No. 1 - Jock Armstrong with a time of a total of 40:17 in second place & third place Car No. 5 - John Wink & Will Atkins with a total time of 40:37.

Below are the images of the fastest three cars of this stage, taking the left to right and on the back straight on stage 9.

Final Results

After stage 9, there were stages 10 & 11, but they had no spectator areas.

The final results for the weekend were Car No. 12 - Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton, with a total time of 50:40, in first place, followed by Car No. 1 - Jock Armstrong & Hannah McKillop, with a time of a total of 51:09 in second place & third place Car No. 5 - John Wink & Will Atkins, with a total time of 51:14.

Congratulations to Car No. 12 - Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton for victory at The McDonald & Munro Speyside Stages Rally 2023.

Below are my favourite images of the top three cars of the weekend.