The 2021 Scottish Rally Championship kicked off on the closed tarmac public roads of Dunoon and surrounding area, for the Argyll Rally – which was running as a closed road event for the first time. For Ewan it would be the first time using the 998cc Turbocharged Fiesta R2T in anger, first time rallying on closed public roads and first time competing in the Scottish rally championship. The event offered an open ‘recce’ in which competing crews could drive over the stages in road cars to write pacenotes for the event, so Ewan and co-driver, Andrew Roughead used this opportunity to learn the stages and adapt notes to suit the stages. This is arguably one of the most important parts of the weekend, with lots of parts of the rally having blind crests and tricky corners the time to be gained with good preparation is huge. The rally started with 2 stages around the streets of Dunoon on the Friday night followed by 3 closed road stages, then 8 stages on the Saturday to finish the rally. 

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Here is what Ewan had to say before making his way to Stage 1, ‘We’ve had a good recce and feel happy with the pacenotes so I am looking forward to getting started tonight. I’ve just took the car for a run up the road so I can use the launch control for the first time, stage 1 will be the first chance for me to drive the car in anger so tonight [Friday Night] will be a baptism of fire. The aim is to make it round in once piece, learn the car and see if we can pick up the speed on Saturday with the car being brand new to me!’

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The 20-year-old from Newcastle, did exactly what he said. After 2 clean runs through the town stage, he made it back into service where the guys gave the car a quick check over, put a harder tyre on for the remaining stages and the crew were back out for the final 3 stages on the Friday night. Despite a few heart in mouth moments as Ewan adapted to LHD again, a steady approach was taken to ensure the crew got through without issue. At the end of Leg 1 the TEAM VALLEY SERVICE & MOT backed Fiesta R2T sat in 46th Overall and 4th in Class.

When checking the car on the Saturday morning, the service crew noticed a worn wheel bearing in the front hub, instead of running the risk of a failure. Simon (Mechanic) and Lee (Mechanic) quickly replaced it with a new hub fresh out the box and the car was back to full health. 4 stages in the morning loop awaited the cars, with the weather remaining nice and dry, Ewan’s aim was to climb the leader board and regain some lost time from the steady approach on Friday’s stages. 

Right from the off, the current John Easson Award Winner was going for it, managing to turn a 9 second deficit to a 6 second advantage in the Scottish Rally Championship Junior Category by the end of the 2nd stage on Saturday. Then moved into 2nd in Class and closing into the class lead by the midday halt. A good morning’s work left the crew in 21st overall and meant the aim for the afternoon was to go for the class win and secure a top 20 result. 

Another strong afternoon with 3 out of 4 top 20 stage times, meant Ewan and Andrew had took the lead of the class and secured a giant killing 17th Overall Result. This had meant they had secured the SRC Junior Win, Class Win and First FWD Car. However, a very harsh minute penalty after the last stage for folding the wing mirror in on a chicane meant the crew had dropped from 17th overall to 23rd overall, however retaining the class wins due to the advantage they had built up. 

A delighted Ewan said: ‘It’s been a great event for us, the main aim was to make it to the finish in once piece and any result was a bonus. I have learnt lots about the car and closed road rallies and to finish 1st Front wheel drive car and 1st SRC junior is unbelievable. I would like to thank Andrew for a sterling job on the notes all weekend, Lee, Si and Max for the top job in service – the car hasn’t missed a beat all weekend. As well as Team Valley Service & MOT, Royal Purple, Duo Media, 2300 Club John Easson Award and Rallytech for the continued support. I am looking forward to getting back on gravel for the RSAC Scottish Rally at the end of July!’