The Jim Clark Rally returns to the town of Duns this 24 to 26 May, with drivers from the Probite Motorsport UK British Rally Championship, Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship and Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship set to join the 140 cars at the start line. 

With last year’s winner Adrien Fourmaux fully focused on his World Rally Championship programme with M-Sport Ford, 2019 European Rally champion Chris Ingram and co-driver Alex Kihurani will lead the field away in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. A proven pairing on asphalt with victory on the opening round of the British championship, Ingram returns to tackle the Jim Clark for the first time since 2013 when he drove a Renault Twingo R2. 

One driver who has far more Jim Clark experience is Keith Cronin, who will line up as the second seed alongside co-driver Mikie Galvin in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. Cronin won the event as recently as 2022 and was the only one to challenge Fourmaux last year, so is a certain contender for a record-equalling third Jim Clark victory this time around. 

Both however will face stern competition from the Fiestas of 2022 British Rally Champion Osian Pryce and 2023 Junior World Rally Champion William Creighton. Pryce arrives in Duns in red-hot form having won the most recent round of the British championship, while Creighton – who’s been second on both BRC events thus far – is match-fit from the latest world championship round in Portugal. 

Meirion Evans brings the fan favourite Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to the party, while recent Manx Rally winner James Williams represents Hyundai. Williams will compete for both British and National Asphalt championship points in his i20, fending off competition from the likes of 2023 champion Callum Black (Fiesta), Neil Roskell (Fiesta), Mark Kelly (Skoda Fabia R5) and James Ford (Citroen C3 Rally2). 

Fighting to uphold local honour are a trio of Duns drivers – Euan Thorburn, Garry Pearson and Dale Robertson – in state-of-the-art Rally2 cars. Volkswagen pilot Thorburn would appear best positioned to become the first Scottish Jim Clark winner since 2011 thanks to his overall podium last season, but Pearson too is a former Jim Clark podium finisher and will compete in the very latest Fiesta Rally2, run by the factory M-Sport outfit. 

Robertson is also Fiesta mounted, and welcomes Kelso co-driver Douglas Redpath into the navigators’ seat, 40 years since Redpath won the Jim Clark alongside Dominic Buckley Snr. Robertson is always fast on his local lanes but is down on seat time compared to his direct rivals as he hasn’t competed since the Jim Clark last year. 

Also flying the flag for Scotland is Max McRae – the latest talent from the world-famous McRae rallying dynasty. Co-driven by Cameron Fair, the 19-year-old is already a winner in the Junior European Rally Championship this year and showed well on his Rally2 debut in the BRC back in March. Like Pearson, McRae is armed with an M-Sport Fiesta with hopes to fare better than last year when he retired on the opening stage with mechanical gremlins. 

The Reivers Rally has attracted a similarly stunning entry, with 2023 winner Thorburn aiming to draw level with old foe David Bogie as the event’s most successful driver in history.