Scottish rallies withdraw from BRCposted in RSCOT03 | 12 | 2015
TWO SCOTTISH RALLIES, which were included in the original seven-round calendar for the revamped British Rally Championship next year, have withdrawn.
The new-look calendar, which also introduced newly-revised vehicle eligibility regulations — including turbocharged four-wheel drive cars — was initially announced in June.
But while the Dumfries-based RSAC Scottish Rally on June 25 will still form round four of the championship, both the Jim Clark Rally and Granite City Rally — the latter was originally intended as the season finale — have pulled out of the series.
"The Aberdeen-based Granite City has a new organising team for 2016," BRC manager, Invernessian Iain Campbell, explained, "so it was just a bit much for the event to step straight up to BRC level.
"And with everything still on-going with regard to the police enquiry in Scotland, it was simply not possible for the Jim Clark team to be certain they could get the road closure orders for the Borders.
Related: Jaguar Land Rover eyeing Silverstone bid
"So, as it did this year, it will again head into the forests and run on gravel for 2016. We hope they'll be back on the roads in 2017."
It's 18 months since the triple fatality in the 2014 Jim Clark Rally — then held on closed-off public roads — triggered the Scottish Government's Motor Sport Safety Review, which continues to have a direct effect on rallying in Scotland.
The two Scottish events have been replaced by the Builth Wells-based Nicky Grist Stages on July 9/10, and the new season-ending Manx International, which will be held on the Isle of Man on September 15-17.
“It has been a real jigsaw puzzle to put it all together," Campbell explained, "but the events we have are among the best in the British Isles and we cannot wait to see the best drivers in the best cars fight for supremacy.”
Former British Rally champs include Lanark's five-time winner Jimmy McRae, plus sons Colin and Alister, and most recently David Bogie from Dumfries.
Bogie, the five-times Scottish rally champ and 2011 British champ, will contest the revamped 2016 championship in a four-wheel drive Ford Fiesta.
2016 MSA British Rally Championship Calendar
March 5/6 — Mid-Wales Stages, Newtown (Gravel)
April 8/9 — Circuit of Ireland, Belfast (Asphalt)
April 30/May 1 — Pirelli Carlisle Rally, Carlisle (Gravel)
June25 — RSAC Scottish Rally, Dumfries (Gravel)
July 9/10 — Nicky Grist Stages, Builth Wells (Gravel/Asphalt)
August 19/20 — Ulster Rally (Asphalt)
September 15/17 — Rally Isle of Man, Douglas (Asphalt)
Related: Kris Meeke bags emotional GB podium
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/Scotcars
Jim McGill