It’s round two of the Scottish Rally Championship this weekend, and Johnnie Mackay will start the Speyside Stages in confident mood.
The reigning John Easson Award winner has been buoyed by an excellent second place finish on last month’s Memorial Garden Stages at RM Condor.
That result went some way to making up for the disappointment of an early retirement on the Snowman Rally.
And it also gave the highly-rated Mackay valuable seat time in his new Mitsubishi Evo7.
“I feel much more comfortable with it, and it feels like ‘my car’ now,” said Johnnie.
“The Speyside has an unusual format with two night forest stages on Friday night, then nine stages totalling 50 miles on Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to doing the two stages in the dark, which will be interesting as there are no markers, such as signposts, it’s just trees, trees and more trees!
“It’s reverse seeded as well, and as we are car 51, we’ll be one of the first four-wheel-drive cars going through, so there will be no lines to follow.
“The Saturday format of nine quick fire stages will be interesting and potentially difficult. Keeping up a good rhythm will be essential.
“I’ve only done the Speyside once before. I was in the Fiesta ST and it was the first time out in six months after I’d rolled it, so it will be a case of getting reacquainted with the roads again.”
The 2023 Speyside Stages looks set to be a classic, it’s the 25th anniversary of the event, organised by the 63 Car Club, which itself celebrates 60 years, and it’s the tenth year of sponsorship with McDonald & Munro.
Jock Armstrong and Hannah McKillop head the 108-car entry in their Subaru Impreza
Johnnie Mackay starting round 2 in a confident mood
