SRC reveals packed 2022 calendar

SCOTTISH Rally Championship bosses have unveiled plans for a full calendar of events for the 2022 campaign.

After two years of disruption and uncertainty because of the Covid crisis, a packed season of eight competitive rallies is due to take place.

The championship will start on March 5 with the return of the traditional season opener, the Snowman Rally in Inverness, the only event to run in 2020. The highly popular Speyside Stages, based in Elgin, will follow on April 23 – back for the first time in three years as a result of the global pandemic.

Two closed road rallies then follow – the Jim Clark Reivers event in the Duns area of Berwickshire, on May 29, and, after the successful inaugural contest that kicked off the curtailed 2021 season, the Argyll Stages, headquartered in Dunoon, on June 25.

The second half of the campaign returns to the woods with the RSAC Scottish Rally in the Moffat area on July 23. A few weeks later, Banchory will play host to the Grampian Forest Rally on August 13.

The Castle Douglas-based Galloway Hills Rally is always a hotly anticipated event and will form the penultimate round – taking place on September 10. The season closer will be the Carlisle Stages at Kielder on October 22.

SRC Chairman Roy Campbell said: “This year was a very challenging one due to the pandemic. However, the ingenuity and persistence of rally organisers allowed the SRC to have a very competitive fiveround championship, with Garry Pearson and Niall Burns claiming the first of their four titles in 2021.

“The SRC is delighted that all eight event organisers have booked their place in the 2022 championship and we are looking forward to another safe and exciting year.”