REPORT / GRAMPIAN RALLY 2025

WORDS BY: ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPY BY: ALI GLEN

The Probite British Rally Championship arrived at its most northerly stop for round four of the 2025 season, returning to the gravel at the Voly Grampian Forest Rally.

Following the tragic events back in May at the Jim Clark Rally, where Dai Roberts, a much-loved and respected member of the British Rallying community, sadly lost his life whilst competing on the event alongside James Williams, the British Rally Championship and all those competing would arrive in Scotland with both Dai and James dominating their thoughts.

The Banchory-based event would see around 90 crews from the British and Scottish Rally Championship tackle fifty-five miles, across ten stages, beginning with two stages on the Friday evening and the bulk of the event on Saturday. Arriving in Scotland, William Creighton and Meirion Evans were both level on points in the Championship standings, with Callum black just four points behind in third, whilst Kyle McBride had a sizable lead of 13 points in the Juniors over Joseph Kelly.

LEG 1

The crews would get their first taste of the Scottish gravel on the opening 6.8-mile Hobseat test, where BRC front runners William Creighton & Liam Regan got their event off to the ideal start in their Melvyn Evans Motorsport-run Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, stopping the clocks some 8.8 seconds quicker than the Scotsman, Max McRae & Cameron Fair in the Citroen C3 Rally2.

The second stage was a little shorter in length at a little under four miles, but Creighton and Regan were still able to pick up a further 5.7 seconds to boost their early lead to 16.3 seconds heading into the overnight halt. Behind them, teammates Meirion Evans in the sister Toyota Yaris with Co-Driver Dale Furniss were also getting to grips with the challenging Scottish stages.

Max McRae and Cameron Fair would hold third in the Citroen, trailing Evans by just 1.5 seconds, with another Scotsman, Garry Pearson, with Hannah McKillop on the notes, in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, holding off Callum Black & Jack Morton for fourth (Ford Fiesta Rally).

Elsewhere in the Junior British Rally Championship, Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle were leading Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen, with Sam Mason & James Seymour in third, in the all Peugeot 208 Rally4 locked out at the top.

AFTER STAGE 2

POS	LEADERBOARD	TIME (DIF)
1	#1 W.CREIGHTON / L.REGAN	9:42.5
2	#4 M.EVANS / D.FURNISS	9:58.8 (+16.3)
3	#7 M.MCRAE / C.FAIR	10:00.3 (+1.5)
4	#3 G.PEARSON / H.MCKILLOP	10:03.8 (+3.5)
5	#6 C.BLACK / J.MORTON	10:06.5 (+2.7)

LEG 2

The action resumed the next morning, and the crews would face a full action-packed day featuring a further 44 miles over eight stages. The day began with Whitehaugh, where rally leaders Creighton and Regan continued on from where they had left off, picking up the first two out of the three morning stage wins, the pair would continue to extend their lead over team-mates Meirion Evans & Dales Furniss.

However, Evans and Furniss would lose a chunk of time in SS5, which allowed McRae and Fair to move into third overall, but all was not lost; just 0.3 seconds separated them heading into the middle loop of three stages.

Behind the podium battle, Callum Black and Jack Morton were holding off Jonny Greer & Niall Burns (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) for P4 by 3.5 seconds, but any sight of a podium finish for either of them was well over 17 seconds away.

Over the morning’s loop of three, Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullens had caught and passed Joseph Kelly and Killian McArdle; 5.3 seconds was the gap for the lead of the Junior British Rally Championship. Sam Mason & James Syemore continued to hold P3, but were edging on nearly half a minute down on that fight for the lead.

Whilst Creighton & Regan were pacing themselves upfront, McRae and Fair were on top of the battle for second, managing to stretch the gap out to well over half a minute over Evans and Furniss behind them who had an overshoot on stage 6.

Garry Pearson was gaining ground, having picked up the fastest stage time in SS5 BA Barn, he and Co-Driver McKillop slotted into P4, but it was reigning Junior World Rally Champ, Romet Jürgenson & Siim Oja who would be topping the timing sheets in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 throughout this loop of stages.

The Estonian pairing would win three stages on the bounce in SS6, SS7, and SS8, as they recovered from a misfire on opening night to the rally the previous day; they had managed to work their way back up into the top 10, holding 8th overall.

The afternoon would deliver an intense battle in the Juniors, Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle would fight back to level on times overall with Kyle McBride & Darraugh Mullens in SS6. Kelly had clearly found something somewhere and would take stage wins in SS7 & SS8 to lead McBride by 9.9 seconds heading into the final two stages of the event.

Despite playing road sweeper, William Creighton & Liam Regan in a show of dominance would push on home for the win, using the clear air in front of them on the stages to their advantage. The pair would secure the top spot on the podium for the second time this season, having driven their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 home some 32.5 seconds quicker than their nearest rivals.

Bringing their Citroen C3 Rally2 home in second and securing their best results to date in the BRC, Max McRae and Cameron Fair would enjoy their podium celebrations in front of family and friends. Having seen off a decent fight with Meirion Evans and Dale Furniss, who rounded out the podium in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, 10.2 seconds down.

Garry Pearson & Hannah McKillop would finish in fourth, 25 seconds ahead of their M-Sport team-mates, Romet Jürgenson & Siim Oja, who would recover their rally well, to round out the top five overall.

On the Junior British Rally Championship front, Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle would extend their lead considerably over the final two stages, crossing the finish line to take their second BRC win to date. The final margin was nearly 43 seconds over Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullens, with Sam Mason & James Syemore rounding out the podium.

Rob Cotton & Ethan Kid took BRC National honors in their Subaru Impreza STi, and Alexander Vassalo & Michael Gilby would pick up the BRC Open class win in their Ford Fiesta Rally2. Elsewhere, there was a familiar face on the top step of the Scottish Rally Championship podium, David Bogie, alongside Kirsty Riddick would bring their Skoda Fabia Rally2 home with over 42 seconds in hand to Scott Bettie’s Ford Fiesta R5.

FINAL RESULTS

POS	LEADERBOARD	TIME (DIF)
1	#1 W.CREIGHTON / L.REGAN	51:40.0
2	#7 M.MCRAE / C.FAIR	52:12.5 (+32.5)
3	#4 M.EVANS / D.FURNISS	52:22.7 (+10.2)
4	#3 G.PEARSON / H.MCKILLOP	52:34.0 (+11.3)
5	#2 R.JÜRGENSON / S.OJA	59:59.2 (+25.2)

NEXT TIME

The Probite British Rally Championship heads to Wales for Round 5, where the Brits will pitch themselves up against some of Europe’s top talents when the FIA European Rally Championship comes to Aberystwyth for the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion and the penultimate round of the 2025 season.