15 July 2026 / By David Ferguson
LEWIS Hamilton has deliberately created headlines by suggesting an ambitious driver needs in the region of £10m to make it to an F1 grid in 2026, and as a result a lot of talent is being lost to British motorsport.
The costs associated with competing are forever rising, but what is the story in rallying? Can keen youngsters from all backgrounds still make it to the top?
There is no doubt that money is needed to purchase or rent the ex-works title-chasing cars that will be pushing for the title in this weekend’s RSAC Scottish Rally, but among them will be the current Asset Alliance Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) leader, Mark McCulloch, in his ‘home-made’ Proton Satria Evo.
His wonderfully bright yellow and red car certainly sticks out and that’s just the way Mark likes it. The 39-year-old sign-maker is one of the many rally enthusiasts that has had to indulge his passion on a budget and that he competing at rallying summits, with runner-up spots in the last two championships, is a dream come true for Mark and co-driver Michael Hendry.
“It has been great fun competing with all these top cars and showing that what we’ve built can actually compete,” he said.
“I’m not getting carried away. It’s great to be leading this year’s championship coming back home this weekend and, yeah, it does make all that work you put into it worthwhile, but we know we’re only leading the SRC right now because we’ve finished all four events so far. When we have to drop a couple then we’ll really see where we are, and, being realistic, I don’t expect to be leading the championship then.
“But there were plenty people who told me making my own car wouldn’t work, or it wouldn’t be competitive, and I think we’re showing them now that it is possible if you put the work in.”
A Proton chassis, Evo engine, weight transference … and many late nights
Born and bred in Newton Stewart, Mark moved to Dumfries in 2015 with his Signright Graphix business, and by then his rallying career was in full flow. It was somewhat inevitable as his father John (pictured above with Mark and Chloe at Grizedale) was a competitive co-driver, and Mark was actually born on the day of the Galloway Hills Rally in 1986 – he turned 17 on the day of the rally too and enjoyed driving his dad to the event.
Supported by his long-time partner Mairi Riddick, who shares his love of rallying and is a fine co-driver herself, he has rallied for the past 20 years in everything from Peugeot 205s, Novas and Corsas to Fiestas and Subarus, but when the budget wouldn’t stretch to an R5 car he decided to make his own.
“I wanted to see if we could do it and compete with the top cars,” he explained. “We aimed for a sort of halfway house between a Subaru or an Evo and an R5, but a home-built version.
“We got hold of the Proton chassis, which we knew was a good working chassis because I’d driven one in the past, and we went about converting it to run an Evo engine, so that it was more affordable.
“People said it wouldn’t work, and there are a lot of prototype cars where they’ll chuck an engine in, like an Evo engine, and Evo running gear into them, and they don’t work because they are just an Evo in a different body shell.
“But we went to a lot of effort, and many, many late nights, tilting the engine back and getting the weight in the right places, working with Euan Syme on suspension and differentials and stuff, and just taking many ideas that I’ve seen on R5 cars and trying them in this one.
“We’re on Pirelli tyres too which have been great and having the support of Andrew Wood, a driver who has been there and done it in all rallies, has been a great help as well.
“It’s taken a few years, and a lot of support from a lot of people – especially Mairi and our daughter Chloe (pictured below) – and while it’s nothing like the works cars it’s not exactly cheap either. But it’s going well now and it’s really just the latest Rally2 machinery that’s been beating us.”
Passion fuelling new opportunities for youngsters to get into rallying
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this journey is that Mark is, or was, no mechanic, and says he has simply learned through rallying. And it is a passion that he wants to spread to others.
He started out in the Peugeot 205 Challenge, which he won in 2008 with Craig Wallace, and that was designed to introduce youngsters to the sport, and he and Mairi’s sister, Kirsty Riddick, have developed the MG3 Challenge along similar lines. This season, they have upgraded the MG3s from 1400cc to 1800cc cars to provide a similar launchpad for new up-and-coming drivers and co-drivers.
“The costs and challenges facing youngsters does worry me for the future of rallying, so we’re trying to do our bit to help that,” he explained.
“It is tough because there is a lot that goes into organising a championship, but Niall Cowan and I have managed to get some MG3 cars to hire out to youngsters, and there are some private ones. Robbie [Wood] is a great example because he did that last year and that helped him get to grips with the events, the differences between gravel and tarmac, and just start his rallying education. You can see how much he has come on this year as he currently leads the SRC Juniors.
“So, I want to keep doing that because it is expensive for people to get into rallying, maybe not as much as F1 but it can be hard for talented kids to get into it. The important thing is helping young guys or girls understand that you don’t have to be in a Rally2 car to compete; there’s a lot of fun in rallying even if you’re not competing right at the top.”
A Scottish Rally ‘battle royale’ awaits as big guns enter the forest
Mark is one of the best adverts for that, even if he has now taken himself among the Scottish elite. He is keeping an open mind on how this championship will pan out with Garry Pearson shifting his focus from the British to the Scottish, and Max McRae and Cammy Fair also following up their Jim Clark BRC success with a run out this weekend, albeit without seeking SRC points.
McCulloch and Hendry finished third in last year’s Scottish Rally (pictured above), just 28 seconds off the M-Sport Fiesta Rally2 of winner Pearson and Hannah McKillop, and 13 behind David Bogie and sister-in-law Kirsty in a Skoda Fabia Rally2. Crucially, their Proton beat five R2, R3 or R5 Fiestas, a Polo R5 and Subarus, and helped him claim runner-up spot to Bogie in the SRC. And he heads into this weekend having claimed third overall in Argyll (pictured below) and fifth overall and third SRC car in the Jim Clark Reivers.
“Competing with two multiple champions in the best machinery was pretty amazing and this weekend will be similar,” he added. “Of course, it would be nice to win the championship, but for that to happen everything has to go your way. It didn’t quite in the opening two rallies this year, but who knows in rallying?
“We’ve had some great days too – there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had just from seeing how far we can push, and when you finish on a podium it’s pretty special.
“And there’s not an event goes by that people don’t come over and look at the car and say they think what we’ve done with the Proton is great. And the yellow livery – inspired by the SEAT works car of the late ’90s driven by Barbara Armstrong from Castle Douglas – has given it a fresh lease of life.
“But it’s very much a team effort from some great guys who help me and Michael, and valuable support from sponsor David Hardie and others, but that’s what rallying is all about – people helping each other. Who knows how we’ll go this weekend but we’re going to have great fun trying to finish as high up as we can.”
