Duns driver Garry Pearson misses out on podium place at Grampian Forest Rally after puncture
Duns driver Garry Pearson’s hopes of a podium placing at the weekend’s Grampian Forest Rally in Aberdeenshire were dashed by a puncture but he was anything but deflated after racking up his first British Rally Championship stage win of the year and managing top-five finishes in seven of the nine others.
The 33-year-old rates his overall performance at Friday and Saturday’s rally near Banchory as one of his best yet in four years of contesting the British championship, having ended up just 11.3 seconds short of a podium place in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 despite a puncture costing him over half a minute.
Pearson and Newstead-based co-driver Hannah McKillop went into the weekend on the back of winning last month’s Royal Scottish Automobile Club Scottish Rally during a two-month break for 2025’s six-round British championship.
They followed up that victory, Pearson’s first at the Dumfries and Galloway event and McKillop’s second, by finishing first by a 4.3-second margin in stage five of ten making up round four of the championship, also placing second, third and fourth twice apiece and fifth once, with only a post-puncture position of 14th, dropping them down to seventh place overall at that point, and a seventh place in stage seven denying them a podium place of this campaign.
“Nothing in rallying ever comes easy, and we were certainly reminded of that at the Grampian,” said Pearson afterwards.
“It’s hard not to feel disappointed with the unlucky puncture but I think we have to be proud of the way we fought back.
“The British Rally Championship is as competitive as it’s ever been, so to win stages and be fighting with junior world champions is testament to all the hard work Hannah and I have been putting in.
“While fourth isn’t a result that ultimately satisfies us, we achieved this one in a battling way.
“This weekend only makes us hungrier as we continue our mission to keep fighting for the podium and the top step in the future.”
Victory at the weekend went to Northern Ireland’s William Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan, giving them an outright lead in the championship standings, with Scotland’s Max McRae and Cammy Fair second and Welsh driver Meirion Evans and sidekick Dale Furniss third.
Only two rounds of this year’s championship are left to go, both in Wales, in Aberystwyth next month and Llandudno in October.