Scottish Rally Championship battle heading to Dumfries and Galloway for RSAC Scottish Rally
The eyes of the Scottish rallying community will be on Dalbeattie this weekend.
The town is playing host to the RSAC Scottish Rally – the fourth round of this year's Asset Alliance Group Motorsport UK Scottish Rally Championship.
Jas P Wilson Forest Machines will once again provide the base, with 64 crews set to test themselves across 42 miles of forest stages.
As well as being a round of the Scottish championship, the rally is also part of the HRCR Northern Historic Gravel Championship and the MG3 Rally Challenge. The UK Armed Forces Rally Team will once again be bringing their Land Rovers.
Two-wheel drive crews will lead the way, followed by the four-wheel drive competitors who will be battling for overall victory.
Top seed will be Dumfries' David Bogie, with Haugh of Urr's Kirsty Riddick joining him in his Skoda Fabia R5.
Not far behind at three will be Jock Armstrong of Castle Douglas and Dumfries' Owen Paterson in their Fabia, with Mark McCulloch of Dumfries seeded fifth in his Proton Satria.
Further down the list, Robert Proudlock of Dumfries and Daniel James are seeded 14th in their Ford Fiesta R3.
Other four-wheel drive competitors includes Stranraer's Martyn Erskine in a Mitsubishi Evo and the Subaru Impreza of Dumfries' Craig Henderson.
The two-wheel drive entries feature the Ford Escort Mk2 of Bridge of Dee's Donald Peacock and Westmuir's Craig Wallace, with the similar car of Scott Peacock of Castle Douglas and Greg Alcorn of Dalbeattie not far behind.
Niall Cowan Jnr of Dumfries is out in an MG3, with Niall Cowan in another MG3.
Ford Escorts are popular, with one from Stranraer's John Baillie and another from Annan's Nick Taylor. Mike Curry of Dumfries is co-driving the escort of Paul Rawson.
The first car is due to leave the start at Jas P Wilson at 9am, with the first test at Glengap starting at 9.51am.
That will be followed by Kinarvie at 11.01am – where there is no spectator access – before the return to service at 11.36am.
The Dalbeattie test is next at 12.44pm before a return to Glengap at 1.47pm.
Final service is due at 2.35pm before the final two tests – Kinharvie at 3.55pm and Dalbeattie at 4.30pm.
All being well, the cars will be back at Jas P Wilson for prizegiving from 5.10pm.
For those who don't fancy a trip to the stages, a big screen will be available beside the service park.
But if you do fancy seeing the cars in action, there are special spectator areas on both the Glengap and Dalbeattie tests.
The Glengap viewing point is at post 11, just before the finish. The access road is between Laurieston and Gatehouse and it's recommended fans approach from the Laurieston side – taking care to avoid cyclists.
Spectator posts four and seven are the designated viewing areas on the Dalbeattie test.
Dalbeattie Initiative will be running a free shuttle bus from the Forestry and Land Scotland car park opposite rally HQ to the other forestry car park, with a short walk to post four.
Post seven is a short walk along a road that can be found around 100 yards before the turn-off to Kippford on the A710.
Spectators are also welcome to visit the service park for scrutineering from 3pm on Friday.
The rally is supported by Dumfries and Galloway Council through its strategic events fund.
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