Young Lanarkshire rally driver Alick Kerr is preparing to resume battle in the Scottish Rally Championship, with the series heading over to Dumfries for the RSAC Scottish Rally on Saturday, 28 June.

19 year-old Kerr and Laurencekirk co-driver Drew Sturrock (18) currently occupy third place in the Scottish Junior Championship in their Leaker Direct Rangemaster Fiesta ST, however with four rounds still to run there is everything to play for. Furthermore, the young rally crew will have the disappointment of ending the day stuck in a ditch on last month’s Jim Clark Reivers Rally to spur them on as they take on the forests of Ae, Greskine and Kinharvie.

Bothwell-based Alick is also sitting in second place in the Scottish championship’s Class 6, but with sparring partner Stevie Brown not yet entered for the Scottish the Lanarkshire driver could seize the initiative in the class battle if all goes to plan down in Dumfries and Galloway.

“Our targets for the Scottish Rally are Class 6 and the Junior title – we’ll just need to see what the competition is first,” declares foundry engineer Kerr, who is also contesting the UK-wide Fiesta Sporting Trophy this season. “That was our plan on the Jim Clark, but unfortunately things didn’t go to plan there so we really need a win in both categories now.”

“I’ve driven all of the stages the rally is using this year before, and we’ll be going through the DVD of the stages on Friday morning before the rally as well,” continues the former 205 Ecosse Challenge champion. “Nearly every year I’ve done the Scottish it’s been scorching hot and very dry, but I think we can expect it to be wet this year.” Nevertheless, there could be a sting in the tail for Kerr and Sturrock as they make their way through the famous forests surrounding Dumfries – their Ford Fiesta ST will be seeded among the main field of competitors, meaning they won’t be joining the lowerpowered two-wheel drive cars running in front of the four-wheel drive cars.

“Running at the back of the field isn’t brilliant, especially in terms of the juniors where a lot of them are in cars that run in front of the main field,” admits Alick. “In fairness though it can go either way – sometimes these guys get a better run because of the better roads, but other times they can end up acting as sweepers and it helps us. I hope it’s the latter on Saturday!”

After the Scottish, Alick Kerr and Drew Sturrock head back to Wales for the Swansea Bay Rally in mid-July, when the battle in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy resumes. For now, though, all attention is focussed on scoring a good result on Scotland’s oldest stage rally and giving the Scottish Junior Championship campaign the biggest boost possible.

Further information on the team can be found at www.alickkerr.com