SRC CHAMPION GALLACHER TO RETURN
Reigning Scottish Rally champion Andrew Gallacher will return to the championship next month in a Ford Fiesta R5+, his first Scottish gravel event in 12 months.
Gallacher’s last competitive appearance was the Wales Rally GB National last year, where he won in an ex-mark Higgins Ford Focus WRC.
Gallacher will contest the National B event of the Galloway Hills Rally in his 2018 SRC sponsor Tom Blackwood’s Fiesta R5+.
“At the start of the year I hadn’t planned to do the championship but I had it in my head that I’d like to do the Galloway Hills because it’s reasonably local,” Gallacher said. “I said to Tom [Blackwood] I’d like to do the event, even if I hired a car from somebody else.
“We’re out just for a run so I don’t feel any pressure. We basically just want to have some fun without doing any damage.”
The Galloway Hills is expected to be a one-off for Gallacher, but nonetheless he is eager to see how the R5 performs having never driven one before.
“I’m quite excited to get out into the R5, if I was out in an
Evo or something [it wouldn’t be quite the same],” he said.
“It’ll be interesting to see how it compares to the Focus because there’s at least a
12-year difference in technology.
“I managed the entire season last year without any damage so I’d be pretty disappointed if I managed to make a silly mistake. Tom’s spent a lot of money on it, it feels like a show car just now so I need to be on my best behaviour.”