Beaton aiming to help Thorburn maintain Scottish Championship lead
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INVERNESS co-driver Paul Beaton will be looking to help Euan Thorburn extend his narrow advantage over reigning ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally champion David Bogie at tomorrow’s Granite City Rally.
Thorburn and Beaton, who start as second seeds, currently hold just a two-point lead at the top of the driver’s standings going into the third round of this year’s championship.
Donnie Macdonald and navigator Andrew Falconer, both from Inverness, will be looking for some good fortune after they fell foul of the Kielder Stages in their EVO 9 at the Border Counties Rally last month. They begin the event as eighth seeds.
There will be great interest in Andy Horne, of Inverness, when he makes his debut behind the wheel of a Focus WRC, with navigator Jim Howie of Kilmarnock.
Horne, beginning as ninth seed, previously won the Granite City Rally in 2007 in his unforgettable DAM 4100GTi, but now starts a new chapter in his rallying career.
Andrew Gallacher, with Phil Sandham on the notes, leads the Group N challenge in his EVO after an impressive sixth place overall on the Border Counties, followed by the EVO of Inverness duo Dougal Brown and Lewis Rochford.
John Morrison (Conon Bridge) and co-driver Peter Carstairs (St Andrews) will also be looking for a good haul of Group N points in their respective EVO’s.
Another crew hoping for a top ten place will be Steven Ronaldson (Inverness), who has Ann-Marie Fraser navigating in their Metro 6R4.
Meanwhile, former Scottish rally champion Jimmy Christie, from Inverness, with co-driver Ian Thorburn (Elgin), will be running at car number 33 in their Ford Escort Mark Two.
Border Counties class two winner Scott MacBeth (Rosemarkie) and co-driver Scott Hunter (St Boswells) take to the Kincardineshire stages tomorrow in their Vauxhall Nova aiming to build on their success last time out.
