Milne is rising rallying star

Thomas Milne may still be in his final year at Meldrum Academy but the 17-year-old is already making a name for himself as a promising rally driver.

The teenager, who lives in Daviot, has been accepted into Motorsport UK Academy’s “2024 Futures Programme” for competitors aged 15-24 who have demonstrated exceptional potential to progress in motorsport.

Milne won the Pearsons of Duns Trophy (the Micra Challenge Cup) in 2022 and 2023 while competing on the Junior 1000 Ecosse Rally Challenge.

He was the first driver to retain the trophy, helped by three podium finishes during the 2023 season when he finished fourth in the overall standings.

Milne’s potential saw him win the Scottish Rally Championship and MG3’s prize drive for 2024. The prize was created to help ease the transition between junior and senior rallying.

Milne was one of three junior drivers put forward for the award which included a free entry into a round of the 2024 Scottish Rally Championship, competing in an MG3 car also provided free of charge.

The three drivers were assessed on their driver skills and interviewed by a three-man panel with Milne announced as the winner at the SRC annual awards earlier this year.

Milne, who counts Finnish rally driver Kalle Rovanpera and Formula One legend Michael Schumacher as his inspirations, said: “My aims for 2024 are to continue to improve, learning to drive on gravel in the MG3 championship and hoping to finish as high in the points table as possible.

“Longer-term, the aim is to continue to improve year on year, stepping up the level I am at and ultimately reach the WRC or as high a level as is possible.”

Milne is sitting third in the MG3 Rally Challenge after the opening two events at Knockhill and Anglesey. His next event on the circuit is the RallynutsSevern Valley Stages on April 13.

“The aim is to continue to improve and ultimately reach the WRC

TEAM EFFORT: 17-year-old Thomas Milne and his co-driver Neil Jeffrey.