Finally a puff of
white smoke from the Big Hoose at the foot of the Royal Mile in Auld Reekie.
The legislation allowing the re-introduction of closed roads for sporting
pursuits (including rallying) was signed-off on Wednesday of this week.
In other words, both the Jim Clark Rally
and the Beatson's Building Supplies Mull Rally now have the green light to
resume their motor sporting endeavours.
The new legislation will also allow
other car clubs to pursue 'closed roads' for sprints, hillclimbs and rallies
where local conditions favour and can accommodate such events. Just don't
expect a rush of applications with new events springing up all over the
calendar. The planning and logistics of such an event requires a strong and
determined organising team and a lot of manpower. It might even be fair to say
that such an event will be more difficult to organise than a forest rally!
A great number of people have spent a
lot of time, energy and money on getting this sport 'back on the road' and we
owe a huge debt of gratitude for their tireless efforts. And let's not forget
the men and women behind the scenes inside Transport Scotland who have been so
supportive all the way through. Rallying may not enjoy the public profile of
football or rugby, but the Transport Scotland staff treated us as equals, and
you can't say fairer than that.
All we have to do is show them that we
are still the sensible and resilient bunch of people that we were before this
hiatus fell on us. And that includes spectators, not just the seasoned and
knowledgeable, but those who are simply attracted to the spectacle. We must all
be on our guard to stop the eedjits from ruining it for the rest of us.
Both events have posted information on
their own websites:
No comments:
Post a Comment