The RSAC Scottish Rally once again chose to run in a format that allowed the 2wd cars to run at the front in reverse seeding order. That gave the crews in less powerful cars a chance to experience smoother road conditions than they would otherwise.

Class C1

Making their SRC debut, Thomas Milne & Neil Jeffrey were also continuing their campaign in the Autoshop MG3 Rally Challenge. Some pre-event testing with Chris Ingram gave the young charger some extra confidence and they had an excellent run, despite flirting with the edges of the road on occasion. 38^th overall, the C1 win and 3^rd in the MG3 standings made it a solid day out and excellent preparation before Thomas tackles his home event next time out.

Class C2

Scott Gourlay had a new navigator in Connor Gardiner for this round. It was a tough day at the office for the 205 crew. The dipstick snapping in stage 1, causing a cockpit full of smoke and making the opening loop all about survival after making running repairs. They sorted that issue at service, but things didn’t really improve, spinning in stage 4 and puncturing a tyre in 5. 52^nd overall at the finish was their reward for persevering.

Class C3

Absolutely delighted to be back in the woods, Alistair Brearley & Richard Wardle’s day could not be more different to Gourlay & Gardiners. The only blemish on the MK2 crew’s run was a slight intercom issue in stage 4. The rest of the day was very good, keeping things clean in the slippery conditions and capitalising on a time penalty for Allan McDowall & Ian MacDougall to take the class C3 win by just 6 seconds.

Class C5

Stuart & Alice Paterson’s day began with a bang, an off in stage 1 doing a lot of panel damage and rearranging the suspension. They soldiered on for the 1^st loop and managed to make it to service, allowing the crew to change various suspension components and keep them in the event. The 2^nd loop was equally challenging, another off in stage 6 still not defeating them, dragging the car to the finish in 53^rd overall.

Class H1

Another crew delighted to be back in the woods, Robin Shuttleworth & Malcolm Smithson were flying once again in their MK1 Escort. Despite finding the stages to be a little bit loose they spent the day enjoying an entertaining battle with the Menzies in their Pinto-engined Mk2. Pushing their 1600 as hard as they could Robin & Malcolm lost out in the contest by just 12 seconds but had the consolation of yet another H1 win and 31^st overall.

Class H2

Making a return to the SRC after missing Argyll, Jim Robertson & Graham Wild were running very well in Jim’s home forests. A small brake issue on the opening loop was fairly easily dealt with but the rest of the day was very good. Jim rekindling his everlasting MK2 battle with Donald Peacock and taking the honours this time out by 19 seconds along with the class win and an excellent 25^th overall.

Class M1

Really earning their finish this time out, Niall Cowan Jnr & Charley Sayer-Payne’s whole event was in doubt after the MG’s engine blew on the Tuesday leading up to the event. An incredible effort, swapping a new engine into the car in just under a day and making it to the start line was an achievement within itself. The actual day was very good, powering the car to 28^th overall and 2^nd front wheel drive car home, repaying everybody that chipped in to get them to the start.

Class M2

Taking the M2 win, the Moates Offshore Juniors and top Lady driver, the Scottish was another good day of learning for Meghan & John O’Kane in their R2 Fiesta. The morning was blighted with a puncture and a repeat of the issue that plagued their Speyside, stones locking the right rear wheel making it the car very hard to drive in a straight line. The afternoon was better, 3 decent stage times despite being held up briefly on the final test. 32^nd overall was a solid result.

Class M4

Another crew delighted to see the woods, Paddy Munro & Andrew Stevenson were in their element on the loose. Really enjoying the stages, particularly Kinharvie, they were right in the mix at the top of the 2wd & Challengers battles, eventually ending up 3^rd in both, just 10 seconds away from 2^nd in the 2wds. The brilliant sounding Escort finishing an excellent 16^th overall.

Class M5

Greg McKnight & Harry Marchbank were another crew to burn the midnight oil to sort an engine after it blew at Argyll. SS1 they were flying 16^th quickest overall, SS2 was great for the 1^st mile before a mystery electrical glitch cut the engine, dropping them a minute. Strangely the issue didn’t return for the rest of the day, and they fought back up the leaderboard, never outside of the top 15 times, to grab 2^nd 2wd and a well-earned 15^th overall at the finish.

Class M6

Matt Calderwood & Robert Wood’s Evo had been treated to some work since the Speyside, now sporting some proper suspension along with a collection of other small tweaks. Matt declaring that he should have done it years ago as the car was vastly improved. That was giving him more confidence, able to push hard on the way to 19^th overall, the M6 win and 4^th in the Albyn Garage Challengers.

Class M7

Mark McCulloch had spent a day with Matt Edwards during the build up to the Scottish and was trying to put into practice some of the lessons he’d learned. In the top 10 from the start, Mark & co-driver Michael Hendry were right in the mix with the R5s and Rally 2s. The biggest dramas came on the final 2 stages, a puncture and power steering failure in 5 saw them make running repairs and they struggled through the last stage after another flat tyre. Despite the issues, they grabbed a solid 8^th overall.

