Rally Galloway

After the furious fighting frenzy of last weekend’s Jim Clark and Reivers Rallies at Duns, this weekend sees a more ‘gentle’ approach to the sport of rallying with Drumlanrig Castle hosting their first ever Lombard Rally Festival. That’s not to say that Drumlanrig knows nothing about rallying, because the estate has actually hosted some competitive single-venue rallies in the past.

However this coming weekend, Saturday and Sunday 30th and 31st May, the organisers of the annual and hugely successful ‘Lombard Bath Rally Festival’, and other such festivals around the country, are coming to Dumfries & Galloway with their rally road show.

Mixing rally stars from past and present with rally cars from past and present, this exciting spectacle will feature a variety of front wheel, rear wheel and four wheel drive cars driven by current and past drivers on the specially designed ‘Rally Stage’ within the castle grounds.

The organisers of these festivals always have a few surprises up their sleeves and who knows what will be on the menu this weekend. From a three cylinder, one litre Volkswagen CitiGo to an eight cylinder, 6 litre Vauxhall Firenza – just don’t stand near the exhaust when the big beast gets fired up!

The big attraction of an event such as this is that spectators can get up close to the drivers and cars and find out what the sport is all about. Amongst the entry list are some Ecosse Junior 1000 rally cars. These cars are used in the 14 to 17 year old young driver category and provides the ideal first step into the sport even if the youngster isn’t yet old enough to hold a driving licence. Once the road licence age has been reached, the next step up might involve one of the various one-make challenges, like the more budget friendly MG3 Challenge, where modifications are limited and the competition is closer. And there should be a couple of these cars at Drumlanrig this weekend.

However, it is the ‘big bangers’ which will attract most attention from Ford Escorts and Subaru Imprezas, to an MG Metro 6R4 and Ford RS200, and keep a special eye out for one car in particular – it has two engines, one at the back and one at the front!

And although this isn’t a proper rally as such, just don’t try and tell any of the drivers that, once the green light signals ‘Go’ you can bet your little racing booties that it will be foot to the floor all the way. Just stand well back. And on that note, although spectators are welcome please listen to and adhere to the Marshals’ instructions.

And if you do want any more information on Scottish rallying you could always stop by the ‘Book-tique’ and buy a copy of the ‘Scottish Rally Championship’ books which will provide some entertaining and educational insight into the sport in Scotland, with info and photos on a young Colin McRae’s career amongst others.

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