Round 3 – Defender Rally Series

When we signed up for the 2024 Defender Rally Series we were excited to see all types of rallying in the UK and last weekend in Scotland was our first taste of a Hill Rally format.

The 2024 Summer Scottish Hill Rally was our third event and format during this season. Having previously done comp safari and stage rally, a Hill Rally was unknown to us. With both cars prepped and loaded up we headed north to Lauder, about 1 hour from Edinburgh to join the some 50 cars signed up to the Event.

As always, Bowler Motors were there with a large grid of customer cars for the 2024 Defender Rally Series with a full works support team, service and operational setup. We arrived on Friday to get the cars passed through scrutineering and prepare for the 2 day hill rally ahead.

With both cars and respective drivers and navigators passed through scrutineering we settled in for an evening of socialising thanks to Bowlers BBQ for all who had entered the event. This was a great chance to hear what was ahead of us for our first hill rally and we were ready to take it on!

The first race day rolled around and we had been blessed with the weather, with sun all weekend we thought the conditions would be fair, we were wrong. The hills of Scotland had taken a battering of rain throughout the prior weeks leading to soft, muddy and rutty ground conditions that over the next 2 days would be a test for all.

With a ceremonial start past the picturesque Thirlestane Castle, our drivers readied themselves for the 8 stages ahead on day 1.

With a mix of fast farm tracks, tricky forest runs and boggy technical sections it was a trial by fire for our first hill rally event. However, the Bowler Defender L663 rally car is built for this terrain and we have already seen the capabilities of these cars in our previous 2 events where they took everything in their stride.

The key for a hill rally is timing, timing and timing. With strict entry and exit times for road liaison between stages it’s crucial to manage the clock, not forgetting the challenging stages of terrain in between. With a 2 day event covering 18 stages, it’s as much about car preservation as it is speed. With limited service times throughout the day it was key for all drivers to manage their cars to get through the event.

Our drivers battled through the early stages with caution, feeling out the ground conditions and easing their way into the day. Very quickly they were both in rhythm and the cars were eating through the stages in front of them despite other cars having incidents due to conditions the Bowlers were sailing through.

With a good mix of fast open stages on gravel roads, muddy technical sections and undulating tracks across the hills both cars were going well on day 1 without issue and came back in for their service as planned with just a check over and some replacement tyres due to punctures. Thanks to the Bowler Works teams, service was smooth as always with both cars ready to head back out with plenty of time allowing our drivers to debrief on the earlier runs.

We rounded out the first day with some stage cancellations due to issues on track however with plenty of miles under our belt we were ready to start day 2 and complete the event.

This rally format was our first introduction to Parc Ferme, an area where the cars needed to be sent after the last stage on day 1 after a short service. This is a sterile area only accessible by a select few and at set times, the teams. This opens up new challenges where you cannot work on or repair the car during certain times which again, rewards careful driving on the stages.

With another sunny day ahead and a new mix of stages, including a lap around the castle grounds in front of service, we were excited to head out. With cars being sent from Parc Ferme in 60 second intervals we were soon underway. Running some new stages and some stages in reverse from the day before we had some ideas about where the tricky sections would be.

With both drivers for Assetti going exceptionally well in the morning, unfortunately Shane had a technical problem on stage which cost him around 10 minutes overall and Paul in the other car having some bad luck with punctures the afternoon was not kind to us to start. However, the enjoyment that our drivers were getting from the event, the format and the setting heavily outweighed the small issues we were having.

We finished the day off with the final stage around the castle grounds and celebrated what had been a fantastically organised event and our first taste of hill rallying. A special thanks to the Scottish Hill Rally, Bowler Motorsport and all involved. We are looking ahead to the next 4 rounds of the series where we take on new formats, locations & challenges supported by Bowler Motors and the entire team.