Juho Hanninen returns to defend the Rally of Scotland title he won last year - Photo Credit: rally-irc.com
Organisers of the RAC MSA Rally of Scotland have revealed a strong 39-car entry list for this year's running of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event.
Traditionally the rally has suffered from weaker entries than many events on the calendar due to its end-of-season date. However, with points being offered on a 1.5 coefficient this year many of the championship's regulars have committed to the rally, which will take place between 7-9 October and will be the penultimate round of the IRC season.
Monte Carlo winner Bryan Bouffier is the number 1 seed in his Peugeot France-backed, PH-Sport-run Peugeot 207 S2000. Points leader Jan Kopecky is next up for Skoda Motorsport, ahead of Belgian duo Freddy Loix (BFO Skoda) and Thierry Neuville (Peugeot Belux). Skoda will enter another factory-run Fabia for reigning IRC champion Juho Hanninen, who won in Scotland last year.
Skoda UK and Peugeot UK will both hope for a home victory with their respective drivers Andreas Mikkelsen and Guy Wilks. IRC regulars Toni Gardemeister, Karl Kruuda and Patrik Sandell will all be present, as will Per-Gunnar Andersson and Alister McRae in factory Proton Satria Neo S2000s. McRae recorded the Malaysian marque's best ever IRC result with second on his home rally in 2009.
WRC Academy drivers Craig Breen and Alastair Fisher will both look to take on the big boys in their Ford Fiesta S2000s. They are joined by British Rally Championship drivers Robert Barrable and Jonny Greer in Skodas. Completing the Super 2000 entries also with Skodas are German Matthias Kahle and Turkish female driver Bercu Cetinkaya, who finished seventh in a Peugeot last year.
Local driver David Bogie, who is poised to complete a historic Scottish and British championship double this year, will drive his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. A similar car will be entered by former Pirelli Star Driver Jarkko Nikara. Japanese duo Toshi Arai and Fumio Nutahara will both be present in their R4-spec Subarus.
