Last weekend I competed in the McRae Rally Challenge at Knockhill Racing Circuit, with Marc Fowler in the co-driver’s seat. The event commemorates Colin McRae becoming the youngest ever World Rally Champion in 1995 and has been delayed since 2020 due to covid.

It was a real honour to be asked to compete in such a special event and at my home circuit. This event last ran in 2015 and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a Metro 6R4 - I didn't switch to the driver's seat until 2016 and I never could have imagined back in 2015 that I would be driving myself the next time the event took place!

Here's how we got on:

Day 1

We were queued at the arrival control before stage 1 for a long time due to an accident and the stage being stopped. We were on intermediate tyres but it rained heavily while we were waiting for the stage to restart. With others in the class running earlier on in the dry or getting a notional time on the stage we were at a disadvantage and sitting 7th in class after the first stage.

The rest of the day went really well – we set the third quickest stage time on stages 2-5 and were climbing back up the order. By the end of day one and five stages we were sitting 4th in class, just one second off 3rd in class. I particularly enjoyed the rallycross section on stage 3 – it was the first time I’d driven it and it was a lot of fun!

Day 2

After the first stage of day 2 we moved up to 3rd in class and had a close battle with Christopher Smith and Stephen Conn for a few stages, swapping one or two seconds a stage.

Unfortunately we had a lock up on stage 9 on a gravel section and went straight on, having to reverse and losing a lot of time. This dropped us down the order and with just one more stage to go, there wasn’t much we could do so we finished up 4th in class.

I was happy with 4th in class on such an incredible event but frustrated at being so close to a class podium and just missing out. It was fantastic just to take part in such a special event, and to receive the trophy for first lady driver and get to meet Jimmy, Alister and Max McRae.

My sponsor Carbon Positive Motorsport was carbon offsetting all rally competitors’ stage mileage based on estimated fuel use and offered a discount to spectators wishing to offset their travel. It’s great to see motorsport having such a positive impact.

Thanks to Carbon Positive Motorsport and my other sponsors Morris Lubricants and Demon Tweeks for their support this year.

Next up we're back to gravel for the Scottish Rally in a few weeks!