12 May 2026 / By David Ferguson
A trio of hometown drivers are preparing to stir up rivalries as the Scottish and British Championships head back to the Borders town of Duns for the annual Borders Competitions Jim Clark Rally.
Local businessmen Euan Thorburn, Garry Pearson and Dale Robertson have all had their moments in the sun in rallying careers stretching back over the past couple of decades – and two are carrying on a family tradition that goes many years further back than that.
Gunning for podiums in the British Championship this year with MSport, Pearson is adding new chapters to the excitement generated by his father Monty – a driver and navigator through nearly 30 years in the sport.
Indeed, Monty’s last outing as a driver was the 2009 Jim Clark Challenge Rally where he and Dave Robson finished fourth overall in their Opel Corsa, 15 years after he’d navigated Mike Horne to the Scottish Championship in their Sierra Cosworth.
Thorburn’s father Alistair (pictured with Euan left) was pretty quick too, in a Subaru Impreza with co-drivers Keith Jones and Paul McGuire mostly. After finishing second, third and third in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Jim Clark Reivers events, he finished in 2008 with a fourth overall in the Jim Clark National.
He was also a driving influence out of the car behind son Euan’s push to four Scottish Championship titles between 2014 and 2024. The growth of the Thorburn Group business has put paid to rallying in the past two seasons but Euan loves a run around the Borders roads and he will be hard to beat again.
Robertson’s love of horse-power knows no bounds
Dale’s dad Eric is also well-known across the Borders as a driver of great repute, but that was behind the wheel of buses and coaches as part of the Robertson’s Buses business, until recent retirement. He has been known to ride in the local Reivers’ Week, when ‘Duns Dings A’ (hence the Dingers nickname for locals), but rallying wasn’t his game.
Dale now has his hands full now driving and managing countless buses on school routes and weekend sports fixtures, as well as breeding sheep and … competing in three-day eventing! Now, that’s not a combination you see too often, but he clearly likes many forms of horse-power and that explains his rare appearances in rallying.
Keeping with the family theme, however, Euan and Dale will have the Beaton brothers on the notes when the Jim Clark Rally returns to Duns Market Square next Friday (22 May), Paul back alongside the former and Keir with the latter. Dale will be returning to the start line 21 years after his first Jim Clark appearance, in a Peugeot 205 GTi with Stuart Gillies.
Euan is back out in his Polo R5 on roads he knows well and he and Paul are seeded at no3 behind the British title-chasing pair of Meirion Evans and Osian Pryce, with Dale Furniss and James Morgan on the notes, in their Toyota Yaris R2s respectively.
Max McRae and Cameron Fair slot in as fourth seeds in their Skoda Fabia R2 with Pearson and Hannah McKillop in car no5 as the first of many Fiesta R2s in the field.
Dale and Keir are currently seeded 10 in their Fiesta R2 with current Scottish Championship leaders Scott Macbeth and Andrew Falconer one place back in their Polo R5.
Pearson and McKillop keeping eyes on British podium
That sets up a very tasty top ten in which the Yaris’ of the Welsh duo in the Castrol MEM Rally Team may appear to be favourites after their starts to the British Championship – Osian winning the Severn Valley with Meirion in second, after the latter’s close second in North Wales to McRae and Fair in the opening round.
But, clearly, Pearson and McKillop will have something to say about that after their third in the Severn Valley, as will McRae and Fair in their Pirelli-shod Fabia, who were fourth.
The addition of the experienced Duns trio adds spice and with current forecasts predicting rain over the weekend slippy surfaces will ensure thrills and spills, and an opportunity once again for Pirelli tyres to prove their worth.
Wood Motorsport will be at Duns for the full weekend of the Jim Clark Rally, looking after customers across all the championships and ensuring they stick to the Borders roads and enjoy the event – and we will have souvenir programmes on sale too.
We will be posting updates before, during and after the rally so make sure to follow us: Facebook & Instagram