Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop delivered a dream home win at the third round of the 2026 Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship (SRC), the Jim Clark Reivers Rally [Sunday May 24].
The Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew saw off the challenge from Hugh Brunton / Drew Sturrock who debuted the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 in the SRC, while Alexander Vassallo / Chris Lees staged a strong comeback drive to seal third in their Fiesta.
The first Tarmac event of the season attracted a typically strong entry, with all crews tackling 57 competitive miles across eight special stages.
Favourite for success was local driver Pearson as the top seeded SRC driver, but without a victory in the past on his home soil, first place was far from guaranteed. However the M-Sport driver was flawless in his quest for a bucket-list local win, leading the event from start to finish to arrive back in Duns a very popular winner.
Brunton followed the local driver home in second place on his first SRC round of the season, equalling his best ever championship result in the process. Despite a clutch problem in the morning, Brunton gelled instantly with his new Toyota and fended off a charging Vassallo in the afternoon.
Vassallo’s Jim Clark Reivers Rally was a tale of what might have been. The only driver to beat Pearson to a stage win across the weekend, the Ford driver was left playing catch-up after losing close to 50 seconds with an off-road moment into a fence on the first stage.
He overhauled Mark McCulloch / Michael Hendry’s Proton Satria Evo on the final stage to make the podium, as McCulloch battled with a late mechanical problem.
Icelandic duo Daniel Sigurðarson and Ásta Sigurdardottir rounded out the top-five in their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, meaning four different brands were represented in the first five places. Their drive was made all the more impressive by the fact they didn’t do a pre-event reconnaissance, and it was only Sigurðarson’s fifth ever event on Tarmac.
Championship leaders Scott Macbeth and Andrew Falconer had been fighting for the early podium places in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, but came unstuck on SS3 Roxburgh when they damaged their rear-left wheel against a kerb. With four minutes lost, the pair elected to retire the car in service and use the Jim Clark as one of their two permitted drop scores.
Making his return after over 12 months out of the car, Michael Binnie finished sixth overall to help co-driver Claire Mole take sixth place in the points and score one extra point thanks to playing her Joker.
They beat Stephen Petch / Michael Wilkinson’s similar Ford Fiesta Rally2, with John Crawford / Josh Davison finishing just behind.
Craig Rutherford and Richard Simmonds had plenty to celebrate as they won both the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD and Oakbank Challengers Championships at the Jim Clark in their Ford Escort Mk2.
Incredibly Callum Atkinson / Nikki Addison (Peugeot 208 Rally4) were also second in both categories, but Mike Stuart / Clare Fraser (Ford Escort Mk2) completed the 2WD podium while third-placed Challenger was Martyn Erskine / Peter Carstairs (Mitsubishi Evo).
Ollie Forrester secured the Questmead SRC Juniors victory in his Citroen C2 R2 Max, making full use of the SRC paying for his entry after he won the Junior 1000 shootout in 2025.
Ernie Lee / Patricia Lee won the Haddo Energy Super Seniors in their BMW M3 E30.
Rally winner, Garry Pearson said: “It’s a dream come true for me to win the Borders Competitions Jim Clark Reivers Rally – it’s going to take a while for me to understand it I think.
“Growing up in Duns and the Scottish Borders, the Jim Clark Rally is such a big part of the year and was definitely responsible for me becoming a rally driver. To have my name on the roll of honour makes me feel extremely proud.
“We knew we had a chance of winning but we also knew we had to dig deep and do the job, and that’s exactly what I feel Hannah and I did. We drove an error-free rally and the team did a fantastic job turning out an immaculate car to drive.
“The points we score leaves us with a decision to make about whether we continue the rest of the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship season, as we now have two wins from two starts.”
SRC chairwoman, Fiona Moir, said: “The race to be 2026 Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally champion is heating up with yet another entertaining battle on the stages at the Jim Clark Reivers Rally.
“The SRC is the only Motorsport UK national championship to offer competitors both gravel and Tarmac events in the same season, and it was fantastic to see so many enjoy the beautiful closed-road country lanes of the Scottish Borders.
“We’ve not long to wait until the SRC is back again on Tarmac, next time in Dunoon for the Argyll Rally. We are counting down the days already.”
