Garry Pearson continued his winning run in the 2026 Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship as late drama befell Max McRae at the RSAC Scottish Rally [Saturday July 18].
Entering the championship as an opportunity to test ahead of the next British Rally Championship round, McRae and 2022 SRC champion co-driver Cameron Fair had been dominating the event in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Escaping into an 18s lead after the first stage, the 22-year-old nephew of 1995 World Rally champion Colin proved why he’s one of Scotland’s brightest talents with four stage wins from the first five tests.
However, an accident on the final stage ruined their hard work and paved the path clear for Pearson and co-driver Jack Morton to collect a fourth maximum points score of the season – boosted by them both electing to play their Joker at the Scottish.
That means Pearson is now level with Mark McCulloch at the top of the championship standings with two rounds remaining, but has the opportunity to clinch the title at the Grampian Forest Rally in August with competitors counting their five best scores from a possible seven.
Behind Pearson’s works-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2 was Alex Vassallo and co-driver Chris Lees, who lay a strong second overall after the first stage. 2021 SRC champion Pearson suffered a slow puncture on that test, but proving their pace was no fluke Vassallo set an identical time to his rival on SS2 before reaching the finish 18 seconds behind.
McCulloch and co-driver Michael Hendry scored their second podium result of the season following second place in Argyll behind the wheel of their Proton Satria Evo.
They had been in an early fight with 2015 and ’16 Scottish champion Jock Armstrong, but Armstrong and Owen Paterson’s Subaru Impreza eventually finished 42s in arrears in fourth place.
Making their championship return after skipping the Argyll Rally, Stephen Petch / Michael Wilkinson rounded out the top-five in their Fiesta Rally2 ahead of John Crawford / Josh Davison’s similar example.
Just 10s behind Crawford at the finish, Callum Atkinson / Nikki Addison produced one of the standout drives of the event to finish seventh in the championship, and winners of both the G&M Mechanical Services 2WD and the Oakbank SRC Challengers Championships, in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.
Scott Peacock / Craig Wallace took second-placed points in 2WD and third in the Challengers on their local event; their Ford Escort Mk2 beaten by Chris Collie / Ricky Finlayson’s Mitsubishi Evo IX by a mere two seconds in the Challengers.
Championship leader Craig Rutherford suffered his first retirement of the season with alternator failure aboard his Ford Escort Mk2, while frontrunner Mike Stuart and co-driver Clare Fraser went off into a ditch on SS2 in their Ford Escort Mk1.
Natalie Robinson, co-driven by Sam Collis, was third in 2WD on route to her first Questmead SRC Juniors victory since March’s Borders Counties Rally in another 208, John Rintoul’s winning run in the Haddo Energy SRC Super Seniors stretched to four events (Ford Escort Mk2, co-driven by Ross Hynd), while Mike Grant / Graham Kelman took their second Groundwater Lift Trucks Subaru Cup victory in succession.
Rally winner, Garry Pearson, said: “It’s fantastic to win the RSAC Scottish Rally for a second year in succession, and to score our fourth Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship victory in a row.
“I’m sorry for Max and Cameron as they drove a superb rally and nobody wants to win a rally this way, but we did our job and achieved what we set out to achieve. Thanks to Jack Morton for the job he did in the car and the entire M-Sport team, and of course my partners and supporters, for their effort.”
SRC chairwoman, Fiona Moir, said: “The 2026 RSAC Scottish Rally was a fitting chapter in the event’s illustrious 80-year history. Nobody likes to see a rally decided in that way, but it was great to have Max McRae as part of the championship – and we thank him for choosing not to score points and interfere with the title fight.
“Garry Pearson and Jack Morton ended up deserving winners, as did all the other category victors across the talented field.
“With just two rounds left to go, the Grampian and Galloway Hills, the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship is reaching its crescendo and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.”
