9 July 2026 / By DAVID FERGUSON
IT GOES without saying that mechanics know everything there is to know about cars, but the answer is less categoric when one asks if mechanics make good rally drivers.
Martyn Erskine, however, is definitely in the ‘yes’ camp when it comes to the conversion from under the car to behind the wheel, and despite it coming relatively later in life the fun and games of the last five years suggests he is making a good fist of it as he plans a return to the RSAC Scottish Rally – where it all nearly finished before it had begun.
The Dumfries and Galloway man – born and bred in Glenluce near Stranraer, but these days a Dumfries denizen – grew up around cars but not competitive sport. He has been a mechanic “for all my days”, having followed in the footsteps of his father Robert, who worked in the local Ford garage. His dad helped out various drivers and Martyn would tag along, which took him into rally service areas and brought a developing knowledge of Sierra Cosworths and Evo’s.
The Evo got me into rallying – and is why I have one now
“That’s what first got me, seeing the cars that dad worked on,” Martyn explained, “and then I started to service for Fraser Wilson at Clone Motorsport, and he had an Evo.
“Well, he actually had a Nova to start with, which was pretty good, but when he got an Evo 6, then 8, then 9, you really started to feel the excitement of rallying. To be fair, that’s why I’ve got an Evo now.
“Starting driving in my late 20s is late compared to some drivers, but my generation in the south-west grew up with Colin McRae and Richard Burns as idols, so it was always in the mind.
“When I looked after Fraser’s stuff, I did a bit of work with Mark McCulloch for two or three seasons and David Bogie (pictured) was always there with that red Evo of his, and he was untouchable, so, yes, Evo’s are to blame for getting me into it.”
Business move opened door to world of rallying … and memorable start
The progression into rallying is straightforward for some, funded by parents with a decent bank balance, or a daft desire to spend business income on the fun of rallying rather than basic household needs.
Martyn didn’t have a wealthy backer so it didn’t come easily to him. He worked for the council and other local businesses, and, bizarrely, none seemed to like the idea of allowing their employee to indulge in a few days off every month to pursue rallying.
That changed when he decided during the Covid pandemic to set up his own business, Erskine Automotive Services, which allowed him at 29 and with pandemic restrictions easing, to take his first steps into the rallying world. To say he remembers his first outing in the 2021 RSAC Scottish Rally would be an understatement.
“Oh, yeah, I can’t forget that can I?” he said. “I ended up rolling my prized new rally car on my very first stage! First stage of first rally!
“To be honest, I actually felt driving a rally car came quite natural to me, but maybe too natural at first. I did a bit of karting when I was younger, hobby stuff, and a bit of motocross, but I’d never done any rallying until I got in the car in 2021. I literally just jumped straight into a rally car, onto gravel, and, well, it didn’t go as great as I expected…
“I think I probably got my ambitions and my capabilities a bit mixed up. But I learned quickly that there is a big difference between knowing how a car works and keeping it on the road at speed, and that crash didn’t put me off. I think it just made me more eager to prove to myself that I could do it.”
Steady progress paved way to competing with the best
He started with a left-hand drive Peugeot 206, and after rebuilding it from that first ‘off’, he was back for the Galloway Hills and Carlisle Stages to end a first year with two ‘finishes’ – huge improvement on rally one – and the enthusiasm only stoked further.
In 2022, with Kieran Hyslop on board as navigator, he competed in five Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) events and duly won the C2 class, which suggested that he might have the skills to match his enthusiasm.
He switched to a Citroen in 2023, and wished he hadn’t as it endured clutch and engine problems, but still he was first and third in class in the two events he finished, and after a brief fling with a Subaru, and a scary loss of brakes, in 2024 he found himself a Lancer Evo8, and things began to move up a gear.
It was not instant (when is it ever?) as, with the new car all stickered up with special tributes to his friend and mentor Wally McLean, who had recently passed away, the gearbox blew the night before the Speyside Stages.
That delayed his Evo launch until the Jim Clark, before he then came off in the Scottish. But with a 25th overall in the Reivers SRC event and two SRC top 20s at the Snowman and Caledonian he found himself mixing times with top clubman crews, he finished the year feeling buoyed.
Last season he took it up a level with five top 20s overall in SRC events and top tens in the Galloway Hills and Grizedale. And the Evo just keeps getting better. This year began with a stunning seventh overall in the Snowman, followed by 13th overall and 11th SRC in the Border Counties and Jim Clark Reivers, pushing him into the SRC’s top ten.
Having missed the Argyll as he’s not a huge tarmac fan he is now outside the top ten but still sixth in the Oakbank SRC Challenger Championship, just 14 points off the podium, with one event already dropped and just three remaining. Aiming for a podium in that competitive Challengers race is now a big goal. He is also comfortably leading the Mitsubishi Motors Scottish Cup category.
Joining up with Carstairs has brought valuable experience
Martyn’s wife Ashley has enjoyed learning more about rallying too and the pair have enjoyed competing together (pictured) in single-venue events at Loch Lomond and Knockhill in the last two years.
But, with Ashley wary of them both being in the car together, with three young children at home, Martyn persuaded experienced co-driver Peter Carstairs to join him.
The veteran started out in 1975 and has navigated for many leading lights, including Gordon Smith, Bob Grant and John Morrison. Atop his many highlights of stage and class wins was a British National Rally Cup triumph with Morrison in 2019.
Peter is on the notes for Martyn as they enjoy their first first full season together – Peter currently lies fourth in the Challengers co-drivers list – and he is taking Martyn’s rallying education to a new level.
“Pete has just brought a wealth of experience,” said Martyn, “and that’s something you can’t really get a short-cut to. It has been amazing learning from him; he has that confidence from decades in the sport and really lets you push.
“I loved co-driving with my wife Ashley and that was that bucket list thing, but she’s right, it’s not sensible when we have three young kids, so we might do some more single-venue stuff, but mostly we’ll just stick to the family coming along and supporting.”
‘Surreal to look back to where I was before Covid compared to now’
“It is quite surreal to be talking to you about me in a 40 grand car competing with some of these Rally2s and stuff. Trying to stay with the Escorts on the long stretches of some rallies is not easy and when you come home from a rally with car damage, and you’re facing many long nights of work – and yeah, being the mechanic that’s all on me too! – you can wonder whether it’s worth it.
“But then, when the work’s done and you get to a rally with the car looking a million dollars, catch up with people you’ve not seen for a month, and you get the buzz of driving it, and finishing, it’s difficult to describe that feeling – it’s different to anything I’ve ever felt to be fair.”
On what the future holds, he added: “Well, now it’s about finding out how good we can be. It is surreal to look back to where I was before Covid, just a mechanic fixing and watching the cars, and now I’m in there competing. But, that’s the beauty of the Scottish rallying world – you can get those opportunities.
“I think we’re finding our feet now, me and Pete are starting to gel, we’ve got the car handling the way we want it, and so I think there’s more to come.
“I’m still learning of course and I’m getting some tuition still, but I guess everyone’s the same in this sport – you always think you can do better. And right now I’m just glad I got the chance to give it a go, and I don’t see me stopping any time soon.”
