The Scottish Motorsport Awards today celebrated the special contributions of the exceptional range of clubs, events and individuals involved in motorsport in Scotland. And what a fantastic afternoon it was!
We wanted to recognise and share inspiring examples of what is happening in our sport, and demonstrate the power of our people.
Equity and Inclusion Award
Our Equity and Inclusion Award was for anyone who has promoted opportunities in motorsport, or has overcome barriers to participation. We wanted to recognise those who are committed to taking motorsport towards a more inclusive and progressive future.
And the winner was Knockhill Racing Circuit!
With a passion for ensuring equal access to motorsport Jillian Shedden and Stuart Gray have focused on developing inclusion at the heart of everything they do. They have a long history of working with the local community, including for many years a successful partnership with the police to help redirect young people from more deprived backgrounds into developing their driving skills rather than becoming a public nuisance in their community. They have been great supporters of developing young people in motorsport, including their support of the Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge amongst others. At the same time they have embraced the need for accessibility, striving to develop their facilities to promote access for those with disabilities. From the inception of Disability Motorsport Scotland they have regularly engaged, seeking feedback on the best ways to provide access. They have been long time supporters of the Armed Forces and are one of only four organisations in the country to be re-awarded the Armed Forces Gold Covenant after five years. They have long been passionate advocates for equality of opportunities between the sexes, and most recently have been spearheading a major programme including both two and four wheel motorsport across Scotland to massively increase the levels of female participation across our sport.
Innovation in Motorsport Award
Our Innovation in Motorsport Award was for anyone passionate about finding solutions to the (many) challenges currently faced within motorsport! We wanted to recognise innovation in Clubs and/or Events, or innovative ideas from individuals, and we wanted to showcase how innovation is used to positively impact motorsport.
And the winner was Sandy Burgess.
In 1974 as a fresh faced 16 year old who was not academic, ruling out staying on at school, not prepared to get his hair cut, ruling out the armed forces, but good with his hands and a motor sport fanatic the motor trade beckoned and so began his 50 year relationship with all things automotive! As the years passed, he was lucky to have been able to compete in many forms of motorsport including auto testing, stage rallying and circuit racing, enjoyed a rich mixture of drives from self build rally cars up to the might of Group B Metro 6R4 and full works Group A Escort Cosworths, plenty of fun and LOTS of expense along the way! The link between motor sport and the motor industry runs deep and half a century later those links are still evident across both disciplines. Motorsport is recognised as a development vehicle for the cars and vans we see on the roads today, and more importantly it operates as a test bed for tomorrow’s mass market products and in particular the drive trains. In his own words, “young entrants to the motor industry often come in knowing their motorsport heroes in great detail, be they current or past. We chose to embrace this link and launch our I.N.D.Y 25 schools programme to try and harness that young interest highlighting our sector as a potential career choice for the future. We were honoured to align this with the Jim Clark Trust and have been lucky to have some stunning support in our quest.” Despite a slightly slow uptake by the education community in Scotland, they will have winners and they will give us feedback from which we can learn and look to tweak the offering for years to come. The programme is ambitious but is that not the emotion that drives every entrant in every mode of motorsport sitting on a start line hoping to do their very best and get rewarded by a good outcome for their team. Time moves on but the basics stay the same. Skill, speed, and safety deliver results in business and sport. What is good for the sector is good for the sport.
Highly commended was Scottish Motor Racing Club.
Whilst many of our enthusiasts and participants love the sounds and smells of the racing internal combustion engine, its future in our sport is increasingly uncertain. Environmental concerns are growing in priority for governments and much of the population. As electric vehicles reshape the future of our automotive landscape, the challenge has been to find ways to embrace all this while keeping our sport accessible and acceptable, for both existing and new participants. In 2023 the recipients of this award introduced a new event to prove it was possible and Scotland’s first rally exclusively for electric vehicles was born. Straightforward competition, no expensive modifications, environmentally friendly, but still challenging and attractive for the crews taking part. Embracing further developments in timing technology meant no need for a large team of marshals travelling around the country, further enhancing the event’s environmental and sustainability credentials. With relatively compact fields in both the first year and in 2024 they have proved the concept and secured inclusion in this year’s Bridgestone FIA EcoRally Cup, making it the first international rally in Scotland since 2011. We look forward to seeing competitors from across the world assemble in Dundee in July as our award winners help propel #motorsport in Scotland into the future.
