Johnnie Mackay heads for Hills this weekend.

Johnnie Mackay will be looking to continue his good form when he starts the Galloway Hills Rally on Saturday.

The reigning John Easson Award winner finished on a high last time out on the Grampian Forest Rally, clocking 16th fastest time on the last stage, matching the pace of the front-runners in the Challengers class.

“If I can maintain that sort of speed on the Galloway Hills, or better it, then it will be a good day. We are seeded at car 37, so we will definitely be looking to improve on that,” explained Johnnie.
“We have had a fairly relaxed lead-in this week, as the car didn’t need much attention, which always helps.

“I have a new co-driver this weekend as Rachel Matheson is unavailable. Barry Young has stepped in, and he is very experienced. I am sure we will be fine once we get the first stage out of the way.

The penultimate round of the Scottish Rally Championship, the Galloway Hills Rally, has a slightly different format to other SRC rounds. The first car starts at 3pm, with six stages totalling around 40 miles before the finish in the early evening. Crews have the option of continuing with another three stages in the dark.

Added Johnnie: “I am really looking forward to it, it’s one of my favourite gravel rallies and I enjoy the compact format. With a central servicing area in the forest, there’s very little road mileage between stages.”