Scottish Rally - 27 Jun 09

FST heads north of the border

Posted: June 22, 2009 2:38 PM

The fourth round of the Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy takes place next weekend as the competing crews head north into Scotland to tackle the RSAC Scottish Rally - an event the FST has never visited since its inception in 2006. The event based in Dumfries sees the rally HQ situated at the Ice Bowl arena. The rally takes in six classic stages with no double usage during the entire event - meaning a tough challenge for all crews involved, and with many of the tests not being used for rallying for a number of years the stages should be in perfect condition. The event sees the FST move away from the BRC for the final time this year meaning all competitors complete the whole event with the winner being declared at the end of the one-day rally.

The first of the Fiesta ST's lining up for the ceremonial start in Dumfries is current series leader Kyle Orr (19) from Dromore. Orr has never led the series but after a number of successful points hauls from the first three rounds he finds himself top of the leader board, Orr will be aiming for his first win of the season here and hope to increase his advantage over the other FST competitors.

Second in the series is Mark Donnelly (17) from Omagh who will be navigated by his regular co-driver Paddy Robinson. Donnelly has been fighting for his first win all season and as well as lying second overall in the Irish series he also lies second overall in the UK series. Donnelly will be competing on the fourth round of the Irish series this weekend in Donegal and will be hoping for a good result on consecutive weekends to help him keep his title winning chances alive.

Currently third overall in the championship is Matt Edwards (24) from Cockermouth with new navigator for this event Sam Collis. Collis is an old regular to the FST series and only a week after he won the Dukeries rally outright with series sponsor Steve Perez in his Ford Focus WRC he will hope to help Edwards to his second victory of the year and retake the series lead, an achievable feat as he lies only 4 points behind Orr.

Craig Breen (18) from Waterford and navigator Gareth Roberts lie fourth in the series. Breen will also be competing in Donegal before the Scottish rally and will want to take a maximum points haul in both the Irish and this UK event. Breen currently leads the Irish series and wants to continue this trend in the UK to help him fulfilling his dream of taking both titles in his debut year.

Kris Hall (19) from Appleby teams up again with his regular navigator for the event Robbie Durant, Hall had a great start to the season with a victory on Round one but since then has struggled to repeat this performance, with a retirement on the previous round, the Pirelli International the runner up from last years FSTi Shootout will hope to repeat his performance from Round one and lift him back up the standings.

Billy Coleman Award Winner Ross Forde (25) from Galway and navigator Gary McElhinney continue their prize of a supported drive in the UK FST series at the Scottish Rally. After a successful start to the championship with better performances on each event the young pairing will be looking to get onto the podium for the first time this year.

John Boyd (22) from West Linton and navigator Fred Bell make a return for the Scottish event, with this being the crews home event they will hope to perform well and used their home advantage to maximum benefit.

Stevie Brown (21) from Peterhead and navigator Andrew Roughead return for round four of the series. The event is also local for Brown who is offering a ride in his Fiesta ST to a lucky raffle prizewinner as he is helping out with a charity forum the event is putting on prior to the rally, hopefully his good work here will grant him a good finish in the event.

Harry Hunt (20) from London suffered a broken leg shortly after the Pirelli rally, however after an incredibly quick recovery he is ready to get back in the driving seat and compete in Scotland, he will be partnered by new navigator for this event Kris Killip. Hunt wants to get back into the swing of things with a solid result after his time away injured.

Rory Hall (26) from Fishguard and navigator Lee Burgess return after missing out the previous round. Hall who will be using his Kick Energy media award prize to gain free entry to the event is looking to improve on his season best seventh position.

The final three crews in the rally are Tom Watson (18) from Glanamman, Jamie Brown (17) from Norwich and Robbie Barrable (21) from Dublin. All three crews were new to the series this year and all have improved over the first three rounds to the extent that they are now challenging for podium positions.

The Kick Energy FST UK has a prize fund in excess of £18,000, with £750 for the winner of each round down to £75 for eighth place.

Provisional Seeded Entry List

Posted: June 22, 2009 2:26 PM

Scottish Rally

Over 130 Entries

Posted: June 22, 2009 2:24 PM

Entries for the 2009 RSAC Scottish Rally have topped the 130 mark - and with a week to go until the event gets underway we could be seeing a phenomenal entry for the fifth round of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship. Despite all the doom-and-gloom predictions about dwindling entry lists before the start of the 2009 season, Scottish rally entry lists have been bursting at the seams this year, and it seems the Dumfries-based RSAC rally is no exception.

Thanks in no small part to the support of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy, Brick and Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge, Motoscope Northern Historic Championship and the Armed Forces Rally team, the RSAC Scottish Rally looks on course for a massive entry. Local driver David Bogie heads the entry list at number 1 in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 with co-driver Kevin Rae, however he is sure to be pushed all the way by fellow locals Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick in their Subaru Impreza N11 and reigning Scottish champion Jimmy Girvan partnered by Mike Ramsay in a similar Subaru.

The Scottish Rally has a long and illustrious history in international rallying, and competitors from all number of nations are on this year's entry list. Alongside Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish competitors are drivers and co-drivers hailing from as far afield as the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Romania and Sri Lanka!

The rally itself may be on Satuday 27 June, but don't forget that on the evening of Thursday 25 June, a charity rally forum will be held in the James Haugh Subaru dealership in Dumfries. A number of stars from the Scottish, British and world rallying scenes will be fielding questions, and proceeds will go to Help for Heroes.

List of Entries received to date:

Posted: June 4, 2009 10:54 AM

Scottish Rally

Regulations available:

Posted: May 19, 2009 7:39 PM

Scottish Rally

Scottish Rally returns to Eskdalemuir

Posted: May 12, 2009 3:15 PM

The RSAC Scottish Rally is coming back to Eskdalemuir - but it's not going to be hanging about while it's there. For 2009, the Dumfries-based rally will once again use the famous Castle O'Er and Twiglees stages as part of a route that offers 100% single usage. That means no going over roads again that the whole field have already made their way through.

Castle O'Er and Twiglees return to the Scottish for the first time since 2006, and will be joined by the competitors' favourite Kinharvie, a new configuration in the Forest of Ae and of course the Heathhall spectator special. This will give a total of 45 miles of competitive stage action, using a different bit of road for every single inch of the action.

The rally itself takes place on Saturday 27 June, with rally headquarters running out of Dumfries Ice Bowl. The organising team will be out on the streets of Dumfries on Saturday 13 June with a preview day to raise publicity for the event, and some of the top names in Scottish rallying will be fielding questions at a Rally Forum on Thursday 25 June.

The RSAC Scottish Rally will be the fifth round of the 2009 Hankook Scottish Rally Championship, and for this year welcomes the competitive Fiesta SportingTrophy north of the Border. The Scottish is also a counter in the Brick and Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge, the Scottish Borders Rally Championship and the Motoscope Northern Historic Rally Championship.

Event Website / Details

Posted: January 1, 2009 12:01 AM

Scottish Rally