18 July 2025 / By DAVID FERGUSON
The unique appeal of the ‘Scottish’ – with its special ‘Fan Zone’ and big screen excitement – has ensured a small but perfectly formed field for this weekend’s event in the forests around Dumfries.
The current leader in the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship Mark McCulloch was originally planning to sit it out, due to ongoing work on other projects, but, with success in Dunoon to follow their first SRC win in the Anglo Caledonian last November still fresh, the Dumfries man and his Aberlour co-driver Michael Hendry are in their Proton, car five, in tomorrow’s RSAC Scottish Rally.
He says: “Having seen one of our local events struggle for entries, we decided to try and support it if we can. The Proton hasn’t been touched since the Argyll Rally last month, and with stage reports coming in from the RSAC team as ‘very smooth’ we wondered if leaving the car in tarmac trim was a possible option, but then again, maybe not….!”
Probably not as, after the closed public roads of Argyll, the SRC is back on the gravel of forest tracks for round four, based again in Dalbeattie, with a very competitive 67-car start-list.
Bogie and Riddick lead the field
Leading the way will be the familiar faces of Scottish champions David Bogie and Kirsty Riddick – David aiming for his second win on home territory, having won Speyside in the Skoda Fabia RS. But Borders pair Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop will be hot on their trail, using the Scottish as good prep for their return to the Probite British Rally Championship in Grampian next month, with Jock Armstrong and Owen Paterson third, John Wink and Neil Shanks fourth and then McCulloch and Hendry in car 5 similarly fired up in front for local fans.
There are plenty of talented crews to watch out for as they take on six stages through the forests of Glengap, Dalbeattie and Kinharvie (the latter a non-spectator stage) throughout Saturday, with each stage visited twice. Aberdeen’s Chris Collie with Ricky Finlayson alongside, Lanark’s John Crawford with McKillop’s husband Josh Davison from Newstead – you can bet they’re keen to get close to car no2 – and Bob Adamson and Harry Stubbs in their Polo GTi R5 will all be looking to mix it up in the top ten.
‘Fun Bobby’ recalls childhood memories
And then we have local boy, Robert Proudlock – or ‘Fun Bobby’ as we know him on social media – who is determined to get back on track after a stuttering start to his year defending the British Junior crown. He’s out with Thornhill’s finest, Harry Marchbank, on notes, and the pair enjoyed a short spin on the Nicky Grist Stages and feel they are beginning to find the hot spot in their new Fiesta R3, and are now setting their sights on the R5s and Rally 2s up ahead.
“Obviously, it’s our local event and it means so much to me,” he told us. “I remember being a young boy watching my dad on these stages, and shouting for the local drivers like Jock Armstrong, so to be in the rally with them now is amazing.
“Kinharvie is only a matter of maybe five miles from my back door and I’ve spent many hours as a kid riding my bike through these forests. You almost know them corner by corner, so being able to come in a rally car and take them on is an absolute dream.”
‘I’ll take it easy, no dramas … well that’s what I tell my dad!’
This will be Proudlock’s fourth Scottish Rally, with a 13th place and first in class last year, but he admits sometimes it can be dangerous to think you know stages too well.
“The key is to stick to the notes and not think that because you have walked and cycled these tracks as a kid so many times, and they are so familiar, that that means you have better knowledge that the notes. You can think you know something and there’s maybe a big boulder, a hole or a cut marked in the notes, but if you’re not listening to that, it can ruin your day pretty quick.
“You’ve still got to be on your game and you treat it like any other rally you do. But I had a good run last year, my best yet, and I think these stages are phenomenal, so I’m just looking to have fun on the stages and enjoy it.
“There’s no huge imperative for us to do well this weekend with the British events to come … well, that’s what I tell my dad, anyway. ‘No big deal, I’ll take it easy, no dramas.’ And you know what it’s like … you get to the end of that first stage, you’re two seconds off of someone and then the adrenalin kicks in. So who knows what it will be like!”
Family rivalries come to the fore
Duncan Campbell from Ayr and Crieff co-driver Michael Cruickshank are out again in their Impreza while another local guy to watch is Martyn Erskine from Stranraer, with Peter Carstrairs, from St Andrews, who are part of a small gang of Lancer Evos. Castle Douglas driver Scott Peacock and Greg Alcorn from Dalbeattie add to the local flavour, while Scott’s dad Donald is back, with Craig Wallace, both in their Escort Mk2s. And for more family competitiveness, watch out for Natalie Robinson and Sam Collis in their 208 R4, and Natalie’s battle with the similar car of mum Christina, navigated by Grum Wilcock.
The Autoshop.co.uk MG3 Rally Challenge is also hotting up and some of the UK’s top young drivers will be battling it out for points in the forests this weekend. Thomas Milne and Neil Jeffrey led the MG3s at the Speyside until rolled out of the event, and will be keen to get back among the leaders, while Speyside champs Robbie Wood and Steven Brown have moved among the challengers with great performances at the Border Counties and Greystoke. This weekend, Steven is otherwise engaged, and so Robbie has the experienced Simon Mills alongside.
Follow it all in Wilson’s yard
The great thing about the Scottish, of course, is the ability to follow the action in the service area ‘Fan Zone’, aka Jas P Wilson’s yard in Dalbeattie, with food, toilets and the big screen showing live action from 9am to 5pm. Follow Andrew Wood Motorsport and Scottish Rally Championship social media for live coverage and updates throughout the day. And we will have a full event report here on the Woodsport website early next week.