Nineteen year old Alick Kerr from Lanarkshire turned out for the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally for only his second run in the Andrew Wood Motorsport prepared Ford Fiesta ST following a disappointing run on the Merrick Stages last month where a gearbox problem caused the team to retire during the first service period. The Merrick was Kerr’s first retirement in twenty-seven rallies which is no mean feat for such a young driver.

“The team did a great job getting the gearbox rebuilt for this event and it was bullet-proof all day,” enthused the Bothwell youngster, “I really wanted to get a good run today as the McRae Stages is a counter for the Fiesta Sporting Trophy and I was keen to compare times.”

Dropping time with a puncture on the first stage caused a bit of frustration but a steady run on the second stage allowed Kerr to claw back time prior to entering service for the second time. “That was the first time I’ve had a clean run through a stage in the new car and it felt really good to get to the flying finish without a problem,” said Kerr, “The car is a big step up compared to the Peugeot and it takes a bit of getting used to.”

Kerr had a good run through stage three and set a blistering time through the fourth and final stage where he finished fourth Fiesta from a starting line up of sixteen championship cars.

Despite finishing first Junior Driver in the Scottish Rally Championship section of the rally, Kerr and Alasdair Graham of Stornoway tie for the overall Junior Championship with sixtytwo points each after a year long battle. The pair has an equal number of wins but Graham wins on account of having three second places to Kerr’s two. “We knew we had to score maximum points to have a chance of winning the Junior title and we knew that if either Alasdair or Stevie (Brown) were second on the day then they would take the championship,” explained Kerr, “I managed to get max points but Alasdair held on to second place. I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Alasdair and my commiserations go to Stevie who was pipped at the post as he had a load of bad luck on the day.”

Backed by Leaker Direct and Bags Online, Kerr hopes to move from the Scottish  Rally Championship to the British Rally  Championship in 2008. “We’re working as hard as we can on the funding to support a challenge in the BRC next year and we hope to have a car built well before the season starts,” commented Kerr, “It’s a huge step up in terms of competition and we hope to attract more sponsors with the additional coverage the BRC gets on TV and in the media in general.”

Kerr, the winner of the John Easson Scholarship, heads off to take part in the Tour of Mull Rally on 12th October followed by a prize trip to frozen lakes of the John Haugland Rally School in Norway this winter. Further information on the team can be found at www.alickkerr.com.