World Rally Championship drivers can expect fast and challenging stages when they tackle Rally Scotland in 2027.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans and his Rally1 colleague Jon Armstrong were among the international stars driving in Aberdeenshire last weekend at the Grampian Forest Rally – the FIA’s candidate event for next year’s Rally Scotland.
While Toyota driver Evans wasn’t competing in the rally itself, M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong won the rally by 9.3 seconds over his team-mate Romet Jürgenson. Lancia’s Nikolay Gryazin was third with his team-mate Yohan Rossel fifth, split by Osian Pryce (GR Yaris Rally2) who won the British Rally Championship event.
Evans, who hadn’t driven in the UK forests since Rally GB in 2019, said: “Overall, the stages are nice. They’re pretty fast, probably even a bit on the fast side in some sections, but fine.
“It’s not so dissimilar to Wales in the end. I think the surface is a bit different. Naturally it is a bit faster here, not quite as flowing, and a bit more cambered here. I think Wales is the closest thing we’ve seen probably in the calendar to this, even if it’s not exactly the same.”
Evans feels the rally will be “quite challenging” next year.
Evans drove the stages, but not in competition
“I think a Rally1 car actually would have been mega, but obviously we won’t have that,” he said. There’s no point thinking that way. Generally, quite flowing stages, not very high grip, but maybe that’s a little bit to do with being first on the road.
“I think it was good to come and have a look, to come and at least sample some of it and get some notes. Hopefully, some of the stages aren’t all reversed, which has been known to happen in the past – when we’ve gone to a lot of effort to go and do a recce, and then you turn up the next year and nothing’s the same.
“But anyway, we’ve got a flavor, we know a bit of what to expect. The Rally2 car is very much in line with what we’re going to have next year in terms of wear so we’ve been able to evaluate tire wear and all that. And of course, it is drier now probably than what we’re going to have next year.”
Armstrong admitted the stages “were a little bit rough in nature” in second pass conditions “but we’re used to that in the WRC”. Otherwise, he enjoyed driving them.
“We’ve been enjoying the roads,” he said. “They’re a good mixture of flowing, camber and some nice cuts also which is a bit rare, so hopefully they don’t put anti-cuts everywhere next year. Overall it’s been impressive the type of roads they have here, and also I believe they’ve got way more forests that they’re already looking at for next year. I think it’ll be a great event.”
Strong spectator interest
Crowd numbers were significantly up on previous editions of the Grampian, indicating excitement ahead of WRC Rally Scotland
Both Evans and Armstrong were encouraged by the number of spectators in attendance, particularly at Friday evening’s ‘rally zone’ before the competitive event began.
“I think there’s been a good amount of interest locally for the event, and of course I think when it does return as a world championship round, there’ll be even more interest for people to travel from further afield,” Evans explained.
“I think everyone has been very welcoming here. I think some of the facilities we’ve seen for the infrastructure for the event in 2027 looks promising, so I’m excited to see how the rally turns out.
“There’s a lot of people very excited to have around back in the UK. Of course, you can never compare a national candidate rally to what will be the real thing, but there’s definitely good potential.”
Armstrong added: “There was a lot of people, a lot of young people as well which was really nice looking for signatures, so it just shows you there is the appetite for it here and it’s something a little bit different. Good to see it supported, even when it’s just a national event.”
The FIA’s perspective
Armstrong won the event by 9.3 seconds over M-Sport team-mate Romet Jürgenson
Several FIA figures were in attendance last week, including rally category manager Marina Duñach, sporting delegate Timo Rautiainen, safety delegate Nicolas Klinger and medical delegate Anna Carreras Castanyé.
Their aim, like with any candidate event, was to check everything is up to standard and make any recommendations ahead of the WRC visiting the country next year.
The FIA’s overriding impression, according to Klinger, was positive.
“Honestly, no major concerns,” Klinger said, “just fine-tuning things and we have that everywhere.
“When you write something, someone else is [proof] reading it. When I do something, I like that someone else is having a look at it.”
The service park, which will be based at Aberdeen P&J’s Live arena (but wasn’t for the Grampian Forest Rally), was a particular highlight.
“It’s an incredible venue,” Klinger explained. “You have so many possibilities, so
many solutions. And even maybe now at the moment, it’s a bit too big, too many solutions, too many possibilities.
“What is important is that when next year, we arrive there, it doesn’t look completely empty. That’s also important when you have a small service park to try to fit everything.
“It looks complicated, but then it looks crowded. Then when it’s too big, if it looks empty, it’s not good either. So it’s all these things that we try to discuss and see where you place this, that, and how to arrange.
“But it’s a WRC level service park, very close to the airport, everything close to the town. You have everything here.”
Rally Scotland does not have a confirmed date for 2027 yet, but is expected to run in the fall.