Best Grassroots Motorsport Event
Grassroots #motorsport can be loosely defined as being disciplines which don’t require specialist or expensive safety equipment and modified cars. Disciplines would include Autotests, Autosolos, Car Trials, Single Venue Targa Road Rallies, 12 Cars, and smooth Road Rallies. Although this is the lowest level of amateur motorsport, many well-known professional racing and rallying names started out in the grassroot community. With the award for the “Best Grassroots Motorsport Event”, we wanted to recognise those who are making a difference at a local level.
And the winner was Scottish Sporting Car Club.
This club have a strong history of running grassroots events and ran their Charity StreetCar AutoSOLO in June 2024. The use of mirror image routes running back to back ensured some thrilling action for competitors and spectators alike. At the end of the day just 6 seconds covered the top 3. The event though was also a shining example of the club’s commitment to making a positive impact through regular charity work. A total of £1,000 was raised on the day through donations and the generous support of partners and suppliers who waived their usual fees and charges. These proceeds were split evenly between the Beatson Cancer Charity and Abused Men in Scotland. In addition to supporting these great causes, part of every entry fee for all the club’s events goes towards Trees for Life, helping to restore the Caledonian Forest and protect wildlife in Scotland. To date, the club has planted 120 trees with more to be planted after each event as part of the journey to gaining Club Sustainability Accreditation.
Youth Voice Award
Education and training for children and young people is pivotal in ensuring that motorsport continues to gain traction. With our “Youth Voice Award”, we wanted to recognise those who are encouraging and supporting children and young people to get stuck into motorsport, whether as a competitor, mechanic, marshal or trainee Official, or another volunteer role.
And the winner was Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge.
The whole committee are brilliant, what a team. They work tirelessly together to promote rally driving to 14 to 17 year olds in Scotland. Roy Campbell, the chairman is a wonderful ambassador for rally and tirelessly fund raising to promote the sport and training days for young people. Rhona Dickie as coordinator keeps everybody organised and on track to be at events to promote the championship in Scotland and throughout the UK, recruiting new drivers from every walk of life from near and far, often with no former connection to rallying. And all the other members of the committee who endlessly give up their time and travel long distances to train youngsters in all aspects of the sport; training them to become rally stars of the future or simply to build confidence where it may have been lacking before, pulling in professionals from all areas of the industry and outside but related areas of motorsport to train them. They make things personal: they will go out of their way to help individuals who may be finding things difficult and pull them forward to become both proud and responsible drivers, simultaneously creating a camaraderie that lasts well beyond the years of the challenge. The Challenge was started by David “Digby” Barlow in 2012 and is being supported as enthusiastically today by the all-volunteer committee and is finding innovative strategies for reaching out to new audiences and giving opportunities to all those that they can and creating a healthy future for rally in Scotland.
Engagement Award
To get more people involved in motorsport, it is fundamental to promote the sport that we all love – not only to those already involved but also to those who may be interested and become the marshals, officials, competitors and support crews of the future. With our “Engagement Award”, we wanted to recognise those who have made an impact on motorsport by engaging new audiences, or best practices around reaching newcomers and helping them become involved.
The winner was Ian McRae.
Ian works tirelessly for the promotion of rally and motor events all over Scotland. He travels miles, helps out at many set ups, marshals, co-drives juniors and seniors and mentors young drivers. I have had the pleasure of seeing him mentor juniors from no rally background at all, right through to Senior rally drivers where he has acted as service crew at no cost to the beneficiary, just to see them progress. It has been inspiring to see him bring youngsters out of their shells and help them become confident individuals who have gone on to working in the motorsports industry, become marshals and responsible members of the motorsports community. He is the secretary of the Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge. He is well known to most event organisers and marshal crews from Machrihanish to Aberdeen to the Borders and back, all undertaken at his own expense with no expectation of anything in return. He could be included in any number of award categories for his tireless work towards demystifying rally for those outside the sport to making the sport accessible to all especially starting with the juniors, for this he should be recognised and congratulated.
