2015 is a ground breaking and important year for the 2014 Scottish Rally Champion Euan Thorburn. After finally defeating arch rival David Bogie, breaking his 5 year dominance of the championship in the process, Thorburn along with co-driver Paul Beaton took the decision not to defend the Scottish title. Instead, the pair are plunging into the European Rally Championship equipped with a Ford Fiesta S2000 (pictured above). Euan established himself as one of the quickest drivers in the UK in 2013 when he went on to win the BTRDA title in his Ford Focus WRC. Coupled with his searing performances on Scottish soil, Thorburn has rarely been far away from the top times the last two years wherever he has competed. However, his trusty old Focus is now surplus to requirements as Euan has decided to progress with his rallying career and step up the level of competition. An old WR spec car is not able to compete in the ERC. Thorburn is aiming to compete in at least 2 ERC rounds - the Circuit of Ireland and the Ypres Rally - but hopes to be able to do more. He is aiming to improve his skills on tarmac, as he has enjoyed most of his successes on gravel roads, despite having won the Jim Clark Reivers and National Rallies in the past. Euan as we know is no slouch but he will have it tough to be on the pace in the ERC. His competitors all have more experience of the rallies in the calendar and in a lot of cases have more modern, quicker machines. Of course the objective is not to be challenging for the win as it is early days, but he will need to not be too far behind to prove he has what it takes. Having said that, I personally believe Euan could make a great career for himself at European level. Chris Ingram is undergoing the same process, albeit racking up experience of the calendar in a 2WD less powerful car and Craig Breen has done the same first establishing himself as a great prospect in Britain before moving on. He is now a factory driver. It will take a few years, but there is little evidence to suggest that Euan Thorburn won't be one of the top names in European rallying. And by the way, how mean does that Fiesta look!? Euan on the Jim Clark National Rally 2013, his last tarmac success
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BRITISH RALLYINGArticles covering rally in Britain, looking at the MSA BRC Archives
September 2017
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