Rally - Hopes and Fears

If the ‘Rally of Scotland’ proved one thing it was that a wee nation of six million tartan-clad, bare knee’d, wild-haired, haggis munchers on the north western edge of Europeland could host a world-class motor sporting event. Hard to believe that it all started 17 years ago way back in 2009, 2010 and 2011 but it certainly helped to open minds to such an outrageous idea as the WRC coming to Aberdeen.

It wasn’t just a case of, if Wales can do it, then so can Scotland, but Aberdeen has a number of factors going for it. The P&J Arena has a vast covered complex which can host the WRC organising and media teams and all the technical paraphernalia that will come with that plus a huge sealed-surface outdoor area for the competitors. Aberdeen and the north east also lacks the densely populated conurbation that is spread across central Scotland and is pretty close to the forests.

At a more basic level, the UK has the best Marshals and the best Stage Commanders in the world and there is a long established car club culture in the country so there will be no lack of volunteers.

And let’s not forget the ‘McRae factor’. Whilst many of the WRC hierarchy will have to look up a world atlas to find out where Scotland is, they will know only too well of the antics of a certain ‘tartan tearaway’ who left his mark on the world’s stages thirty years ago.

The only thing that concerns me is Forest & Land Scotland. They will really need to pull their socks up for this one, and if they do, then it might just help all of us at a more local and national level in the future. Fingers crossed for that one, eh?

Ever since ‘Forestry Commission Scotland’ and ‘Forest Enterprise Scotland’ were devolved into ‘Forestry & Land Scotland’ exactly 7 years ago next month, things have changed, and not necessarily for the public good. Area managers no longer have the same level of autonomy as power and decisions have been shifted to a new HQ in Inverness and the emphasis these days seems to be more about the ‘green agenda’ than public access for all.

Having said that FLS has been involved in discussions well ahead of any world scale event coming to the north of Scotland and one can only hope that the required forest roads will be ready to face the onslaught. That means better built and better maintained. There are some cracking roads in the region, Gartly and Clashindarroch spring to mind but there are some softer, sandier roads in the Drumtochty area that could do with more than a spring clean. But I’m sure that is all in hand 

And if FLS look kindly upon this brand new adventure then maybe, just maybe, it will benefit the rest of us. For too long now we have been getting squeezed out of classic forest tests in such locations as Argyll, Perthshire, Carron Valley, Fife and the Scottish Borders while other choices are harder to get. And then there is the question of quality, it would appear that roads are not built to the standards of old and maintenance isn’t what it was. That is down partly to new and different methods of timber extraction but it is also down to cost, hence the ever increasing forestry charges which are being made on rally folk.

And on a perfectly selfish note should any visitors wish to find out what Scottish rallying has to offer fans from afar there are a number of books on the market which will give an insight into the land where legends are made!

Mind you the talks of an F1 Grand Prix at Knockhill are still at a very early stage !!

https://fife-motor-sports-agency.square.site/

#rallyscotland

WRC Rally Scotland

The FIA World Rally Championship will return to the United Kingdom in 2027 with the introduction of WRC Rally Scotland, marking the series’ comeback to one of rallying’s most historic territories.

Developed in partnership with Motorsport UK, the new gravel-based event will be based in north-east Scotland, with rally headquarters and service park facilities located at the state-of-the-art P&J Live complex in Aberdeen. Stages will run across the surrounding regions of Aberdeenshire and Moray.

The agreement forms an initial three-year deal beginning in 2027 and ends an eight-year absence for the championship in the UK, following the most recent running of Wales Rally GB in 2019.

Scotland’s dramatic landscapes and world-class forest roads are expected to provide a spectacular sporting challenge for the WRC’s leading drivers and manufacturers, while the region’s infrastructure and transport links offer a strong platform for teams, media and fans attending the event.

The rally has been secured through a partnership between Motorsport UK, WRC Promoter and the Scottish Government, with support from Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils. Together, the stakeholders aim to establish Rally Scotland as a major international sporting event delivering significant economic and tourism benefits for the region.

