Pearson and McKillop dominate Border Counties Rally

Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop returned to the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) in style with victory at round two: the Border Counties Rally.

Based in Newtown St Boswells, the Border Counties returned to the SRC calendar for the first time since 2019, featuring seven gorgeous special stages in the Tweed Valley.

Garry Pearson from Duns and his navigator Hannah McKillop from Newstead proved unbeatable in their Fiesta Rally2 car, winning all seven stages through the forests of Craik, Yair, Cardrona and Elibank – back in use for the first time in seven years - to make it third time lucky after runners-up spots in 2016 and 2019.

Asked if there was a secret to taming the Borders forests, Pearson said: “I don’t think there’s any one secret - we just managed to keep a good pace going right through them all day. The conditions changed quite a lot, from slippy early on to quite dry later, but we tried to use that to our advantage.

“But, credit to everybody competing because it was a difficult day out there and I think everybody's done well to get to the end. We came out on the top step, but everybody else had a good day as well and I think credit has to go to the rally organisers because it was a really good bunch of stages.”

He added: “I really enjoyed being part of the Scottish Rally Championship again. The field is super strong, the organisation is good and the rallies are always fun to drive.

“I’ve come second twice in this rally, so while this was more about blowing off some cobwebs and testing things, I went for it today and wanted to compete, and it’s always nice to win, especially when it’s your home rally.”

Pearson and McKillop won the overall title, and Brick and Steel Trophy and Royal British Legion Shield respectively, by over a minute from Scott Macbeth and Andrew Falconer, the winners of the first round in the SRC, the Snowman, in Inverness. The Highlanders claimed the Starrett Trophy and Jethart Cup while four-times and reigning Border Counties champion Elliot Payne and his navigator Michael Gilbey finished third, also in a Fiesta, to claim the Kielder Trophy and Border Reiver Trophy respectively.

Pearson and McKillop did have some hairy moments, however, losing communication with his co-driver through their headsets throughout the second stage and suffering a puncture two miles from the end.

McKillop said: “It feels really, really good now, but, yes, we had an intercom issue so there was a lot of shouting going in the second stage and I had quite a sore throat afterwards.

“And the puncture two miles from the end wasn’t great, but we knew we had a good lead by then and just kept pressing on, and it was tremendous to get to the end knowing we’d won.

“It’s lovely to be back winning a Scottish Championship event. It’s a championship that is close to my heart and obviously close to home today, so it's really, really nice and a lot fun.”

The victory has also encouraged the Borders crew to take on both the Scottish and British Championships, at least for the next few events, which means they will be out again in four weeks’ time for the Severn Valley Stages on 11 April followed by the Jim Clark Rally, back in Pearson’s home town, on 22-24 May.

There is always great interest too in the cars of the yesteryear with a Ford Escort Mk1 winning the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD Championship by one second after 48 miles from two Escort Mk2s. The champions Mike Stuart and Clare Fraser also collected top points in the Oakbank Challengers Championship in their stunning red Escort Mk1, with Creaig Rutherford and Tom Hynd second and Ross Jarrett and Berwickshire co-driver Claire Mole third, just two seconds behind the winners.

There were three female drivers and a lot of female co-drivers in the Border Counties, and Natalie Robinson from Ripon repeated her round one victory in the Questmead SRC Juniors behind the wheel of her Peugeot 208 Rally4, while her mother Christina also produced as fine performance.

SRC chairwoman, Fiona Moir, was delighted to see the Border Counties Rally back in the Scottish competition and hopes it is here to stay.

“Once again we witnessed another fantastic event in the Scottish Rally Championship unfold,” she said. “Across all the classes, there was action and stories to tell – especially in the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD with that breathless finish.

“One of the championship’s mantras is ‘where champions are made’ and Garry Pearson’s performance upon his return proved just that. He won the title back in 2021 and has since progressed to the British championship, and you could see the improvement in his stage times which the SRC helped foster.

“I would also like to extend a massive thank you to the Border Counties Rally organising team for putting on a great event. We missed the rally over the last seven years but it was fantastic to be back, and long may that continue.”

While many of these teams head back to the garage to prepare for the Severn Valley Stages and British competition next month, the SRC takes a two-month break before switching to the closed public roads of the Borders for the Jim Clark Reivers Rally in May.

By David Ferguson

Border Counties Rally

Top 10 Results:

1. Garry Pearson / Hannah McKillop - 43:09

2. Scott MacBeth / Andrew Falconer - 44:23

3. Elliot Payne / Michael Gilbey - 44:57

4. Jock Armstrong / Craig Nelson - 45:41

5. Stephen Petch / Michael Wilkinson - 45:54

6. Thomas Gray / Harry Marchbank - 46:37

7. Mike Stuart / Clare Fraser - 47:57

8. Craig Rutherford / Tom Hynd - 47:58

9. Ross Jarrett / Claire Mole - 47:59

10. Chris Collie / Ricky Finlayson - 48:13