Jedburgh rally axed because of no suitable 2018 date

Despite extensive consultation over the past few days, the organising committee of the NCS Border Counties Rally regrets to announce the event will NOT go ahead in 2018.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Mar 2018, 09:20 BST
Updated 16th Mar 2018, 09:23 BST
Difficulties with scheduling mean the Jedburgh rally will unfortunately not take place in 2018.Difficulties with scheduling mean the Jedburgh rally will unfortunately not take place in 2018.
Difficulties with scheduling mean the Jedburgh rally will unfortunately not take place in 2018.

It has not been possible to find a new date which suited all championships, land owners and key rally officials.

The Jedburgh-based rally was originally planned for March 10 but was postponed in the week leading up to the rally, because of the extreme conditions experienced in the south of Scotland and Tweed Valley forests where the stages were located.

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Forestry operations were suspended and access became impossible because of unprecedented snowfall and ice, which covered the region, and the executive committee of the Hawick and Border Car Club and Whickham and District Motor Club-organised rally would not have been able to guarantee the safety of competitors, marshals, volunteers and officials.

The full organising committee met last weekend to consider the current position and the options available for rescheduling the event.

In an already packed British Rallying calendar, the choice of dates available was extremely limited and did not offer a realistic chance of running a rally in similar stature to that organised for last weekend.

Finding a date to suit both the Prestone MSA British Rally Championship and the ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally Championship was also proving difficult and, with options being limited to a congested end of season, it could have meant organising two Border Counties Rallies in just four winter months, which was an unrealistic prospect.

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Sadly, the conclusion from the committee was that cancellation was inevitable. All competitors who entered this year’s event have been fully refunded.

Clayton Lackenby, clerk of the course of the Border Counties Rally, was looking to the future.

“It’s certainly not a position we wanted to be in but the organising team will now turn its thoughts to 2019 and decide how, and when, to run a viable event” he said.

“Among other ideas, we are exploring routes which may allow a Rally 2WD format and we will watch with interest how other rallies progress with this during the year.

“We would like to thank our sponsors NCS, local and regional councils, championships and, of course, our competitors, for their ongoing support.”