Car rally to feature 50 motors
Local drivers will join the Lombard Rally Festival at Craufurdland Castle for Scotland’s first historic rally car demonstration.
The Lombard Rally Festival in East Ayrshire will take place between August 31 and September 1, where more than 50 historic rally cars will be demonstrated in the style of a period rally stage.
Event organiser Tim Nash said: “There is a growing interest in historic rally cars, and the group of such cars that are often now unable to be rallied competitively.
“They are too valuable to be rallied, fall outside current regulations in the UK or their owners do not want to damage them due to difficulties in obtaining replacement parts.
“The events, which we have been running around the UK since 2018, recall a period when the Lombard RAC Rally which ran all around the UK was the largest attended sporting event in the UK.
“More people came out to watch over its November weekend than watched every football league match added together during the season.
“At Craufurdland Castle, on the edge of Kilmarnock, a selection of historic rally cars will be demonstrated on a route with mixed surface, some gravel and some tarmac.
“This type of venue was used in period to allow spectators to see the rally in action without having to trek into a forest in more difficult conditions.
Fenwick driver and managing director of the family business Scotseats, Jonathan Young, is one of the local drivers who will be joining the event.
Jonathan competed in the Monte Carlo Historique Rally in 2016 in the Volvo Amazon that he’s using for the Craufurdland Rally Festival.
He raced quads before moving onto a Westfield when he was younger, winning national championships before going on to compete in the European Touring Championship when it was at its peak.
Stewarton businessman and car enthusiast, Tom Blackwood, will be in his WRC Escort, one of only two right hand drive cars built.
Previously, Tom rallied a top spec Ford Fiesta R5+ as well as sponsoring Andy Gallagher who won the Scottish Rally Championship and Wales Rally GB in Tom’s WRC Ford Focus.
An HGV driver from Ayr, Fraser McCurdie, competed for many years in sprints in his Rover Mini which has a BMW bike cylinder head on a modified Mini engine for extra power.
Fraser then started rallying two years ago but has had reliability issues with the car which he hopes are now in the past.
Local business owner Kenny Blair, who started rallying in the mid-nineties in a Lotus Sunbeam, progressed through a few cars before ending up in a Ford Escort Cosworth.
Life intervened until he returned to rallying in 2018 in another Sunbeam, quickly moving through a Mitsubishi Evo7, a Subaru and then a Skoda Fabia Evo.
He is now taking a step back to concentrate on his daughter April’s rally journey and using a Historic Ford Sapphire Cosworth at Craufurdland Castle.
Kenny’s 13-year-old daughter April has been mad on anything with wheels since having her first quad at three years old.
A decade later, she is gearing up to compete in the 2024 Junior 1000 Ecosse rally championship in a VW UP.
Kenny and April Blair are proud to be able to entertain spectators at a local event and to get the chance to both take part at the same venue, with April starting out on her motorsport journey.
Tim said: “There are too few women in rallying these days so it is great to see girls taking the first step.
“Organisers are proud to be bringing the Junior drivers to the attention of spectators and hope that they will be able to learn from the older drivers who can pass on many years of experience.”
Champion rally drivers from the past, from both Scandinavia and Scotland, will also visit the event in East Ayrshire to drive cars reproducing their competitive period and tell some stories about their rallying exploits.
Tickets are available now by visiting the following website: https://www.tickettailor. com/events/lombardrallybath/1063842