Rally Team Scotland experienced a difficult but promising opening event in its 2010 British Rally Championship campaign.  The Bulldog Rally of North Wales saw its driver John MacCrone put in a sterling performance in his first event with the new team and car, but a troublesome puncture on just the second stage dropped him 12 minutes down the time-sheets and ruined his chances of an impressive finish.

The Bulldog Rally was based in Welshpool and took in some classic Welsh forest stages with some fantastic levels of competition.  Rally Team Scotland faced challenges from 11 other crews in the hotly-fought R2 class and its JP Motorsport prepared Fiesta R2 was also entered in the Fiesta Sport Trophy - a one-make challenge for Ford's small car.

Crews tackled the famous Myherin and Sweet Lamb stages twice and it was the Sweet Lamb test that left a sour taste in MacCrone's mouth. Together with new co-driver Stuart Loudan, MacCrone had started well and was the top Fiesta R2 on the first stage. But when the car fell off the jack while changing a puncture on stage 2, the crew were left literally stranded for over 12 minutes - with no chance of clawing the time back.

But the 20-year-old Scottish hot-shot from Mull set about using the remaining stage mileage to get vital experience and to prove the speed that had seen him top the Motorsport News poll for the top young drivers to watch, from all UK motorsport disciplines, during 2010. This was MacCrone's first rally in a left-hand-drive car and despite having completed only 50 miles testing prior to the start, he started to push with an impressive effect.

On SS5 Big Ray and SS6 Dyfi Main, the crew finished second in the ultra-competitive R2 class, just a handful of seconds behind Finland's Jarkko Nikara. Nikara is one of the brightest young stars in Europe - he represented Finland in the Pirelli Euro Shoot Out last year - and he proved a valuable benchmark for MacCrone's performance.

With a solid run over the final two stages, the Palletforce-backed crew finished seventh in the R2 class and third overall in the Fiesta Sport Trophy. However, the biggest positives from the event were the valuable experience of getting 100 stage miles under his belt and the impressive stage-times that really highlighted MacCrone's talent and ability for the future.

MacCrone said, "It's been a tough event but my first rally in a left-hand drive car on these demanding and high-committment stages, where pace-notes and confidence in the car are crucial, was never going to be easy. Stuart and I have worked well together and this was highlighted in the times we set towards the end of the rally. I've learned a lot this weekend and I'm under no illusions that this year will be all about learning and getting progressively faster."

Rally Team Scotland was founded at the start of this year by Richard Moore and its first event was the culmination of months of hard work and the important backing of its many team partners. Moore commented, “It's fantastic to finally start our first event and I need to thank so many people for their support in helping to get this off the ground. It's a long season ahead and John and Stuart have started off well this weekend. No-one was expecting miracles right from the start, we are all taking a long-term and realistic approach, but John has demonstrated his pace and ability well here. We just need to work now on developing the speed and introducing more consistency."

Rally Team Scotland is the initiative of Moore and aims to identify Scotland’s rally stars of the future and provide them with the financial backing and other expertise necessary to make the step up to competing in the British Rally Championship and beyond. The team will not just supply a top rally car and full service crew, but will also ensure the drivers have a complete training and support programme, providing a stepping stone to the Junior WRC and other international competitions as part of a three-year development plan.

The team's next event is the Pirelli Rally on 23-24 April - the second round of the MSA British Rally Championship based in Carlisle.