23 May 2025 / By DAVID FERGUSON
The sun is out, cars are gleaming and two of the rallying world’s most promising young females are aiming to take out their frustrations on the Borders Competitions Jim Clark Rally, after a controversial change to their championship this week.
The main event leaves Duns’ Market Square tonight with no hint yet of the rain forecast to arrive, so it was a warm day for shakedowns, scrutineering and final adjustments as the cars got familiar with the winding Berwickshire roads and fans sussed out the best vantage points.
With current Probite BRC leader William Creighton missing due to family commitments, and the planned no1, and last year’s winner, Keith Cronin also absent, after a heavy crash in the Rally of the Lakes in Ireland, the field is opening up for an exciting weekend. M-Sport’s Romet Jürgenson from Estonia now leads the field off with co-driver Siim Oja aiming to follow his win on the Carlisle Stages with another victory in his Ford Fiesta Rally2.
But there is quite a bit of local interest with three Duns drivers in the top 11. Euan Thorburn and his long-time navigator Paul Beaton now start third in their Polo R5, Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop are just four spots behind in the Fiesta Rally2, and their fellow Dinger Dale Robertson and Keir Beaton start 11th in the field in another Fiesta R2. It will be fascinating to see if their local knowledge helps or hinders.
One to watch out for, however, is the no89 car with the only all-female crew in the event, Meghan O’Kane from Kyle of Lochalsh and Nikki Addison from Inverness. There is only one other female driver in the Jim Clark Rally Josephine Harris from Chichester, driving a Landrover Defender Wolf, with a few more in Sunday’s Reivers Rally.
However, the Scots pair were hit with major disappointment this week when stewards ruled that their brilliant back-to-back BRC4 class wins in the East Riding and Carlisle Stages were now void, leaving them scratching their heads and wondering where they go next.
BRC told us that an appeal had been made by a team challenging the BRC4 and Junior categories – the juniors were not a class on their own but merely received an award – and the upshot is that they have been merged, and Juniors now retrospectively handed BRC4 honours and put into the same class from this weekend.
Meghan told us: “It is gutting to be honest. We’ve had the two wins taken away from us, and after all the planning, the work, the sponsorship we got to compete in our first British championship – and to start much better than we ever thought we could and win both events – yeah, well, now we’re left not sure where we go.
“It came as a shock this week, but we’re delighted to be here in Duns, and really looking forward to seeing what we can do this weekend.”
With more powerful Rally4 cars now in the same class, among well-backed teams, the challenge for 24-year-old Meghan and 27-year-old Nikki, an ice-cream shop owner and electrician by day, respectively, just moved to another level. But they are positive characters and won’t be taking anything easy this weekend, as after the BRC event Nikki will shift behind the wheel for the Reivers Rally on Sunday, with Iain Thorburn on notes in their Honda Civic, and Meghan move to navigator for Fraser Smith in his Ford Escort – the first time she has gone from driver to co-driver on the same weekend.
“It’s great to get a chance to do both,” said Nikki. “I mostly drove last year and going back into the co-driver’s seat quickly made me realize how little I had to do as the driver. I just turned up, jumped in the seat and drove, and did whatever I was told to do, but now I’m the one having to organise it all and tell Meghan what to do.
“So I’m looking forward to doing what we can together over the next two days and then having a crack driving again on Sunday.”
The pair have been close friends for many years, and believe that is the secret to their success, and also their ability to overcome this week’s late drama and keep the excitement levels high ahead of tonight’s start.
“We work well together and so, yeah, we help each other through the good bits and the bad,” said Meghan. “And she’s not afraid to shout at me!
“But we’re very good at being very competitive in the car and then when we stop leaving it all in there. We’ve never fallen out!”
Nikki added: “It’s all about trust, and we’ve built up a lot of trust I think as friends so we do work well together. We kinda know when when we both need to sit in silence for a bit and just not talk. And then there’s times where we’re we’ll push each other on and just help each other any way we can within the car.
“It’s really disappointing to be back to square one in the championship, but we’re in it together and we’re being positive for this weekend.”
Meghan and Nikki will be supported by Pirelli this weekend and if you need any tyres advice, pop along to the Big Black Truck where Ivor and Andrew (below) will be only too happy to chat.
