Launched today in Stirling was the Rally of Scotland (19-21 November), final round of the 2009 IRC series and the most important international championship rally held in the region for countless years. This will be a two-day all-gravel event run mostly on the forest stages in Central Scotland, which in bygone times were made popular by the RAC Rally and the Scottish Rally. The event also focusses on Scotland's traditional heritage. The start will be a Scone Palace, there will be a service park in Blair Castle and the finish will be at Stirling Castle. Three stages are due to be run at night. The event will be the final round of IRC for the next three years.

The Royal Automobile Club Motor Sport Association Rally of Scotland, run from England by IMS Ltd, the body responsible for organising both the Rally GB and the British Grand Prix has no connection with the traditional Scottish Rally. The Scottish continues to be run by the Royal Scottish AC. In the late seventies, the Scottish was held mid-season as one of the elite top-coefficient rounds of the European championship and attracted entries from many of the most famous rally teams of the day. These days the Scottish is run in south west Scotland, based at Dumfries as a qualifying round of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship. The Rally of Scotland represents a major revival of international rally championship activity north of the British border.

Although the Rally of Scotland is scheduled as the final round of the IRC, two months after the penultimate round is expected to be run, it is hoped that the fight for the championship titles will remain open Registration regulations for the IRC, however, do not demand attendance at every round. No news about the dilemmas facing the IMS regarding the threats to both the Wales Rally GB and the F1 British Grand Prix was offered, except confirmation that the next step in the legal battle to save the Wales Rally GB will be court proceedings on 22 May. IRC sources have confirmed that the planned penultimate round in Japan, due for October, will not now be held.

3mmm
photo: Hannu Mikkola winner of Scottish Rally in 1978