This weekend’s Jim
Clark Reivers Rally marks the halfway point in the 8 round ARR Craib National
Scottish Rally Championship.
First run in 1970 this year’s event will return to its roots.
Tree roots, that is. Having run as a ‘Closed Public Road’ rally since 1997,
using stretches of public road closed by Act of Parliament within Berwickshire,
this year’s event will revert to forestry road Special Stages just over the
Border in Northumberland.
The event will start and finish in Kelso at the Showground on
Sunday 31st May, but the competitive element will all be contained
within the massive Kielder Forest complex.
Heading the entry list is five times Scottish Rally Champion
and former British Champion, David Bogie with two of his main rivals for the 2015
title right behind him, Jock Armstrong and Mike Faulkner. The number four seed
is Newcastle’s Peter Taylor, but he’s no stranger to this area as the family
holiday business is based in Jedburgh.
The number five seed, Bruce McCombie, is actually the current
leader of the Scottish Rally Championship after three rounds. Consistency, with
one second place and two fourths has given McCombie a healthy lead at this
early stage of the national series, but Bogie is only 20 points behind.
An added attraction for the 2015 Jim Clark Reivers Rally
features the return of the Forces’ Land Rovers. The Armed Forces have long
supported the ‘Closed Road’ Jim Clark Rally in previous years as the event
provides excellent training in teamwork, navigation, time-keeping and fast
driving.
Throughout the year, in their own night-navigation exercises,
drivers from all three armed forces compete to win the chance to contest a
small number of motor rallies throughout the UK. Not for them Subaru Imprezas
or Ford Escorts, they compete in Land Rover Wolf diesel powered 4x4 utility
vehicles.
Specially adapted to compete on special stage motor rallies,
these great lolloping and lumbering beasts are surprisingly agile in the hands
of their experienced ‘pilots’ and provide a treat for spectators as they bring
up the tail end of the field. Often regarded as the golden retrievers amongst a
field of greyhounds, the Land Rover squadron is well worth watching.
The Rally will start from Springwood Park in Kelso at 08.00
Hrs on Sunday morning the 31st of May with the first car returning
there for the ceremonial finish around 15.00 Hrs.
Spectator Information:
08:00 Hrs, Official Rally Start, Springwood Park, Kelso.
SS3, Harwood, 1st car due 12.12 Hrs
Spectator Area signposted by green arrows from the
unclassified road, one mile south east of Elsdon village.
SS5, Comb, 1st car due 13.47 Hrs
Access to two signposted (green arrows) areas off the Forest
Drive, one mile south of Byrness on the A68
From 15.00 Hrs, Rally finish at Springwood Park, Kelso
More information: http://www.jimclarkrally.org/spectators.html