The next step to make WRC Rally Scotland a reality will be for a Candidate Event to be held later this year, where the FIA will work with Motorsport UK and event organisers to evaluate and prepare for a return to World Championship-level competition. The event will then be submitted for approval on the WRC calendar by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

Simon Larkin, Senior Events Director at WRC Promoter, said: “Since the FIA World Rally Championship last visited the UK in 2019, Motorsport UK and WRC Promoter have worked closely together to find the right pathway for its return. We have nothing but praise for the determination and hard work shown by Motorsport UK in bringing this project to life.
“We’re delighted to be working alongside the Scottish Government and local authority partners to see this exciting initiative come to fruition - something that will benefit many, and especially the passionate rally fans across the UK.”

FIA Deputy President for Sport, Malcolm Wilson, said: “This is a huge announcement for the FIA World Rally Championship, it really demonstrates the positive direction we are now taking. The United Kingdom has incredible heritage and passion for our sport, and the return of a flagship world championship event in Scotland is the start of the next chapter in this long history. As we enter a new era for the WRC in 2027 with new regulations, more accessible cars and more crews competing at the sharp end, it’s fantastic to see the appetite is there from organisers, governments and of course the fans to put together new WRC events. Alongside Motorsport UK, the WRC Promoter and the local organisers we are very much looking forward to making these plans a reality.”

David Richards CBE, Chairman of Motorsport UK, said: “Rallying has always had a special place in the story of British motorsport and, for me personally, it has been a huge part of my life. I’ve had the privilege of experiencing the World Rally Championship from inside a rally car, and I know just how unique the atmosphere of a UK rally can be — the forests, the fans and the extraordinary community of volunteers and motor clubs who make these events possible.

“That’s why seeing the championship return to the UK is so meaningful. WRC Rally Scotland will bring the world’s best drivers back to British stages, but it will also be more than a rally. It’s an opportunity to showcase the passion of our rally community and demonstrate how motorsport can contribute to innovation, sustainability and inspiring the next generation to get involved in our sport."

National ‘Scottish’ Book Day

The UK’s National Book Day is usually held on the first Thursday of March each year, but I was awfy busy so ignored it. That’s because I was struggling with my latest tome documenting the Scottish Rally Championship (2010-2019), so I have my own ‘book day’ -  every day!

People may think that rallying is on its last legs (wheels?) but that has been thought and feared before although those concerns are still with us today for different reasons. Mind you things came awfy close ten years or so ago. Following a fatality on a Scottish event in 2013 and three more in 2014, the whole sport had to sit down and take stock of itself. And it could so easily have gone the wrong way for its future. Not only that the Scottish Government wanted answers.

Immediately after the 2014 accident the Scottish Government established a ‘Motorsport Event Safety Review’ working with the Motor Sport Association which culminated in the publication of the ‘2015 Multi-Venue Stage Rally Safety Requirements’ guide. It contained not just guidance and advice but more regulation, restrictions and of course costs! And while much of the focus was on spectator management and control, wider issues took in the controversial ‘life-ing’ of safety equipment. What was already a difficult task for an amateur team organising a rally suddenly became more difficult and complicated incurring additional expense.

That was followed by a Scottish Government instigated ‘Fatal Accident Inquiry’ and the sport was indeed fortunate that it was Sheriff Kenneth Maciver QC who chaired the investigation. Although not really a fan as such, he did have an interest in motor sport and a basic understanding. Had it been someone else who had no interest and no knowledge the outcome could have taken a quite different turn.

Oddly enough, there was another organisation involved called ‘Scottish Motor Sports’ (SMS). This body had been created two years previously by the MSA and the Scottish Sports Council ahead of the proposed Scottish national devolution debate and referendum. Had Scotland voted for independence, that would have created some jeopardy for any sport which didn’t have a separate Scottish governing body, and that included motor sport. The new body was initially tasked with the creation of a long term plan for the sport on both four and two wheels.

