Lanarkshire rally driver Alick Kerr recorded a stunning result on the Arnold Clark-Thistle Hotels Snowman Rally to get his 2009 season off to the best start possible. The youngster from Bothwell finished first two-wheel drive car, first in class and eleventh outright as he made the most of the snowy conditions in Inverness with co-driver Drew Sturrock.

In fact, Kerr and Sturrock started out leading the event overall after setting the fastest time on the rally’s opening Meall Mor stage. Spectators were initially left scratching their heads after Alick took his Ford Fiesta ST through the seven-mile test some sixteen seconds faster than any other car. The time was verified, however, and all the Subarus and Mitsubishis were left playing catch-up to the junior crew.

As the snow receded over the course of the day, the usual rally frontrunners were able to take advantage of their more powerful engines and climb back up the leaderboard. That didn’t stop foundry engineer Alick (20) from setting a third-fastest time on the penultimate test and ending up eleventh outright at the end of a tough Snowman. With heavy snow falling over the Highlands in the days leading up to the rally, crews had to choose between their normal forest tyres or specially-adapted snow tyres.

The Alick Kerr Motorsport team made the decision to go with the snow option on Friday afternoon, and reaped the rewards when they took to the forests the next morning. “I guess you could say we were just fortunate to be in the right place at the right time,” reflects Bothwell-based Alick. “Former Scottish champion Jon Burn was able to sort us out with a set of snow tyres, and as soon as we got to the start line we knew we’d made the right choice and were able to take advantage.” The result could have been even better, however, had Kerr not suffered a late mechanical scare.

“We took the decision to back right off for the last run because nothing was at stake, but one of the driveshafts broke so only one of the car’s wheels was receiving power,” he continues. “Fortunately we managed to nurse the car back to Inverness with one-wheel drive and secure the result – I couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the year!” The next round of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship is the Border Counties Rally in Jedburgh on Saturday, 21 March 2009. And after a storming result on the Snowman, Alick Kerr and Drew Sturrock will be hoping that in just over a month’s time, the snow is falling at the other end of the country.

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