Jonathan Greer is switching Championships and surfaces on Saturday as the five-time champion makes his long-awaited return to the RSAC Scottish Rally alongside title-winning co-driver Niall Burns.
Having wrapped up the Northern Ireland Rally Championship for a fifth time with a round to spare — the Tyrone Stages Rally, which also takes place on Saturday — Greer has decided to head to Dalbeattie.
His last appearance at the rally was 2017 and on that occasion he was forced to retire his car after it developed mechanical problems. Prior to that, he came home in fifth in 2013 and again in 2016.
“I have been wanting to get back onto gravel for a while now,” said Greer, who is the sixth seed for the 78th instalment of the loose surface event which comprises six special stages.
“As we were able to wrap up the Northern Ireland Rally Championship with a round to spare, and our Irish Tarmac Rally Championship campaign not going as well as we hoped it would, it seemed like a good idea to pick and choose a handful of different events for the fun of it.”
Competition will come in the shape of last year’s winner Jock Armstrong in a Skoda, seven-time rally winner David Bogie in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Scottish Rally Championship points leader Euan Thorburn and title-chasing Finlay Reston, also in Volkswagen Polo GTI R5s.
Greer warmed up for the RSAC Scottish Rally by entering June’s Kielder Forest Rally and navigating it second overall, 12 seconds adrift of the Ford Fiesta R5 crew Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear.
“It was the first time that I had competed on gravel in five years and I really enjoyed it, so I picked the Scottish Rally as another to try to get a bit more comfortable on gravel again,” explained Greer.
“I would be happy to finish around where I am seeded as we are running the car in proper Rally2 specification meaning a smaller restrictor against a lot of cars running in non-homologated spec.
“So having the larger restrictor gives them a massive power advantage over us.
“It will be tough to try and mix it at the front of the field, but we will go and enjoy ourselves and see how we go.”
Closer to home and Derek McGarrity is the top seed for the Tyrone Stages from Aaron McLaughlin and Gareth Sayers. Made up of 14 stages, the Cookstown Motor Club event is due to get under way at 9am.