24-05-2025
Rally co-driver dies at event - 13 years after the sport claimed the life of his brother
A car rally competitor has died at an event in Scotland - 13 years after his younger brother died in a crash.
Dai Roberts, 39, from Wales, was a co-driver in the Jim Clark Rally when the Hyundai i20N he was a passenger in crashed on stage eight of the event at Edrom, near Duns, in the Borders, at around 10:50am today.
The tragedy is the latest to befall Mr Roberts' family after his youngest brother, Gareth, lost his life in an accident while competing in the Targa Florio Rally in Sicily, Italy, in June 2012.
Emergency services raced to the scene in Berwickshire after the alarm was raised but Mr Roberts, who had been acting as a navigator at the time of the incident, could not be saved.
The 27-year-old driver of the car - James Williams - was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.
Police Scotland said that no one else was injured in the crash.
Organisers, the Jim Clark Memorial Motor Club, said the remainder of today's event and tomorrow's Jim Clark Reivers Rally event have been cancelled.
In a statement Motorsport UK said: 'Motorsport UK sends its condolences to Dai's family and friends, the Jim Clark Rally, Jim Clark Memorial Motor Club and members of the motorsport community.
'Motorsport UK has initiated a full investigation into the circumstances of the incident and will work closely with the Jim Clark Rally event organisers and Jim Clark Memorial Motor Club and will cooperate with the relevant authorities.'
Police Scotland superintendent Vincent Fisher said: 'Our thoughts are with the family of the man who has died and inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.'
Mr Roberts was part of a rallying family. As well as his younger brother's achievements, his father Mike Roberts was a regular competitor in British rallying since the late 1980s.
In an interview with the BBC in 2015, Mr Roberts had discussed his desire to keep racing despite the death of his younger brother.
He himself had by that time been involved in another tragic crash in which the driver of the car he was in - Timothy Cathcart - was killed.
He said: 'It's a bug. As soon as you've got it, it doesn't matter what happens in life and everything because you've still got to go and do it because it's a way of life for you at the end of the day.'
He added: 'With the danger part of it, to be honest, we don't see the danger because when you're in a car you're there to do a job and that's it.
'If there's a 300-foot drop to your left and side you don't see it. You are there to drive on the road and that's it.'
Mr Roberts even spoke about how he took the harrowing phone call informing him of his brother's death.
He said: 'I actually had the phone call saying what had happened and had to phone mum and dad.'
He added: 'It has been an uphill struggle at times. The way we see it is that [Gareth] would never want us to stop doing anything and would always push you to carry on in life.'
Around 100 drivers were expected to compete in the Jim Clark rally over the weekend.
The event, which was first held in 1970, is named after Formula One champion, Jim Clark who grew up in the Scottish Borders.
In 2014, three spectators Iain Provan, Elizabeth Allan and Len Stern were killed and six more were injured near Coldstream, Berwickshire, when two cars lost control and veered into a viewing area.
A fatal accident inquiry later found the deaths could have been prevented if people had been clearly banned from standing in the area where the crash happened.
The event finally returned in 2019, after 'rigorous steps' were taken to ensure safety.
