Like many of the youngsters currently plying their trade on Britain’s rally stages, Alick Kerr drew much inspiration from the feats of the late, great Colin McRae.

For 20 year-old Alick, however, the connections to Scotland’s greatest rally driver run slightly deeper - Kerr also hails from Lanarkshire, and he is a member of the same Coltness Car Club that Colin was heavily involved with throughout his career. Rather fittingly, then, this weekend’s Colin McRae Forest Stages looks set to be one of the most important events in Alick’s rally career to date as he goes for honours in the Leaker Direct Rangemaster Fiesta ST.

The McRae has a dual incentive for Kerr and codriver Drew Sturrock, in that it is a counter in both the Scottish Rally Championship and the Fiesta Sporting Trophy. And whilst Bothwell-based Alick faces a tough challenge ahead of him in both championships, he is hugely motivated ahead of the rally and intends to give it his all on the five stages through the forests of Perthshire. “It’s going to be a pretty tall order for us to win the Scottish junior championship as the Peugeot 205 Challenge boys have been going really well all year, but we’ll be going out to try and take maximum points and make sure we do our bit,” admits the foundry engineer. “Mark McCulloch, the current leader, virtually just needs to cruise round to take the title because this will be the final round of the Scottish Championship, but anything could happen and I want to ensure we are in prime position no matter what.”

Things are slightly less complicated in the SRC’s Class 6, with Kerr and Sturrock holding a healthy lead over their Fiesta-driving rivals Stevie Brown and Ian Morrison. In stark contrast to the junior series, Alick and Drew only need a solid finish to wrap up Class 6, the section for front-wheel drive cars with engines up to 2000cc in capacity. “Having said that McCulloch just needs to cruise round to take the SRC juniors, we only need to do that as well if we’re to take our Scottish championship class!” adds Kerr. “We have had a good battle in the class all year long with Stevie, and although we’ve both had our problems it would be nice to win it.”

Scottish Championship aside, there’s also the matter of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy to tend to on the McRae. The Perth-based rally marks the only time the Fiestas venture north of the Scottish Border during the 2008 season, and Alick is keen to show the competition what he can do on home soil. “This has definitely been a learning year for us in the Fiestas, so a good result on the McRae would be a big boost for us,” continues Alick. “All year long we have been using the Patterson’s route notes, but on the McRae we will be using the Scotmaps notes that we are more used to up in Scotland. I have been using Scotmaps since I started rallying and I feel I can commit to them a bit more, so it will be very interesting to see how I go against the series regulars this time out.”

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