# 2016 Scottish Rally Championship

The Scottish Rally Championship is a rallying series run throughout Scotland over the course of a year, that comprises seven gravel surface events.
The 2016 season begins in the snow-covered forest tracks around Inverness on 20 February, with the season finale taking place around Castle Douglas on 10 September. Driver Jock Armstrong and regular co-driver Paula Swinscoe will start the season as defending champions having won the 2015 Championship.
Aberdeen based haulage company ARR Craib will sponsor the series for the fourth year in a row.
Alongside the main championship, 2016 will see a number of initiatives run over the course of the year including the following:
* Scottish 2WD Rally Championship - Open to registered 2 Wheel drive cars
* SRC Juniors - Open to registered young drivers and co-drivers
* SRC Ladies - Open to registered female crews
* SRC Subaru cup - Open to registered Subaru cars
* SRC 205 Cup - Open to registered Peugeot 205 and Citroen C2 cars

## 2016 calendar

For season 2016 there is to be seven events held predominantly on gravel surfaces.
| Round | Dates | Event | Rally HQ | Surface | Website |
| 1 | 20 Feb | The Snowman Rally | Inverness | Gravel / Snow | (website) |
| 2 | 19 Mar | Border Counties Rally | Jedburgh | Gravel | (website) |
| 3 | 23 Apr | Speyside Stages Rally | Elgin | Gravel | (website) |
| - | 5 Jun | Jim Clark Reivers Rally | Kelso | Gravel | (website) |
| 4 | 25 Jun | RSAC Scottish Rally | Dumfries | Gravel | (website) |
| 5 | 13 Aug | Grampian Stages Rally | Aberdeen | Gravel | (website) |
| 6 | 10 Sep | Galloway Hills Rally | Castle Douglas | Gravel | (website) |

### Calendar changes

On 24 May, the Jim Clark Reivers Forest Rally Rally management team announced via a press release that the 2016 event – usually round 4 of the championship and held in June, would not take place. Insufficient entries was cited as the reason.

## 2016 events podium

| Round | Rally name | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Podium finishers |
| Round | Rally name | Placing | Driver / Co-Driver | Car | Time / Diff leader |
| 1 | Snowman Rally (20 February) | 1 | Donnie Macdonald / Andrew Falconer | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 | 50:15 |
| 1 | Snowman Rally (20 February) | 2 | Dale Robertson / Stuart Louden | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 | +0:07 |
| 1 | Snowman Rally (20 February) | 3 | Quintin Milne / Sean Donnelly | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 | +0:30 |
| 2 | Border Counties Rally (19 March) | 1 | Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe | Subaru Impreza | 41:17 |
| 2 | Border Counties Rally (19 March) | 2 | Garry Pearson / Robbie Mitchell | Ford Fiesta R5 | +0:00 |
| 2 | Border Counties Rally (19 March) | 3 | Shaun Sinclair / Kirsty Riddick | Ford Focus WRC | +0:07 |
| 3 | Speyside Stages (23 April) | 1 | Garry Pearson / Robbie Mitchell | Ford Fiesta R5 | 42:32 |
| 3 | Speyside Stages (23 April) | 2 | Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe | Subaru Impreza | +0:08 |
| 3 | Speyside Stages (23 April) | 3 | Mike Faulkner / Peter Foy | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX | +0:41 |
| – | Jim Clark Reivers Rally (5 June) | 1 | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled |
| – | Jim Clark Reivers Rally (5 June) | 2 | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled |
| – | Jim Clark Reivers Rally (5 June) | 3 | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled |
| 4 | RSAC Scottish Rally (25 June) | 1 | Garry Pearson / Robbie Mitchell | Ford Fiesta R5 | 54:07.4 |
| 4 | RSAC Scottish Rally (25 June) | 2 | Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe | Subaru Impreza | +0:12.9 |
| 4 | RSAC Scottish Rally (25 June) | 3 | Mike Faulkner / Peter Foy | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX | +0:13.8 |
| 5 | Grampian Stages Rally (13 August) | 1 | Dave Weston Jnr / Aled Davies | Subaru Impreza WRC | 42:47 |
| 5 | Grampian Stages Rally (13 August) | 2 | John MacCrone / Rhianon Gelsomino | Ford Fiesta R5 | +0:06 |
| 5 | Grampian Stages Rally (13 August) | 3 | Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton | Peugeot 208 R5 | +0:21 |
| 6 | Galloway Hills Rally (10 September) | 1 | Jock Armstrong / Paula Swinscoe | Subaru Impreza | 38:39 |
| 6 | Galloway Hills Rally (10 September) | 2 | Mike Faulkner / Peter Foy | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX | +0:57 |
| 6 | Galloway Hills Rally (10 September) | 3 | Mark McCulloch / Michael Hendry | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX | +1:28 |

### Notes

* 1 2 3 Crew was not registered to score points towards the Scottish Rally Championship.
* ↑ Per the championship's sporting regulations, Armstrong was awarded victory over Pearson after recording a faster time on the first stage

## Drivers' championship standings

| Pos | Driver | Car | TSR | BCR | SSR | JCR | SCO | GSR | GHR | Points |
| 1 | Jock Armstrong | Subaru Impreza | 11 | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | 3 | 1 | 143 |
| 2 | Garry Pearson | Ford Fiesta R5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | Ret | 142 |
| 3 | Mike Faulkner | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 | 12 | 4 | 3 | – | 3 | 7 | 2 | 131 |
| 4 | Mark McCulloch | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | – | 4 | 4 | 3 | 131 |
| 5 | Bruce McCombie | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO | 6 | 6 | 5 | – | 6 | 5 | 4 | 124 |
| 6 | Barry Groundwater | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X | 9 | 9 | 10 | – | 7 | 6 | DNS | 109 |
| 7 | Scott McCombie | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 | 7 | 13 | Ret | – | 8 | 8 | 9 | 105 |
| 8 | Alasdair S Graham | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO | 22 | 12 | 14 | – | 11 | 12 | 7 | 94 |
| 9 | Donnie MacDonald | Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 | 1 | 8 | 11 | – | 10 | DNS | DNS | 91 |
| 10 | Iain Wilson | Subaru Impreza N12 | 15 | 18 | 17 | – | 13 | 9 | 6 | 90 |
| Pos | Driver | Car | TSR | BCR | SSR | JCR | SCO | GSR | GHR | Points |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Non-podium finish |
| Purple | Did not finish (DNF) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| Blank | Did not start (DNS) |
| Blue | Nominated dropped points |
Points are awarded to the highest placed registered drivers on each event as follows: 30, 28, 27, 26, and so on down to 1 point. At the end of the season, competitors nominate their best 5 scores out of the 6 events as their final overall Championship score.