Looking back on that long and tortuous procedure it was indeed fortunate for the sport that those professionals who were tasked with looking into the proposed safety requirements actually listened to the experienced and knowledgeable amateurs who were asked to contribute to the process.

Which leaves me with a dilemma, does this affair require a whole chapter documenting those past events, or merely a summary? The outcome could so easily have gone either way!

Earlier books are available here:

https://fife-motor-sports-agency.square.site/

 

Rally - Alex Lindsay

Alex Lindsay, 1957 - 2026

Another hole has been torn in the fabric of Scottish rallying this this week, a big hole. His may not be a household name to many but to those who organised rallies and championships and especially to all Coltness Car Club members the loss of Alex ‘Eck’ Lindsay will be hard to bear. He passed away on Sunday morning after a short illness which followed a period of poor health. Even so, the news came as a shock.

After leaving school it could be argued that Alex got in with the ‘wrong crowd’ at Motherwell Technical College because that was where the seeds of an interest in motor sport were sown which burgeoned into a life long passion for all things fast and four-wheeled, especially on loose surfaces. And yet his own automotive career started in a much more modest way, travelling to and from Motherwell Tech on a Yamaha FS1E – a 50cc moped. Never was such a modest conveyance so badly abused.

A succession of jobs after completing his apprenticeship in various garages and in the Fire Service led to him establishing his own ‘Alex Lindsay Motor Engineers’ service for which was purchased a Land Rover and the name proudly emblazoned along its flanks, but by this time he was already steeped in rallying folklore. Early memories recall him at the wheel of a large Toyota Crown estate car in the mid 1970s servicing for the likes of Allan Arneil and others. The Toyota was a 2 acres of tin service barge 15 feet long and over six feet wide with a full length roof rack decorated with spare wheels and jerry cans and riding on its bump stops with the throttle ‘flat to the floor!”

On the basis that Lanarkshire Car Club was a bit too posh, Alex joined the lesser known Coltness Car Club which was already creating for itself a bit of a reputation as a breeding ground for fast drivers and organising events which bore a passing resemblance to the Blue Book. It wasn’t long before Alex built himself a really very smart Ford Escort Mk2 which saw service on a few rallies as and when he could afford to compete. To say he was a spirited driver is somewhat of an understatement, regardless of whether he was on a stage or on the public road.

After marrying Jean the arrival of the two boys John and Allan calmed him down (somewhat!) and he turned his attention to supporting their interests and efforts while he contented himself by joining the Coltness CC committee becoming an integral part of the growth and success of the car club. Latterly he served as Club Secretary a duty he also performed for the Scottish Rally Championship management committee for a number of years.

In the early days, the club organised road rallies and the Coltness Stages Rally, which used a multitude of private roads and estates in southern Lanarkshire, before organising the hugely successful Strathclyde Park Hillclimb till its reputation outgrew the limits of a public park. The club then achieved greater notoriety when it created the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally first in the Tweed Valley and then later in Perthshire. From starting out as an event Marshal and Official, Alex was soon heavily involved in the planning, promotion and organisation of the club and its events where another talent revealed itself. He produced all the club paperwork (once Jean had tidied it up) and printed all the club’s event decals and stickers. He even assumed editor-ship of the club newsletter and its distribution.

It could be said that Alex used a broad brush when it came to the intricacies of detail planning but there was a good team on the committee. After everyone agreed on the way forward, Alex did his own thing anyway. Whatever, it worked.

Alex wasn’t just a big presence in the sport he was a big noise and often expressed his opinions audibly and without ever giving the consequences a thought. At least folk knew where they stood, they also understood that he never held a grudge. On that basis Alex could work with anyone, and they could work with him. Friends and enemies would be greeted with the same measure of robust ‘geniality’. In fact if he missed out on insulting someone, they often felt slighted or wronged.

