2017 Scottish Rally Championship

The Scottish Rally Championship is a rallying series run throughout Scotland over the course of a year, that comprises seven gravel surface events.[1]

The 2017 season began in the snow-covered forest tracks around Inverness on 18 February, with the season finale taking place around Castle Douglas on 9 September. Driver Jock Armstrong and regular co-driver Paula Swinscoe started the season as defending champions having won the 2016 Championship.[2]

Aberdeen based haulage company ARR Craib sponsored the series for the fifth year in a row.

Following the Grampian Stages in August Euan Thorburn and regular co-driver Paul Beaton were declared champions in their Ford Fiesta R5. With only one event left to run the pair were uncatchable in the points table.[3]

2017 calendar

For season 2017 there was seven events held predominantly on gravel surfaces.[4]

Round Dates Event Rally HQ Surface Website
1 18 Feb Snowman Rally Inverness Gravel / Snow (website)
2 18 Mar Border Counties Rally Jedburgh Gravel (website)
3 22 Apr Speyside Stages Rally Elgin Gravel (website)
4 20 May RSAC Scottish Rally Dumfries Gravel (website)
5 24 Jun Argyll Rally Dunoon Gravel (website)
6 12 Aug Grampian Stages Rally Banchory Gravel (website)
7 9 Sep Galloway Hills Rally Castle Douglas Gravel (website)

Calendar changes

Due to calendar changes within the British Rally Championship, the Scottish Rally, usually held in June was brought forward to May. June, meanwhile welcomed a new event to the calendar, the Argyll Rally which saw a return to the forests of Cowal after an absence of 14 years.

2017 events podium

Round Rally name Podium finishers[5]
Placing Driver / Co-Driver Car Time /
Diff leader
1 Snowman Rally
(18 February)
1 David Bogie / Kevin Rae Škoda Fabia R5 37:51
2 Shaun Sinclair / Jamie Edwards Subaru Impreza WRC +0:58
3 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton Ford Fiesta R5 +1:20
2 Border Counties Rally
(18 March)
1 Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe Subaru Impreza 43:32.4
2 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton Ford Fiesta R5 +0:30.5
3 Mike Faulkner / Peter Foy Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +0:30.5
3 Speyside Stages
(22 April)
1 David Bogie / Andrew Roughead Škoda Fabia R5 51:55
2 Desi Henry / Liam Moynihan [N 1] Škoda Fabia R5 +0:39
3 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton Ford Fiesta R5 +0:42
4 RSAC Scottish Rally
(20 May)
1 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton Ford Fiesta R5 42:10.1
2 Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe Subaru Impreza +0:35.2
3 Shaun Sinclair / Jamie Edwards Subaru Impreza WRC +0:58.9
5 Argyll Rally
(24 June)
1 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton Ford Fiesta R5 32:38
2 Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe Subaru Impreza +0:04
3 Shaun Sinclair / Jamie Edwards Subaru Impreza WRC +0:31
6 Grampian Stages Rally
(12 August)
1 David Bogie / Kevin Rae Škoda Fabia R5 41:17
2 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton Ford Fiesta R5 +0:58
3 Paul Bird / Stuart Louden [N 1] Ford Focus WRC +1:21
7 Galloway Hills Rally
(9 September)
1 Jock Armstrong / Cameron Fair Subaru Impreza 39:35
2 Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton [N 1] Ford Fiesta R5 +0:03
3 Shaun Sinclair / Jamie Edwards Subaru Impreza WRC +0:44
Notes
  1. ^ a b c Crew was not registered to score points towards the Scottish Rally Championship.

Drivers' championship standings

Pos Driver Car TSR
BCR
SSR
SCO
ARG
GSR
GHR
 Points[6]
1 Euan Thorburn Ford Fiesta R5 27 28 28 30 30 28 ** 171
2 Jock Armstrong Subaru Impreza 26 30 21* 28 28 27 30 169
3 Shaun Sinclair Subaru Impreza WRC 28 3* 26 27 27 26 28 162
4 Mike Faulkner Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 21 27 27 26 25 25 Ret 151
5 Mark McCulloch Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 22* 25 23 24 26 24 26 148
6 Michael Binnie Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 Ret 19 17 21 21 21 25 124
7 Donnie Macdonald Ford Fiesta R5 20 12 22 23 DNS 22 24 123
8 Iain Wilson Subaru Impreza 16 22 14 Ret 19 18 23 112
9 Simon Hay Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 15 15 16 19 23 20 Ret 108
10 Rory Young Ford Fiesta R5 25 26 DNS 25 DNS DNS 27 103
Pos Driver Car TSR
BCR
SSR
SCO
ARG
GSR
GHR
 Points 
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Non-podium finish
Purple Did not finish (DNF)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
Blank Did not start (DNS)
Blue Nominated dropped points

** Euan Thorburn finished second overall on the Galloway Hills Rally but, having already won the SRC title, was not registered for SRC points. This was to avoid affecting championship runner-up positions.

Points are awarded to the highest placed registered drivers on each event as follows: 30, 28, 27, 26, and so on down to 1 point. At the end of the season, competitors nominate their best 6 scores out of the 7 events as their final overall Championship score.

References

  1. ^ "Rally - Diary dates". John Fife. John Fife. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Armstrong takes second title as rallying gods curse Pearson". SRC. SRC. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Bogie grabs Grampian as Thorburn seals SRC title". SRC. SRC. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  4. ^ "SACC Events Calendar 2017 Calendar". SACC. SACC. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Rally Results from Scotland & Beyond..." FlyingFinish.co.uk. Flying Finish. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Current Standings". SRC. Scottish Rally Championship. Retrieved 10 September 2017.