Alick Kerr (19) and Drew Sturrock (18) enjoyed a trouble-free run on the Station Garage Mitsubishi Granite City Rally as they gained valuable mileage inside the Leaker Direct Rangemaster Fiesta ST and picked up a healthy amount of Scottish Rally Championship points. The young crew ended the day second in class and seventh two-wheel drive as they put the mechanical gremlins that have plagued the car for the last few events behind them.

For the entirety of the day, Bothwell teenager Kerr and his Aberdeenshire co-driver Sturrock enjoyed a thrilling battle with the fellow Fiesta ST crew of Stevie Brown and Ian Morrison.

First blood went to Kerr and Sturrock, who took two seconds out of the local crew of Brown/Morrison on the five-mile Blackhall stage. Things remained tight throughout the event, with Alick having the measure over his main rival on three of the rally’s stages and eventually losing out by only one second after Ellon-based Brown opted to fit new
tyres for the last stage.

Nevertheless, Alick and Drew were rewarded for their efforts with a good haul of Scottish Rally Championship points, taking second place in the Junior category and second place in Class 6. The result moves them into joint first place in the SRC’s Junior Championship after three rounds, even though they were unable to start the Border Counties Rally earlier this month.

“The car went well for once, which made a change after our recent problems,” commented Kerr. “We got some miles in the car at the shakedown stage on Friday, and had a trouble-free run all day. After the disappointment of having to miss the Border Counties and the Pirelli, it’s good to have the car running well again.”

Furthermore, Alick was pleased with the progress he made behind the wheel over the course of the rally, having only contested a handful of events in the white and orange Fiesta since acquiring it at the start of the season.

“I was driving as quickly as I could on most of the stages and wasn’t hanging about or making mistakes,” reckoned foundry engineer Kerr, who also finished the Granite dead-level with regular two-wheel drive frontrunner Calum Mackenzie’s Mark 2 Ford Escort. “We were taking seconds out of Stevie on some of the stages, which is encouraging because he is a very quick driver and this was his home event – he only beat us by one second in the end.”

The Leaker Direct Rangemaster Fiesta ST of Alick Kerr and Drew Sturrock is back in action in just under a month’s time on the renowned Jim Clark Reivers Rally, which takes place on Sunday, 25 May.

The Scottish Borders-based Reivers will see another new challenge for the young crew as they take the Fiesta out on tarmac in anger for the first time, and the pair can head south on the back of a solid run that sees them sharing the lead of the Scottish Junior Championship after three rounds.

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