Scottish Rally championship secures deal with tyre giant

THE organisers of the Scottish Rally championship have bucked the economic downturn by attracting a global sponsor for the 2009 season. Hankook, the seventh-largest tyre manufacturer in the world, will back the event next year with a view to extending the sponsorship deal further.

Though no details of the financial commitment to the eight-round championship — which gets underway in Inverness with the Snowman Rally on 14 February — have been revealed, Hankook are keen to help develop young Scottish rally drivers.

As part of the package, the winner of the Junior programme in next year's Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship will receive a fully-funded outing in an international rally.

The timing of the announcement, made in Glasgow yesterday, coincides with the start of Wales Rally GB, the UK round of the World Rally Championship in Cardiff on Thursday.

The decision to focus attention on developing young drivers also coincides with the fact Scotland's two brightest rally talents, Ellon's Barry Clark and David Bogie from Dumfries, are finding difficulty raising the necessary funds for next season.

Both rising stars cut their teeth in the Scottish Rally Championship which is now acknowledged as the most successful series in the UK and attracts more than 100 competitors and 15,000 spectators at each of its eight rounds.

In the past, the SRC has also produced international drivers of the calibre of former world champions Colin McRae and Louise Aitken-Walker, British champion Alister McRae, plus Bothwell's Robbie Head and Andrew Cowan, the Duns rally ace behind Tommi Makinen's multiple world titles at Mitsubishi.

"We are delighted to be focusing our attention in 2009 on the Scottish Rally Championship," Hankook's motorsport manager Mike Patterson said. "The series attracts some intense competition and the enthusiasm and professionalism of the organising team has been instrumental in finalising this deal."

HANKOOK MSA SCOTTISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

14 February: Arnold Clark Thistle Snowman Rally, 21 March: Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally, 25 April: The Station Garage Mitsubishi Granite City Rally, 24 May: Jim Clark Reivers Rally, 27 June: RSAC Scottish Rally, 8 August: Gleaner Speyside Stages, 5 September: Merrick Forest Stages, 3 October: Colin McRae Forest Stages.