28/05/2026
Weekend 3 of 4 in a row was thankfully a bit closer to home, but that didn’t make things any less stressful. A nice short journey to Duns for the Jim Clark Rally.
The week got off to a hectic start after having to repair the damage and re-prep Ross’ car from Carlow’s wall incident, as well as Craig’s car from Sunday’s test day. Add in getting all the other cars ready to leave the workshop on Thursday morning, and it’s safe to say there wasn’t much sleep had last week 😴
Friday morning meant shakedown for most of the crews to get up to speed on the fast Borders lanes. No major dramas for any of the lads, just an unfortunate broken driveshaft for father-and-son pairing Craig and Ian Macivor. The long wait between shakedown and the start of the event at least gave us some downtime.
First crew to tackle the event, and only taking part in the national section, were Ross Hunter and Chris Dodds in the 208 Rally4. Their third event in three weeks, this time competing in Round 2 of the Stellantis UK Cup. Four stages lay ahead on some of the best roads the Borders has to offer, and the times were very impressive until a puncture on Stage 3 set them back. Saturday morning’s aim was to claw back as much time as possible. A quick spring change in service with 10 minutes to go kept things entertaining, but helped them climb back to 24th overall and 2nd in the Stellantis Cup.
Next up were Craig Rutherford and Richard Simmonds in the Mk2 Es**rt, contesting all three days. Friday night would prove tricky, with a sensor failing early on and reducing the car’s power. Thankfully, it was repaired in service and all was well for the remaining two stages. Saturday brought no major dramas at all, using this part of the event to get up to speed for Sunday’s Championship round. They finished Saturday 34th overall.
Sunday was Round 3 of the Scottish Rally Championship. Again, it was a relatively trouble-free run, with speed increasing throughout the day until the clutch developed an issue. Thankfully, they made it back to service for the boys to change before heading back out to make up for lost time. They finished the event 15th overall and 1st in class.
Joe Crawford and Tommi Henderson also competed across all three days in another Mk2 Es**rt. Another local man to the Borders, Joe was keen to get stuck into the stages. Friday night passed with no dramas and a clean run. Saturday morning brought even more confidence in the daylight. All was going well until running a bit wide after a hairpin on Stage 4 and getting beached, but luckily they managed to get back onto the stage with minimal time lost, finishing 41st overall. A clutch change on Saturday night had the car ready to go again for Sunday’s event. Thankfully, there were no more excursions into any ditches, just a cracked engine mount to contend with, but all in all it was a good weekend for the local man, finishing 21st overall on sunday.
Mike Stuart and Clare Fraser were in a slightly newer and more modern-spec Es**rt for the weekend after borrowing the car from Paddy Munro. Friday’s shakedown stage gave Mike his first taste of tarmac in the car, and just two runs were enough to leave smiles on their faces after that baptism of fire.
Onto Sunday and they came straight out of the blocks setting great 2WD times. Time for service, and the only job needing done was cable-tying the wipers to stop them lifting up the windscreen when flat out 😬 On the second-last stage, the car cut out, costing them over a minute. Knowing what the issue was, they just needed to nurse it to the finish, with the problem getting worse on the final stage. Fortunately, they made it across the line, although another minute was lost. They finished the day 24th overall — still a fantastic result considering it was Mike’s first ever tarmac rally and first event in the car (not sure it’ll be the last!).
Craig and Ian Macivor also took part in shakedown on Friday, as this was Craig’s first ever closed-road rally.
Sunday morning and honestly, I don’t know who was more nervous — Craig or Ian 😬 However, off to the stages they went, and the nerves soon settled once the helmets were on (for Craig at least 😆) setting very competitive times considering his lack of experience on closed roads. All was looking good for a strong finish until the car lost drive on the final stage 😤
Robbie Wood and Steven Brown took part in Robbie’s newly acquired 208 Rally4, also competing across all three days. With a bit of added pressure too, Robbie being another local to the Borders, but that didn’t seem to faze him at all. Confidence and speed improved as the weekend went on, finishing the national event 44th overall.
Sunday brought another opportunity to keep getting used to the new car and continue building confidence. All was going well until they went off on the penultimate stage. Thankfully, both lads were okay and unharmed.
Yet again, a massive thanks to all the lads for their hard work in the workshop and on the event. There’s absolutely no way any of this would be possible without everyone’s help 💪🏽
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Ben Lawrence Photography
Black Mountains Media
JMS Photographic
Ian Buttery
