Kirkaldy races away from the chasing pack to claim rally title

The first round of the 2020 Scottish tarmac rally championship was held at Knockhill racing circuit on Sunday.

By The Newsroom

Published 4th Mar 2020, 09:16 BST

Updated 4th Mar 2020, 09:22 BST

Stuart Gray from Knockhill, Alan Kirkaldy and Chris Lees.

The event started at 8.30am under winter conditions but improved as the day went on although very bitter and cold all day finishing just after 4pm.

Local racer Alan Kirkaldy, from St Andrews, and his navigator Chris Lees were aboard a Fiesta R5

They started off by finishing second on the first stage to event sponsor Robert Marshall.

They then pulled away from the competition, being fastest on all but the last stage, where they were second to his brother Andrew aboard a Ford Escort mk11 which was navigated by fellow St Andrean Peter Carstairs who, up until stage seven, were holding second place.

A slide wide on a corner dropped that team down to fifth equal while Kirkaldy took top prize.

The next round is om March 28 and 29 at Ingliston.

St Andrews