Class Pro2

Back in the SRC for the 1^st time since the Speyside Robert Proudlock & Steven Brown were delighted to be back on the loose after a tough time on the Irish tarmac as part of their Stellantis campaign. On it from the start, the 208 crew lead the 2wds and were battling Johnnie Mackay & Rachel Matheson’s Evo for top challenger. The final loop saw them put on a charge and leapfrog the Evo by just 2 seconds at the finish, doing the double in both the Challengers and 2wds along with 13^th overall.

images courtesy of AF Motorsport Media

The RSAC Scottish Rally was a day of 2 halves, dry and warm weather in the morning giving way to wet conditions by the end of the 6-stage event.

Speyside winner David Bogie was aiming for an unprecedented 8^th win on his home event, the Polo pilot teaming up with another local and former Scottish Champion Kirsty Riddick. What followed was the definition of a consistent run, only fastest on 2 stages but never outside of the top 3 all day. A puncture in stage 5 didn’t really cost them any significant time and they romped home to both the overall win and maximum points in the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship.

It was much tighter for 2^nd in the SRC. 3^rd quickest on SS1 and 2^nd quickest on SS2, Championship leader Euan Thorburn and co-driver Keir Beaton hit trouble in SS3 with a puncture which dropped them to 3^rd at the midway point of the event. The 2^nd loop was equally difficult, the Polo suffering from another 2 punctures. They stayed in the mix, heading into the final stage just 5 seconds away from 2^nd place. 3^rd quickest over the final stage was enough for them to grab 2^nd in the points by just 1 second.

This was from Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton. Off the pace on SS1 – some 10 seconds slower than Thorburn & Beaton – Retson & Beaton were then quickest on SS2 and leapfrogged the blue Polo into 2^nd after SS3. That left them 11 seconds clear before the afternoon loop of repeated stages. They promptly lost 8 of those seconds in SS4 but were fastest again in SS5 to hold a 5 second lead with one stage to go. Despite thinking they had driven the last stage as hard as they could while staying safe, they dropped 6 seconds to Euan & Keir to take the final step on the podium.

For the 2^nd event in a row the Albyn Garage Challengers and the G&M Mechanical Services 2wd wins went to the same crew. Back in the SRC for the 1^st time since the Speyside Robert Proudlock & Steven Brown were delighted to be back on the loose after a tough time on the Irish tarmac as part of their Stellantis campaign. On it from the start, the 208 crew lead the 2wds and were battling Johnnie Mackay & Rachel Matheson’s Evo for top challenger. The final loop saw them put on a charge and leapfrog the Evo by just 2 seconds at the finish, doing the double in both the Challengers and 2wds.

Taking yet another Haddo Energy Super Seniors win, Gordon Murray & Peter Carstairs battled with their big Escort all day in the slippy conditions, Gordon finding it to be a proper handful. They saved their biggest drama for the 2^nd loop, flying off the road towards the end of stage 5 and just scrabbling back on to the stage without damage. 6^th 2wd car home and 23^rd overall was another good result for the big MK2.

Just 1 second behind the Escort came the top Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup crew. After 2 wins on the tar, Rob Cotton & Ethan Kidd were experiencing the Scottish gravel for the 1^st time. They took to it like a duck to water, building pace all day even when they had to deal with a small electrical issue that restricted the car 5000 rpm in the afternoon. 24^th overall in amongst the quick Evos and big Escorts was a solid result.

Taking both the Moates Offshore Juniors and top Lady driver, the Scottish was another good day of learning for Meghan & John O’Kane in their R2 Fiesta. The morning was blighted with a puncture and a repeat of the issue that plagued their Speyside, stones locking the right rear wheel making it the car very hard to drive in a straight line. The afternoon was better, 3 decent stage times despite being held up briefly on the final test. They were in the right place at the right time as well, Meghan grabbing the Ladies win when her big rival Aileen Forrest hit trouble with late punctures.

images courtesy of AF Motorsport Media

After 2 rounds on the tarmac the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship returns to the woods for round 4 of the 2024 season, the RSAC Scottish Rally. Around 80 crews will line up to tackle the 6 stages that make up the Dalbeattie based event.

Winner of the dramatic 2023 edition, Jock Armstrong returns to his home territory with a different car and a different navigator. Owen Paterson returns in the navigator’s seat and it will be the Scottish gravel debut for Jock in a Skodaru. The car proved to be competitive on it’s 1^st SRC outing on the Jim Clark, now it’s time to see how it goes on the gravel.

The rest of the top 5 is made up of the latest round of formula Volkswagen. 4 Polo R5s, all with rapid pilots lining up to chase Jock & Owen.

Speyside winners David Bogie & John Rowan are seeded number 2, David holds the all time record for Scottish Rally wins with 7 victories on his home event. David & John are always guaranteed to be in the mix at the top.

Also always in the mix, championship leader Euan Thorburn comes fresh from 2 wins on the 2 tarmac rounds. He is rejoined for this round by Keir Beaton, the Inverness man guided Euan round to 3^rd at the Speyside.

