Castle Douglas driver Scott Peacock raced to the third John Horton Star Driver Award of the KNC Groundworks Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) season on the recent RSAC Scottish Rally in his MG ZR.
Co-driven by Robin Neil, Peacock impressed the judges with a gutsy drive to 39th overall, putting his under-powered ZR in amongst some meatier machinery on the timesheets in the Eskdalemuir forests.
As well as edging out rival Niall Cowan Jr to the class win, Peacock was also ahead of his father Donald’s more powerful Peugeot 205 by almost 30 seconds before his rally came to a premature end after stage four.
Peacock’s performance was made even more remarkable as the young star was suffering with illness on the lead-up to the event.
“I was very happy with how the day went as I had a bug for the week leading up to the rally and hadn’t eaten until the Friday lunchtime,” Peacock explained.
“I still wasn’t feeling right on the Saturday [the day of the rally] either so it couldn’t have been a better day.”
Peacock will be joined in a shoot-out at the end of the year by Scott Macbeth and Jude MacDonald.
He admitted it was an honour to just be shortlisted for the Star Driver Award, yet alone win the award and be offered the chance to fight for some invaluable driving tuition and coaching.
“It’s very nice to have even been considered for the John Horton Star Driver Award, yet alone be chosen for the end-of-season shoot-out,” Peacock said.
“Honestly I had never considered being nominated so it was a big surprise when I saw that I was, and an even bigger surprise when it was announced I had won.
“A day of driving tuition would be great as it would be fantastic to be shown what things I could improve on and to find a bit more speed.”
Looking towards the second-half of the season, Peacock is keen to keep up his momentum and fight for the overall class honours.
“To be honest we are just taking it one rally at a time, seeing what damage has been done during the rally and seeing if we have the budget for the next one.
“We have no specific targets, but obviously winning Class 1 at the end of the year would be nice.”
Peacock edged Niall Cowan Jr and Thomas Bruce’s similar car to the class spoils for the second time this season, but the pair’s battle was just one of many within the SRC’s classes.
Class 3: Jude MacDonald and Michael Cruikshank took maximum class points in their Skoda Fabia R2, finishing an impressive in 27th overall in the process. Caroline Carslaw and Charley Sayer-Payne were second points scorers in their Ford Fiesta R2, just ahead of the Honda Civic of Fraser Smith and Duncan Daun.
Class 5: Tom Coughtrie and Ian Fraser bagged the Historic honours in their Mitsubishi Galant, close to a minute ahead of Jim Robertson and Mike Curry’s Ford Escort Mk2. Ernie Lee and Patricia Milligan completed the podium in their BMW 325i.
Class 7: Duncan MacDonald and Neil Ross doubled up from the Speyside with another class win in their Escort Mk2. Paul McErlean and Niall McKenna were second in a similar car, with Rhuaridh Campbell and Phil Sandham a distant third in their rare Chrysler Sunbeam.
Class 8: Honours belonged to Iain Wilson and Chris Williams for the second time this year as they swept to top 2WD points in their Mk2 Escort. In a repeat BMW scrap from the Speyside, Keith Robathan and Steven Brown got the better of Mark McCulloch and Michael Hendry for second in class.
Class 9: Michael Binnie and Claire Mole made it three from three in their Mitsubishi Evo IX with another top 10 finish overall. Ian Baumgart and Sinclair Young brought their Subaru Impreza home second from Max and Callum Redpath’s older example.
Class 10: Jock Armstrong and Cameron Fair took a comfortable class win in their Subaru Impreza, ahead of the Mitsubishi Evo IX of Scott Macbeth and Daniel Forsyth. Keith Morris and Terry Mallin completed the podium in their Lancer Evo VI
Class 11: David Bogie and John Rowan’s Skoda Fabia R5 was victorious from the Ford Focus WRC of Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton. Garry Pearson and Dale Bowen steered their Ford Fiesta R5 to third.
The next round of the series is the Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally on Saturday 22nd June.
Back on the SRC calendar for the third year since its return, the Dunoon-based event has quickly established a reputation as one of the best rallies of the year. Organisers have introduced a brand new stage to this year’s itinerary which promises to be as beautiful to drive as it is to look at.
Entries are already open for the event, and can be made here.
The KNC Groundworks Ltd Scottish Rally Championship is supported by Royal Aero, Pirelli Motorsport, Moates Offshore Ltd, Albyn Garage Ltd, RAVENOL and Reis Motorsport Insurance.
Keep up to date with all the latest news via the championship’s official website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #SRC19.
