Competitors
Competitors
Competitors
Competitors
Competitors
Rallying on a global level was still enjoying great popularity at the turn of the century. The new breed of WRC cars were spectacular and there was wide manufacturer participation.
The new millennium was greeted as ever at the start of a Snowman decade by deep snow on the event.
Andrew Wood and Ann Parker won in 2000 and 2001 in their Audi Quattro S2 against much more modern cars, going on to become Scottish Rally Champions in 2000.
The 00s was also the decade in which Raymond Munro and Barry Johnson became multiple winners, and Jimmy Girvan returned to claim his second Snowman triumph.
One highlight of these years was a well-deserved win for local Raey Mackay in 2009 – more on that later on.
The decade ended as it started with a very snowy 2010 event – running cars through the stages was challenging for all, erven at crawling speeds.
In 2003, (now as Mr & Mrs Wood), they also led the rally until the very last stage, losing victory by one second to Raymond Munro. It was Raymond’s first ‘home win’ after 22 years of competing on the Snowman, an achievement he repeated in 2004. He also followed up his wins both years by becoming champion.
In 2003 the organising group lost a stalwart of the Snowman for many years with the untimely death of Hector Munro. Hector was the master of quickly turning stages around in preparation for second usage, and regularly checked and closed off the stages in horrible conditions late on the Friday night prior to the Rally, along with Bill Law.
In 2001 he and a small team spent the entire Friday night prior to the rally travelling through the stages to try to keep them open, following heavy snow falls and a keen frost. Although the event was extremely slippery, all the stages as far north as Lairg were run. In 2002 he again did an all-night patrol following a similar blizzard.
He played quiet, but major part in the running of the Rally and Car Club activities over the years - we all have our own fond memories of him and miss him sorely.
