Ryan and Nicolson take top spot after close battle in Albar Kames Trophy Rally

Castletown driver Jack Ryan and his navigator Robin Nicolson came out on top at Kames Motorsport Complex in the closest battle the Junior 1000 Ecosse series has seen for some time.

Their Volkswagen Up and the Skoda Citigo of Rian Walker and Stuart McBride were never separated by more than two seconds over the 16 stages at Sunday's Albar Kames Trophy Rally in East Ayrshire.

In changeable conditions, the two crews ended the day tied on time – with Ryan and Nicolson getting the win on a tie-break thanks to their faster time on stage one.

Fourteen J1000 Ecosse crews lined up for the event, supported by Lochlie Construction Group. It was round two of the annual championship for drivers aged 14-17 which runs from March to November.

Round one winners Oliver Phillips and Barry Young were only eight seconds away from the top two at the end of the event as Phillips produced his best performance at Kames.

Ruan Lowry and Ian McRae (Citigo) also had their best Kames performance to take fourth place.

The battle for fifth produced the day’s second tie-break, with the Yaris of Lauchlan Hunter and Calum MacPherson tying on time with the Citigo of Ollie Forrester and George Myatt.

Hunter and MacPherson got the nod after being quicker on stage one.

Round three on June 10 will see the J1000 crews swap the narrow, tight lanes of Kames for the wide-open spaces of Crail airfield.

Ryan and Nicolson had finished third overall at the first event of the 2023 season, the Memorial Garden Junior Stages Rally at the Condor Royal Navy base near Arbroath. They gained second-place points after an unintentional breach of championship regulations by Walker and McBride.

Ryan won the award for top Scottish driver in last year's Junior 1000 Ecosse and also received the award for farthest-travelled competitor.

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