Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop returned to the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) in style with victory at round two: the Border Counties Rally.
Based in Newtown St Boswells, the Border Counties returned to the SRC calendar for the first time since 2019, featuring seven gorgeous special stages in the Tweed Valley.
Courtesy of their victory at the Snowman Rally in February, Scott Macbeth and Andrew Falconer led the championship into the Border Counties, but another super-competitive entry meant returning to the top spot would be a tall order.
Returning to the championship for the first time since he won it in 2021, Pearson brought British Rally Championship experience to the party and made it count in his Ford Fiesta Rally2.
The local Duns-based driver dominated the rally, winning all seven stages to record a 1m14s victory over Macbeth’s Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to atone for his agonising miss in 2016, where Pearson lost Border Counties victory on countback.
Garry Pearson said: “It’s greatly satisfying to get our names onto the trophy and win our local forestry event. To set the stage times we did is deeply encouraging considering things didn’t feel perfect behind the wheel, but we got increasingly comfortable as the rally progressed and really enjoyed the stages in the Tweed Valley.
“I really enjoyed being part of the Scottish Rally Championship again. The field is super strong, the organisation is good and the rallies are always fun to drive. We’ll be back for the Jim Clark Reivers Rally in May.”
Second place for Macbeth however means he maintains his early lead of the Scottish Rally Championship – the Muir of Ord driver progressing his pace throughout the rally to outline his championship credentials.
Jock Armstrong and stand-in co-driver Craig Nelson (who played his SRC Joker at the Border Counties) completed the podium in their Subaru Impreza, just 13 seconds ahead of Stephen Petch / Michael Wilkinson who returned to their Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo after two years in a Ford Fiesta equivalent.
Thomas Gray / Harry Marchbank built on their strong speed on the Snowman, overcoming a puncture to complete the top-five in their Polo R5.
SRC vice-champions Mark McCulloch / Michael Hendry (Proton Satria Evo) were slowed by a puncture of their own to place outside the top-10; round one podium finishers Alexander Vassallo / Chris Lees had been on course for another top-three before a mechanical issue on their Ford Fiesta Rally2 on the penultimate stage, while Icelandic driver Daniel Sigurðarson’s event was spoiled by a time penalty in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Coming out on top of an epic fight in the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD Championship, round one victors Mike Stuart / Clare Fraser also collected top points in the Oakbank Challengers Championship in their Ford Escort Mk1.
Starting the last stage just two seconds behind category leaders Craig Rutherford / Tom Hynd, Stuart threw caution to the wind and nipped ahead by just one second over the Ford Escort Mk2 at the finish, with another Escort Mk2 of Ross Jarrett / Claire Mole also just a second behind. Two seconds therefore covered the top three two-wheel-drive crews after 48 miles of rallying.
Natalie Robinson repeated her round one victory in the Questmead SRC Juniors behind the wheel of her Peugeot 208 Rally4, while John Rintoul also repeated his opening round success in the Haddo Energy SRC Super Seniors division. Jordan Anderson made it a hat-trick with back-to-back 2026 wins in the Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup.
SRC chairwoman, Fiona Moir, said: “Once again we witnessed another fantastic event in the Scottish Rally Championship unfold. Across all the classes, there was action and stories to tell – especially in the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD with that breathless finish.
“One of the championship’s mantras is ‘where champions are made’ and Garry Pearson’s performance upon his return proved just that. He won the title back in 2021 and has since progressed to the British championship, and you could see the improvement in his stage times which the SRC helped foster.
“I would also like to extend a massive thank you to the Border Counties Rally organising team for putting on a great event. We missed the rally over the last seven years but it was fantastic to be back, and long may that continue.”
The 2026 Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship now takes a two-month break, with the next round switching to Tarmac for the Jim Clark Reivers Rally [Sunday May 24].