This carefree attitude led him and fellow club members into many scrapes which no doubt led to and encouraged the growing reputation of the ‘Coltness Bears’. Nor was he any respecter of authority or celebrity. As ‘cheerleader in chief’ he accompanied the Coltness CC Quiz team and supporters to the depths of Englandshire to participate in the 1988 Ford Motor Company British Motorsport Quiz and whilst the CCC team won the top prize and claimed the top club award, Alex hoovered up all the stage equipment, props and promotional materials and spirited his loot away back north for the benefit of the club and its members.

And the least said about ‘the gun incident’ on the Island of Mull, the better. Suffice to say, the Police Sergeant was mollified to the extent that he ended up having a pint, or two, or more, with the Bears afterwards!

Thankfully this force of nature ‘matured’ in later years but behind the scenes he was an integral and vital part of the glue that kept Coltness Car Club together, regularly hosting committee meetings and event organising teams in his garage-converted office behind the family home in Burnbank. 

There at home he had a rather different personality, the caring husband and kindly, generous father, far removed from the noisy imposing figure that could terrify and mollify, enthuse and encourage, insult and praise all in the same words of conversation.

For sure he gave out more than he received, but it’s folk like him who keep this sport alive and more folk like him that the sport needs. But to Jean and the boys, they have lost a husband, father and grandfather and our thoughts must be with them at this sad time.

 

Rally - A grand day out

Forgy commiserating with (?) Johnnie MacKay

This is not a rally report, we’ll have to wait till ‘Motorsport News’ comes out for that (!!). Nope, this is just a few observations from a day out at the Border Access Knockhill Stages Rally yesterday. It was wet on Saturday and early showers on Sunday ensured that the roads and track were very slippery especially the concrete sections on the hillside. The wind blew the showers straight through as the morning wore on and it was pretty much dry (but ower cauld!) in the afternoon which meant that competitors could really lean on their tyres for grip.

The final results would suggest that Ian and Kathryn Forgan had things well under control as they got off to a good start. Alan Carmichal and Keith Beaton took a wee while to warm up but fastest time on SS3 saw them take a one second lead before Forgy equalled their time on SS4. It all went wrong for the visitor on SS5, Carmichael says he felt something break at the front on the main straight but the Knockhill commentary team reckons the Hyundai brushed a tyre marker on the entry to the chicane and then struck a second tyre marker - or maybe it was just the sound of them crunching their biscuits in the snug, air-conditioned commentary tower which they mistook for on-track action

Whatever, the Hyundai, was finished for the day leaving Forgy to concentrate on hanging on to his lead but there was an ever present threat behind him, the raucous Citroen of Peter Stewart and Harry Marchbank. Before the rally Stewart was just looking for a finish but as the day progressed and the car was behaving itself he dared hope for a podium and that’s just what they got although Wayne and Connor Sisson were edging ever closer behind them but ran out of stage miles to seriously challenge them.

Having said all that Forgy must have been behaving himself anyway, because there was no sign of any puncture marks on his thigh from Kathryn’s sharp pencil. No blood was drawn in the pursuit of victory!

I don’t know what it is with French cars but they’re noisy little tykes or maybe it was just Ross Hunter wringing his Peugeot 208’s neck on his way to fourth overall and top 2WD with Chris Dodds. Always a ‘likely lad’ when it’s wet and slippery, Hunter was not quite as flamboyant as in his Peugeot 205 days, it must be an age thing! Maturity brings a certain sense of self preservation, eh?

And as for ‘Dangerous’ Des Campbell, who knows what might have been but for a puncture on the second stage as he and Rhys Donaldson finished eighth in the wee Peugeot 206.

It’s a personal thing, but my ’Driver of the Day’ was Alison Horne with her sister Karen who finished 20th overall in a German MINI in one of the tidiest and neatest drives of the day and carrying a decent turn of speed through the corners – most unlike their faither in the past. Young Ollie Forrester ran her a close second for my choice as he finished in an excellent 15th overall in his Citroen C2 just four seconds behind Dave McIntyre who is usually the man to beat in this class.

