Cometh the stoor cometh the man!

2025 Voly Grampian Rally - words by James Downie for Rally Media UK, images courtesy of AF Motorsport Media

William Creighton and Liam Regan took the lead in the BRC with a comfortable win

Dust is known as “Stoor” in the local vernacular and if the 2025 Voly Grampian Forest Rally could be summed up in one word then this was it. Running first on the road in the Rally2 Toyota Yaris William Creighton and Liam Regan took full advantage of a dust-free view, as well as the misfortunes of his title rivals to record their second win of the BRC season and take a clear lead in the championship.

The two-day event, based in the town of Banchory, Aberdeenshire was round 4 of the British Rally Championship and also round 4 of the Scottish Rally Championship. This was the first time the BRC runners had assembled since the Jim Clark in May, which had been tragically cut short by the accident where Dai Roberts had lost his life and James Williams was badly injured. The series really needed a boost this time out to lift the gloom and there was very much an air of determination around the service park to do it “For Dai” in memory of the popular Welshman.

Meirion Evans/Dale Furniss finished a solid 3rd and stayed in the title fight

After scrutineering on Friday, the rally started at 5.30pm and joint BRC leader Creighton led away the 86 starters and headed off to tackle 2 stages on Friday evening. He was followed by M-Sport pair Romet Jurgenson and Garry Pearson, teammate and co- BRC leader Merion Evans, and David Bogie, the leading SRC contender. Both these opening stages were tight twisty affairs in the nearby Fetteresso Forest complex, with many deceptive crests and corners, and long sections under heavy tree cover that ensured any dust would hang.

Romet Jurgenson/Slim Oja fought back spectacularly to salvage 6th after earlier delays

Creighton got through the opening 6.88-mile Hobseat stage in 6m17.3 seconds and it soon became clear that nobody else was going to get near that time. Jurgenson was next up but as the Fiesta approached, the engine sounded rough in the evening air, and it was visibly slow too. A cylinder injector had failed and caused the Fiesta to drop on to three cylinders. He lost 30 seconds to Creighton and was down in 13th place at the end of the stage. To make matters worse, SS2 Hurlie Bog started almost immediately after SS1, and with no service time available, Romit and co-driver Slim Oja had no option but to tackle that stage with the misfire too. A further 20 seconds were lost to Creighton there. Jurgenson had shown his class on gravel with an excellent overall win on the Carlisle in April but his hopes of repeating that on the Grampian were already all but gone.

Teammate Garry Peason was also hampered as the dust being kicked up by Jurgenson’s stricken Fiesta was not getting time to clear at all as he and co driver Hannah McKillop closed on the slower car. Dust was slowing everyone to some extent though, and Creighton’s time proved to be more than 9 seconds quicker than the next best crew. Max McRae and Cameron Fair surprised a few by going 2nd in the Citroen C3 ahead of Evans, Pearson, Callum Black, Johnny Greer. Matthew Hirst and the fastest SRC crew Scott Beattie and Peredur Davies – a full 21 seconds slower then Creighton.

Creighton was also over 5 seconds quicker than anyone else through Hurlie Bog which stretched his lead to 16.3 seconds overnight, Evans sneaking past McRae and Pearson still th from Black, Greer and Hirst - the Yorkshireman driving in a measured fashion on his first visit to the Grampian in the Delta backed Fabia. Beattie was next, and he narrowly led Bogie in the SRC battle. Alex Vassello and Michael Gilbey rounded out the overall top 10, leading the BRC open class. Joseph Kelly led the BRC junior category.

Garry Pearson/Hannah McKillop grabbed 4th at the end after a puncture

There’s a saying in rallying that you can’t win a rally in the early stages, but you can definitely lose it. Jurgenson had definitely already lost it, and if Creighton hadn’t already won it, he was definitely already in a position from which he could afford to back off a little and manage the rally without taking risks.

Creighton’s position was strengthened even further after Saturday’s opening stage, the 5.82 Whitehaugh, 30 miles north of Banchory. Both M-Sport Fiestas emerged with left rear body damage and flat tyres, dropping Pearson to 8 th and Jurgenson to 15 th , over 1 and a half minutes behind the leader. Bogie also put his stamp on the SRC battle here and overhauled Beattie. Another short forest stage over the road did little to affect the order.

David Bogie/Kirsty Riddick are looking good for another SRC title after a dominant win in Scotland

Six stages remained and with the dust inevitably a key factor, Creighton was not looking likely to waste the advantage of a clear road. BB Barn, a brand new spectator stage was a 2 lap 1.53 mile thrash around farm land near Lyne of Skerne, and Max McRae overtook Evans again to snatch second on this stage, whilst Pearson and Jurgenson set about fighting back to salvage as many points as possible from their troubled rallies. Their never say die attitude brought some excitement to the afternoon stages, most of which were back in the Fetteresso complex with different names and routes to Friday evening, plus a solitary trip to Durris Forest.

Creighton had little trouble reeling them off for a relatively easy win, whist McRae held off Evans to claim a fine second overall, easily the best result of the 21-year old’s short career so far. Carrying the burden of expectation that comes with having the most famous surname in rallying can’t be easy, but after a difficult start to the season, which included witnessing the scene of Jim Clark accident, after retirements on the East Riding and Carlisle, he put that surname on a BRC podium for the first time since 1998.

Max McRae/Cameron Fair finished in a superb 2nd overall, the first time the McRae name has been on the BRC podium since 1998

Pearson clawed his way back up the leaderboard to 4 th by the finish, but the highlight of the afternoon was Jurgensen, who with his car at last restored to full health put together a string of fastest times to storm back from 15th to 6th overall. He was actually tied on time with Callum Black and Jack Morton by the finish, but the English pairing took 5th on the tie break. Greer and Hirst rounded out the top 8, with Bogie in 9th well ahead of Beattie and Mark McCulloch’s Proton in the SRC race at the finish. This was Bogie’s 3rd win from 3 starts in the SRC and it’s looking good for him with only the best 4 from 6 rounds counting.

Joseph Kelly held off Kyle McBride and Sam Mason in the Juniors, with Natalie Robinson, partnered by the experienced Sam Collis, continuing her impressive learning curve to take 4th.

Also putting in his usual quality drive was Robert Proudlock who took 13th and a class win ahead of more powerful cars in the Rally3 Fiesta.

Joseph Kelly took the BRC junior category

But was an important win for Creighton. With Jurgenson hitting trouble, he was never remotely threatened in a classy, mature display which takes him into a clear lead in the championship. He will now take some stopping on the final two rounds.

The 2025 Voly Grampian Rally delivered. The stages were varied and challenging, the conditions tough and the Scottish crowds were large and enthusiastic. This was just what the British Championship needed after the tragic scenes at the Clark and we can all look forward to Ceredigion in a month’s time with renewed optimism.

Final Results

1. Creighton/Regan Toyota 51m.40.0s

2. McRae/Fair Citroen +32.5s

3. Evans/Furniss +42.7

4. Pearson/McKillop +54.0

5. Black/Morton +1m19.2

6. Jurgenson/Oja +1.19.2

7. Greer/Burns +1.24.8

8. Hirst/Dear +1.25.7

9. Bogie/Riddick +2.00.4 (SRC)

10. Beattie/Davies +2.43.3 (SRC)