Big time rallying comes back to Scotland when the IRC supports the brand new Rally of Scotland as its final round in the series. After years when top level motorsport in the country has been at a low ebb, concentrated on Touring Car racing in Knockhill and the British championship Jim Clark Memorial Rally, the return of an international series to this historically strong motorsport country is very welcome. For years the annual Scottish Rally was acknowledged as Britain’s number two rally. Before then Scotland annually played a major role in the route of the RAC Rally, and before then was a starting point in the concentrations run of Rallye Monte-Carlo. It is a delight that top level rallying is back there again. The first motoring competition in Scotland was the Scottish Reliability Trial in 1905 and the first event of international significance was when the Monte Carlo appointed Glasgow as a start in 1924. From 1928 up to 1939 they nominated the start instead from John O’Groats. After the war their British based start went back to Glasgow and the tradition continued till 1973. These were days of harsher winters when drivers had to struggle through snow drifts even on main roads. In 1959, after a period staying south of the border, the RAC Rally returned to Scotland but there was catastrophic mismanagement. Drivers were sent through a long mountain road, only to realise too late that the road was already blocked by snow. The ensuing protests were not resolved until the following year! This catastrophe forced a major re-think and the next year the RAC Rally broke new completely new ground, including running special stages in Britain for the first time.

These four sections were run on closed public roads in Scotland, and one of these decided the event. The RAC Rally moved into forestry land on a permanent basis and its repertoire of forest locations became household names in the sport. Several of these original stages are being featured on the Rally of Scotland this year. The wintry conditions began to become a byword in the event, the routes of stages were unknown, the stages in Scotland were often longer, rougher and faster than others in Britain, and had quite a individual feel to them. In the meanwhile the mid summer Scottish Rally also started to sue forest stages and the event itself grew in stature and popularity, attracting entry lists of a quality which would have done world championship rallies proud. It was a five day event, with one run through a (short) night and for the rest of the event covered most of the country at a beautiful time of year. The promoters of the rally created in 1988 a breakthrough in British rallying by being the first event to arrange for official recce of forest stages and allowing pacenotes to be used on what previously had been secret route events. This was a watershed and led to all the other British forest events, including the RAC Rally itself, doing the same.

The Scottish Rally continued as a major event in the European rally series right up to 1996 when a conflict of vehicle requirement between the FIA and the British Rally Championship organisers caused a split. The event gradually dwindled in significance but meanwhile a new movement began in south east Scotland with the Jim Clark Memorial Rally. This event was centred around Duns, the home town of Clark himself and the legendary rally driver Andrew Cowan and, by using an Act of Parliament to cut through difficulties, gained official permission to close public roads for rally sport, as was customary in the Isle of Man and Ireland. The Jim Clark Rally retained Scotland’s foothold in the BRC. Mention of Cowan highlights the remarkable influence Scottish drivers have had in British rallying. Cowan had been a household name in the world of marathon rallies as well as professional European events, and paved the way for the McRae brothers. The late Colin McRae became the first British driver to be world rally champion in 1995. A contemporary of the McRaes was Louise Aitken Walker, a highly respected professional driver who in 1990 won the inaugural FIA Cup for Lady drivers. Rally of Scotland is new as an event. It is organised by the British federation in London but carries with it the greatness of the sport in the country. The IRC series is now in its fourth season and this is the first time it has come to Britain. The entry includes six Super 2000 cars, a record for Britain: two from Kronos for Kris Meeke and Celebrity driver Adam Gould, one each for Guy Wilks making his debut with Skoda, Alister McRae (Proton Satria Neo), a Fiat from Procar for Keith Cronin and Tim Stebani (Opel Corsa OPC). There is an eclectic mixture of other cars, including regular IRC driver Franz Wittmann on probably his final appearance with a Mitsubishi, and other top Scottish and Irish drivers including David Bogie, Dave Weston, Alastair Fisher and Eamonn Boland. There is a strong presence of two wheel drive cars including no fewer than five Honda Civic Type-Rs and five Fiestas (either R2 or older ST models) headed by triple Fiesta champion Craig Breen. There is also a parallel event for Club drivers and also Land Rovers. In the end a total of over 60 entries were received for the event sponsored by Event Scotland. This event belatedly rounds off the 2009 IRC series. Because of the cancellation of the planned IRC in Japan, this rally comes eight weeks after the previous round, Sanremo, when the major championships were rounded off. And except for the Dubai Rally in December this is the last international championship rally of the season. The rally starts in the dark at Scone Palace just outside the start at Perth on Thursday evening, proceeds on Friday with pauses at a service park at Blair Atholl before night-rest at Stirling. The Saturday stages are centred around Stirling where the rally finishes at dusk. Next year the event has already been scheduled for a Mid October date as the penultimate IRC round and run ahead of the WRC Rally GB. And what will the weather be like. Who knows? I remember one Scottish Rally when there was snow lying on the Drummond Hill stage in June. The rally is again running Drummond Hill. It won’t be a boring event...

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