Scotland staged the final round of the prestigious Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) over the weekend of Friday 20th and Saturday 21st November 2009, forming a centrepiece event within the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations.
The event, secured by EventScotland the national events agency working in partnership with International Motor Sports together with Stirling and Perth and Kinross Councils, was first announced in October 2008 by Scotland's First Minister, the Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP.
The route took in some of Scotland’s most iconic and historic landmarks across two of Scotland’s most picturesque constituencies: Stirling and Perth and Kinross. The ceremonial start took place in the grounds of Scone Palace in Perth which is the former coronation site of Scotland’s kings and queens. The event also visited the Service Parks at Blair Castle and Stirling City Centre before the ceremonial finish on the esplanade of Stirling Castle.
Starting on Thursday November 19th, the RACMSA Rally of Scotland also covered three historic Forestry Commission Scotland pathways used for previous Motor Sport events in Scotland.
Details about the 2010 RACMSA Rally of Scotland (14-16 October) will be available on this website throughout 2010.
MOTOR SPORTS GAINING MOMENTUM IN SCOTLAND
Scotland has a strong heritage in Motor Sports having produced world champions in all categories of the sport including rallying. Scotland is also the fifth top nation for producing Formula One Champions and the country is fiercely proud of its achievements behind the wheel.
Scotland’s motor sports calendar is further strengthened this year by the Scottish Rally Championship including the Jim Clark Rally which took place in the Scottish Borders at the end of May and the British Touring Cars Championship at Scotland’s National Motor Sport Centre, Knockhill in August.
Hosting high calibre motor sports events inspires Scotland’s future sports stars, allows our sporting heroes to compete on home soil and keeps the legacy of past competitors alive. Motor sports also generates widespread media and broadcast coverage which showcases the nation’s exceptional sweeping landscapes as the backdrop for high speed action and skill. EventScotland continues to identify opportunities to bring world class motor sport events to Scotland.
Born in Fife in 1936 and raised in the Borders, Jim Clark was crowned Formula One world champion in 1963 and 1965 and won a total of 25 grand prix races.
Jimmy McRae, father of World Rally Championship drivers Colin McRae and Alister McRae, was born in Lanark in 1943 and won the British Rally Championship title five times. He also ran a busy plumbing business in his home town throughout his rally driving career.
Scottish motor racing team Ecurie Ecosse was founded in 1952 by Edinburgh businessman and racing driver David Murray and based in Merchiston Mews. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1956 and 1957.
David Leslie, born in Dumfries in 1953, was Scottish Karting Champion 5 times before switching to cars, winning the Formula Ford title in 1978. He was also runner up in the British Touring Cars Championship in 1999.
Louise Aitken-Walker was born in 1960 in the Scottish Borders. Her career began in 1979 when she won Ford's 'Find a Lady Rally Driver' competition. She went on to become the first woman to win a National Rally outright and became the first ever British driver to win a world title: FIA Ladies World Rally Champion in 1990.
Allan McNish, born in Dumfries on 29th December 1969. His meteoric single-seater career trajectory initially headed towards F1 as a protégé of McLaren, but his greatest successes have come in sportscar racing - winning the American Le Mans Series in 2000, 2006 and 2007 and the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1998 and 2008 plus the Sebring 12-hour classic three times. McNish, president of the Scottish Motor Racing Club, drove for the Toyota F1 team in 2002 and recently won the prestigious Richard Seaman Trophy. (Of note; Johnny Dumfries, 7th Marquis of Bute, won Le Mans in 1988, driving a Jaguar.)
Andrew Kirkaldy, born on 1 March 1976 and like David Coulthard, Allan McNish and Dario Franchitti is a former member of the Paul Stewart Racing team in single seater formulae and won the 1997 McLaren/Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year. He is a leading contender in the FIA GT championship and has driven Ferrari F430s for Scuderia Ecosse and more recently CRS Racing.
David Coulthard, was the inaugural former McLaren/Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 1989 and Britain’s highest points-scorer in F1; having started over 200 GP’s and won 13 of them while finishing runner up in the 2001 world driver’s championship. Born 27th March 1971 in Twynholm, Kirkcudbright, he started in karting and progressed through the single seater ranks, tutored by David Leslie and mentored by Jackie Stewart. His first full F1 season with Williams was in 1995, when he won his first GP in Portugal. He is now a member of the BBC TV F1 team.
Peter Mitchell-Thomson, was born in 1877 to the 1st Baron Selsdon and would later succeed his father as Lord Selsdon. He was an active sports racer and in 1949 he earned the distinction as the first Scotsman to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race, co-driving a Ferrari 166 with 1934 Le Mans winner Luigi Chinetti.
Innes Ireland, born 1930 in West Yorkshire to Scottish parents, entered his first Formula 1 race in 1959 at the Dutch Grand Prix. He gained notoriety by beating Stirling Moss twice in 1960 before becoming the first Scotsman to win a Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, USA in 1961, for Lotus. He was a journalist, author and President of the British Racing Drivers Club from 1992 until his death a year later.
Dario Franchitti, born 19th May 1973 in Bathgate, was Scottish Junior Kart Champion in 1984 and the British equivalent in 1985 and ’86. He is also a former McLaren/Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award winner. After graduating to Formula 3 with Paul Stewart racing and the German-based ITC series for Mercedes-Benz he moved to America’s CART series in 1997 and won three races the following year and lost the title on a tie breaker in 1999. Switching to Indy League Racing in 2003 his first win came in 2004. His most successful year to date was 2007, winning four races – including the legendary Indianapolis 500 – and the overall IndyCar championship.
John Cleland, born 15th July 1952 in Wishaw, sampled autograss racing, rallying and hillclimbing before finding his niche as a saloon car driver. At his first attempt he won the class-based British Touring Car Championship in 1989, driving a Vauxhall-supported Astra. He stayed loyal to the Luton car maker and won the title for a second time in 1995, with the Cavalier. His International career includes 12 races at Bathurst in Australia.
Knockhill, Scotland’s National Motor Sport Centre, was the brain child of a sheep farmer at South Lethans in Fife, Tom Kinnaird. Tom was also a fan of motorcycle racing and travelled regularly to meetings throughout the country. Tom’s farm, in the lee of the Knock Hill boasted a narrow farm service track and a disused railway line. This would later become one of Scotland’s world class motor sports facilities.
Jock Taylor won four Isle of Man TT races and claimed the 1980 Sidecar World Championship on a Yamaha outfit. He died at Imatra in August, 1982.
Andrew Cowan born 13 December 1936. Winner of the 1962 Scottish Rally in a Sunbeam Rapier, winner of the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon, former team principal of Mitsubishi World Rally Championship team where he won 4 WRC titles (Driver and Manufacturer).