Had to feel sorry for young Johnnie MacKay though, lying third when the Mitsubishi ran wide on the hill side and sunk to its axles in the glaur. Might also need to keep an eye on Lewis Gilbert in future too. On only his third rally he set some impressive times when his Ford Fiesta with Mitsubishi power and transmission behaved itself. It was only his second run out in the car but it needs a little bit more work to get reliability.

Best noise of the day? John Marshall, and the BMW sounded fabulous too, with its six-shot cacophany under the bonnet crackling around the circuit. Second best was Ben MacDowall’s BMW although rather more subdued than the Beatson’s car. And what about Ross Carbry’s wee Citroen C1, didn’t that sound just the business?

Elsewhere Border Ecosse CC President Monty Pearson announced his ‘retirement’ from the Knockhill Stages organising team with secretary of the meeting Michelle Hunter stepping up – although I’m not sure if he’s told her yet! It was also good to see ‘Forgy’ Senior stomping about, the original green and white Mercury Motorsport rally jacket looking ever more faded as time passes. And Jim McRae was there, fresh from receiving his ‘Lifetime Achievement Award from SAMSC a couple of weeks ago, to hand out the prizes at the conclusion of yesterday’s fun and frolics.

Aye, a grand day out in the fresh air – one thing that Knockhill has plenty of!

Top Ten:
1, Ian Forgan/Kathryn Forgan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 47m 38s
2, Peter Stewart/Harry Marchbank (Citroen C3 Rally2) 48m 14s
3, Wayne Sisson/Connor Sisson (Skoda R5) 48m 32s
4, Ross Hunter/Chris Dodds (Peugeot 208 Rally 4) 49m 04s
5, Ben MacDowall/John Shepheard (BMW 130i) 49m 54s
6, Kenny Wood/Greg Halfpenny (Ford Escort) 50m 23s
7, Martyn Erskine/Ashley Erskine (Mitsubishi Evo) 50m 55s
8, Des Campbell/Rhys Donaldson (Peugeot 206) 51m 04s
9, Chris Thompson/Pete Gibson (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 51m 13s
10, Dave Bellerby/Drew Bellerby (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 51m 17s

Rally - Books on Tour

  Just when you start to believe the rumours that rallying is dying you come along to Knockhill and see the ranks of clean and shiny rally cars surrounded by oily hands and sweaty brows and you realise that all is well with the world - at least for a wee while. Full entry and much variety here at the 'Hill today.

If you want some books, look for the red Transit beside the Office in the main Paddock. I won't be too far away. These are not just books, they are glorious memories of time past.

Rally - Knockhill Stages

Expect the un-expected and prepare for the worst! …. As the ‘Big Yin’ once said, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing.” So bear that in mind this coming weekend when Knockhill Circuit opens its gates to the Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship on Sunday 1st of March.

The Border Access Knockhill Stages Rally has a full entry list of 70 cars and crews and there is plenty in amongst that lot to titillate the thrill seekers and warm the cockles of decibel starved souls.

The Border Ecosse CC organised event also counts towards the Scottish Single Venue Rally Championship, the Back to Roots Tarmack Championship and the North of England Tarmacadam Rally Championship so there will be plenty of variety both personality and automotive on offer.

Pick a winner? Nae chance.

Not that I’m going to make any weather predictions, but just for a bit of fun here’s a selection of foties from past events! So wrap up warm and bring your wellies as well!

I should be there too with the book-tique, so if you didn’t get some informative and illustrated entertaining reading material for your Christmas, here’s your chance. Look out for the red Transit, but I’ll be wandering about anyway, so flag me down and we’ll take it from there. Copies of the first books in the series also available!

Entry List:

https://www.rallies.info/webentry/2026/knockhill/entries?type=s

Knockhill:

https://www.knockhill.com/events/fixture-Border-Access-Knockhill-Rally-Stages-id870?srsltid=AfmBOoqbkV3zgD704eyXDlakUOsabOI7jO0smcEZfQIwbsE2t8JR1XfX

Book Sales:

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