Scottish Motorsport Volunteer of the Year Award
Our Scottish Motorsport Volunteer of the Year Award was for our inspiring volunteer marshals and officials, whose dedication, passion and efforts deserve to be celebrated. We wanted to recognise those who make an impact by going above and beyond to give their time, energy and commitment to motorsport, and make a notable difference to Clubs and/or Events.
The winner was Keith Cowan.
Whenever anybody mentions dedication, passion and effort in Scottish rallying, there can only be one person being talked about. If an event needs a Chief Marshal, this is the person they turn to. If a rally needs marshals, this is the first port o call to solve their needs. If anyone can persuade volunteers to support events the length and breadth of the country, it is this man. He has been attending rallies for most of his life with his dad being heavily involved with 55 Car Club in Perth and the RSAC Scottish Rally as well as being a competitor. The Chief Marshal for the Border Ecosse Knockhill Stages, the Mach 1 stages, the RSAC Scottish Rally and the Kingdom Stages at Crail he is always there or there abouts. If he doesn’t have a Senior role himself, he is there supporting those that do. When you see that he is the Chief Marshal or Stage Commander on an event you know that this will be run to the highest standard. He must put in a huge amount of work pre-event, on-event and post-event as he sends out all event information to all marshals in a timely manner and always seeks feedback at the end of each event, specifically to hear from all marshals if anything could be improved. He always makes you feel valued and appreciated when marshalling on an event. A team player through and through, you will be hard pressed to find someone who is so committed to supporting Scottish Motorsport.
Highly commended were Alistair Reid and Craig Munro Fisher.
Alistair is one of the most volunteered marshals and advocates of motorsport in Scotland. He attends so many events as a marshal and general all round hands on helper. He even attends work parties when time comes to get tracks pristine for hillclimb and sprint events. His quiet, friendly and inclusive approach mean he is always a valuable part of every event he is part of. He promotes to others how important and how much fun it is to be involved. He is an integral part of so many events and a great man to have in motorsport.
Similarly, Craig is a very able, willing, reliable and enthusiastic volunteer and proactive club committee member. Over the past few years he has gained much experience and increased his skill set through training to take on more responsible tasks. In 2024 he worked at stage rallies in locations all over Scotland, in England, and even into Wales. This is a huge commitment which he always gives with enthusiasm and a “can do” attitude. It is not unusual for Craig to take on several roles on a rally – stage set-up, marshalling (often Stage Commander), and clear-up. He is equally happy to be manning a control or helping at a radio point. At last year’s Jim Clark Rally, he was service park manager. Adverse weather rendered much of the service area unusable after the event had started. His team successfully re-located most of the service crews and control marshals to various alternative sites without delay to the event, a logistical nightmare involving coordinating tractors, lorry loads of hardcore, and ground matting. He has encouraged new volunteer marshals into the sport and guided them through the registration process.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The inaugural recipient of our Lifetime Achievement Award officially retired from his #motorsport activities on 10th September 2022, although you wouldn’t necessarily know it. His boots don’t appear on Facebook as much as they used to but the wearer is still very definitely visible on the rallying scene. Maybe he just cannot escape the lure as he said himself of Rhona’s tablet, Mrs McCombie’s caramel tarts, Cruella’s rock buns, Shona’s luridly coloured tray bakes and the 1990 World Ladies Rally Champion’s jam sponge. This man is a legend of Scottish motoring and motorsport journalism and the mouthpiece of Scottish rallying. He was a contributor to “Motorsport News” for 50 years until his retirement. Wider afield he has reported on events as far apart as the USA and Greece. His reports were always amusing and informative but he has not been afraid over the years to ruffle some feathers when he felt it was needed. He has not left us devoid of his utterings though and his occasional social media posts are always welcomed by his appreciative audience. He has had a long term association with the Scottish Rally Championship, holding key positions on the organising committee over many years. That association continues today as he undertakes the massive challenge of writing the history of the Championship from the 1960s to the 2010s, two out of the six, maybe seven, planned books now having been published to great acclaim.
The winner of our inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award is John Fife.
