Borders rally champion banned from road for speeding

Scottish rally driving champion Euan Thorburn has been banned from the road after admitting speeding.
Rally driver Euan Thorburn.Rally driver Euan Thorburn.
Rally driver Euan Thorburn.

The 32-year-old has been disqualified from driving for 28 days after being clocked doing 81mph on a road with a 60mph limit.

Thorburn was crowned Scottish champion after triumphing at the Grampian Forest Rally at Banchory earlier this month despite there being one more stage still to take place.

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However, due to losing his licence for the next month, he will be unable to take part in the Galloway Hills Rally, based at Castle Douglas and scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 14.

Thorburn was already on nine penalty points when he was caught in a police mobile camera speed trap on the A68 at Soutra Hill, near Oxton, on November 7 last year.

Selkirk Justice of the Peace Court was told the loss of his licence would prove extremely costly for Thorburn as he will miss two rallies, as well as affecting his business routine.

He is a director of his family’s construction engineering business John Thorburn and AET Installations, a supplier of harvest installation drying systems, both based in his home town of Duns.

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Thorburn was visiting sites connected with his business when he was clocked driving at 21mph above the maximum speed limit.

He already had nine points on his licence so, under the totting-up procedure, another three points would have taken him to 12 penalty points and led to a six-month driving ban.

However, justice of the peace Rosamund Williams imposed a discretionary 28-day disqualification instead to allow Thorburn to get back on the road sooner and enable him to take part in rallying events.

In addition to that ban, the Berwickshire business boss was given a fine of £360 which he has 28 days to pay.

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Thorburn was Scottish rally champion in 2014, 2017 and also this year with regular co-driver Paul Beaton.

He also won the British Trial and Rally Drivers’ Association title this year, a prize he won previously in 2013.