Rally - TJ and TBA

TJ and Lee McKenzie

There’s a ‘TBA’ on the Entry List for this weekend’s GWF Energy Merrick Stages Rally which is arousing quite a bit of interest in certain quarters. The question is, who will be Tony Jardine’s co-driver on this event?

The Sky Sports commentator and F1 reporter has had a huge variety of co-drivers over the years, but he never does it the easy way. He always seems to have someone new in the passenger seat and often somebody that doesn’t know the first thing about rallying. The reason becomes apparent when you look through some of the names he’s coached, bullied and shoogled through the nation’s forests.

Those personalities have included Des Kelly of the Daily Mirror and Byron Young of the Daily Mail, Bob McKenzie of the Daily Express and Tom Carey of the Daily Telegraph, plus TV commentators Jake Humphrey, Louise Goodman and our very own Ayrshire lass, Lee McKenzie. They all have at least one thing in common – their connections with the mass media.

In other words, Tony has done a lot more than many other ‘rally stars’ to promote the sport of rallying. So speculation is rife with regard to his brand new ‘never raced or rallied co-driver’ this weekend. The selected 'victim' needs signatures to qualify for an International licence for Wales Rally GB in 2 month's time, hence the visit to the south west of Scotland this Saturday.

We won’t know who the celebrity is till tomorrow, but it is none of the above. Just bring your autograph books anyway. It’ll be worthwhile.