Finlay Retson & Paul Beaton were 2^nd at the Speyside on their Polo debut. Paul has since guided Euan Thorburn around to 2 wins on the tar. Finlay managed a solid 4^th at the Jim Clark but missed the last round in Argyll. Finlay & Paul will be looking to make amends on this event after they retired late on while battling for the win 2023.

Rounding out the Polo runners, Rory Young & Allan Cathers make their Scottish gravel start in a while although they have seen gravel action on the Severn Valley earlier this year. They come fresh from a 2^nd place at Argyll last time out.

John Wink & Neil Shanks buck the VW trend, out as ever in their faithful Hyundai i20. John very excited to be back on the gravel after 2 tricky runs on the tarmac. They line up in front of Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry’s Proton Satria. Mark & Michael have already tasted champagne this year with 3^rd on the Jim Clark.

Hugh Brunton has endured a difficult start to his Scottish campaign, finishing once out of 3 starts. The Skoda Fabia pilot joined on this event for the 1^st time by John Easson Award Winner Emily Easton-Page and will be looking to build on his 4^th place finish from Argyll.

Then comes the army of Ford Fiesta’s. Scott Beattie & Peredur Davies, Stephen Petch & Michael Wilkinson, Ian Forgan & Chris Lees, Chris Collie & Ricky Finlayson, Bob Adamson & Liam Whiteley and John Crawford & Josh Davison all campaigning M-Sport products.

Sadly, missing from that list are Michael Binnie & Claire Mole, the former Snowman winners’ Fiesta still poorly after late engine issues in Argyll.

Joining Armstrong & McCulloch in the ranks of non-R5s, Ian Baumgart & Richard Simmonds make their 1^st SRC start of the year in the evergreen and ever competitive Impreza. They’ll be chased down by a returning Scott Peacock & Craig Wallace. The reigning Challengers champions missing Argyll because Scott was busy becoming a Dad. The Evo pilot will be looking to do well on his home patch.

Johnnie Mackay & Rachel Matheson top the Albyn Garage Challengers seeding in their Evo. Johnnie still learning the gravel game in his new car. They line up just ahead of Challengers sponsor Simon Hay & Callum Jaffray, looking to do better than they managed at the Jim Clark.

Rob Cotton & Ethan Kidd top the Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup entries, fresh from 2 wins on the tarmac they are an unknown quantity on the gravel. Graeme Sherry & Ewan Lees and long-time Cup competitors Mike Moates & Gary McDonald line up to take the fight to the young English crew.

Greg McKnight & Harry Marchbank top the G&M Mechanical Services 2wd seeding. After an extraordinary run at Argyll was cut short with engine failure the team have burned the midnight oil to make sure Greg & Harry can take the start of their home event.

Another local man, Robert Proudlock returns to the SRC with Steven Brown in the hotseat of the 208 as always. Robert & Steven on a rebuilding mission after a big off in Donegal, but always go well in these forests.

Then comes the army of Mk2 Escorts. Paddy Munro & Andrew Stevenson will probably be the crew most excited to be back in the woods. The blue MK2 lining up in front of G&M teammate Craig Rutherford, teaming up for this round with Ashleigh Will.

Gordon Murray & Peter Carstairs top the Haddo Energy Super Seniors entry, the MK2 crew on a great run of form, unbeaten in the Seniors in 2024. They’ll have the close attention of David Hardie & John McCulloch on their home event and Argyll 2wd winners Gordon Morrison & Ian Parker.

Backing Proudlock up in the fwd ranks, Niall Cowan Jnr & Charley Sayer-Payne make their 1^st SRC start this year in their MG ZR, provided they can sort an engine after a blow up at a recent test.

Also utilising MG power, Lewis Haining is the top Moates Offshore Junior seed, Lewis & co-driver Eoghan Anderson out in an MG3 with an 1800cc engine in it. They’re chased by fellow local pilots Richard Stewart, reunited with Carin Tait-Logan and Scott Gourlay. The rapid 205 pilot joining forces with Connor Gardiner for the 1^st time.

Joining Haining in the Moates offshore Juniors is a stacked Junior entry.
Points leader Meghan O’Kane will be hoping for a better gravel experience with her new Fiesta R2 than she experienced at the Speyside. Meghan will also resume her Ladies battle with Aileen Forrest, the Evo pilot navigated for this round by SRC Chairman Tom Hynd.

2^nd in the points, Christopher Smith took his 1^st Junior win of the year at Argyll. The Corsa pilot joined for this event by former Scottish Tarmack Champion Andrew Blackwood.

Lochlan McIver & Cameron Morrison look to kick start their year after a tough start to the season and MG3 challenge regular Thomas Milne makes his 1^st SRC start with regular navigator Neil Jeffrey alongside.

Also a feature of this event is the Scottish gravel debut of the Autoshop MG3 Rally Challenge and the traditional visit to these woods of the Army Land Rovers which are always worth a watch. The 2wd ranks are also boosted by the Motoscope Northern Historic Championship.

All the action takes place on Saturday the 20^th of July. Keep an eye out on the Scottish Rally Championship Facebook and Youtube pages for live coverage and updates throughout the day.