WATCH: Robertson so close to Snowman victory

On a day when it was all about about road positioning and tyres, with varying conditions Inverness crew Donnie MacDonald and Andrew Falconer in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 emerged to winner. Despite not winning any of the five special stages, the local driver came out on top by just seven seconds.

Robertson came mightily close to winning his first ever SRC event in a similar Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9. Paired with experienced co-driver Stuart Loudon for the first time, he set two top 3 stage times which netted him a fine second overall and first in class.

Dale said: “I was on opposite lock all the time. It was just great fun!

“In the first couple of stages I was rusty, but I picked up the pace and got into the swing of it. There was never a right tyre, but we were going for it!”

Completing the podium was Banchory’s Quintin Milne also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

Making it a great day for Borders drivers Garry Pearson and Robbie Mitchell from Duns finished a superb fifth overall in their R5 specification Ford Fiesta. Garry had never competed in the car prior to the event, nor did he have much experience of four wheel drive machinery but that did not stop him posting the fastest time on the second stage of the day, Millbuie.

Garry said: “We had very mixed fortunes but we’re quite happy. I never dreamt of a top 5 finish at the start! In stage 5 we just needed to get through. Unfortunately we had no snow tyres.”

Kilmarnock’s James Gibb, co-driven by Iain Robson of Jedburgh, finished 40th in their Ford Fiesta while Duns driver Alan Cowan and co-driver Katie Simpson in a Vauxhall Astra were 61st. Andy Struthers and Jedburgh co-driver Alasdair McIlroy were 69th in their Citroen C2 while Thomas Gray and Jedburgh’s Dave Robson were 77th in their Ford Fiesta R2.

The next round of the ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship is the Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally in Jedburgh on March 19.