9 August 2026 / By DAVID FERGUSON
GARRY Pearson started the season dreaming of a place on the British Rally Championship podium but, stood drenched in champagne in Banchory after winning a second Asset Alliance Scottish Rally Championship, he was delighted he switched focus.
The Borderer entered the SRC to ensure good practice and competition between the British events, but he duly won his first four Scottish events in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, and admitted: “Well, that led to a bit of a rethink really.”
The ultimate test of his loyalties came in the weekend’s Voly Group Grampian Forest Rally where he entered both the British and Scottish events, but accepted that to count in the latter – and win the title – he could not recce the stages beforehand, and had to rely instead on organiser’s notes and stage videos.
With the World Rally Championship coming to Scotland and Grampian for the first time next year, the field also featured several WRC crews – headed by current WRC leader Elfyn Evans, who did more testing than competing as it turned out – and eventual Grampian winner Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne.
That put Pearson at a disadvantage in the BRC race, and when he hit a rock and suffered a puncture in stage one – losing 40 seconds on the field – the Duns man was enduring his own rocky horror show. But with his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally4 on Pirellis, he and the cool-headed Hannah powered through to catch SRC leader Alex Vassallo after SS4 and went on to win by 52 seconds and top the SRC field for a fifth successive SRC event.
With only five of seven events counting in the SRC race, he was duly crowned 2026 champion with only the Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally remaining.
‘Five wins in five rounds something we should be proud of’
He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to win the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship for a second time. Five wins in five rounds is a really strong achievement and means we complete the season with the maximum possible score, which I think is something we should be proud of.
“The Grampian was quite a difficult event as we compromised our overall result in pursuit of the championship by not recceing the stages, and then were unlucky to find a rock on the line on the first stage which punctured a tyre and cost us 40 seconds. But we knew what we had to do, climbing back into the lead of the SRC and getting the job done.
“A massive thanks to all my team, sponsors and supporters for helping me achieve this, and of course Hannah McKillop and Jack Morton who have both co-driven for me this season. I’m sorry Hannah couldn’t win the title too, but she’s definitely deserving of it.”
Because the duo did not plan to contest the SRC originally Hannah from Horncliffe near Berwick had agreed to also support Irish driver Aoife Raftery in the American Rally Championship, which meant Jack Morton jumping into the navigator’s seat for two clashing events. So, the 2026 SRC co-driver’s title goes to Chris Lees (pictured below), who guided Alex Vassallo to second in Banchory.
Lees, from Glasgow, told SRC News: “I’m absolutely over the moon. I didn’t quite realise this could happen today but the way the points have fallen has gone in our favour. Huge thanks to Alex [Vassallo] who’s been super consistent this year, and thanks to the whole team.”
Steve Petch and Michael Wilkinson made it an all-Fiesta Grampian podium, pipping Bruce McCombie and Neil Shanks to third by just 4.4 seconds, while Scott Peacock and Craig Wallace (pictured below) pipped Craig Rutherford and Ashleigh Will to the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD and Oakbank SRC Challengers categories after leaders Callum Atkinson and Nikki Addison agonisingly crashed out at the flying finish of SS8 on Saturday afternoon.
Natalie Robinson and Sam Collis, third in those two categories, in her Peugeot 208 Rally4, won the Questmead SRC Juniors award for the fourth time this season and can win the title outright in the Galloway Hills, while, at the other end of the spectrum, John Rintoul (Ford Escort Mk2) clinched the Haddo Energy SRC Super Seniors title and Mike Grant and Graham Kelman (Subaru Impreza) – pictured below – the Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup championship with still one rally to go.
Fiona Moir, SRC chairwoman, commented: “Massive congratulations to both Garry Pearson and Chris Lees for winning the overall Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship titles – throughly deserved.
“Well done to John Rintoul and Mike Grant for their category trophies as well. We look forward to the rest of the classes and categories being decided at the Galloway Hills Rally on September 12.”
‘Undoubtedly the best edition yet’
There is no doubt that the Grampian event injected fresh energy and excitement into the 2026 calendar, and plenty of anticipation ahead of the WRC arrival next year. The appearance of the UK’s and many of Europe’s top crews was key, but the success is down to the hard work of the Stonehaven & District Motor Club (click here to join the club and keep in touch with events), and all the organisers, with the autograph books and presence of crews in the packed Rally Zone at King George V Park in Banchory just one superb feature of their ambition.
Clerk of the Course Graham Provest. commented: “This was undoubtedly the best edition yet.
“The success of the 2026 Voly Grampian Forest Rally was a collective achievement involving hundreds of volunteers, officials, marshals, partners, landowners, local communities and supporters all helping to deliver a spectacular weekend that put Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire firmly in the international rallying spotlight.
“We can’t thank everyone enough for all their support, and we hope that they enjoyed the spectacle. The Grampian Rally has always been one of the most highly regarded events in the country, and this year we took it up a notch again. A fabulous weekend for us all”.