IRC Rally of Scotland preview : The competitors

Despite Juho Hanninen’s second place finish on the last IRC round in Sanremo, Italy, in late September, the Finn hadn’t quite done enough to put the drivers’ title beyond the reach of his Skoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecky. Providing he won the last two events in Scotland and Cyprus and Hanninen faltered then he could be champion. However, with Skoda sending a single Fabia S2000 Facelift to Scotland for Hanninen, it means the 29-year-old will compete to officially win the 2010 IRC drivers’ title.

Although Rally of Scotland will effectively become a high-speed lap of honour for the gifted Hanninen, he will be determined to show his pace on his favoured surface and add to his impressive wins in Argentina and Sardinia alongside co-driver Mikko Markkula.

Guy Wilks, the winner in Scotland last year, became an early title contender following a sequence of podium finishes in his Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia. However, a huge crash on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna in early June left him with a broken back and put him out of action for more than three months. The Darlington driver has since made a full recovery and will be looking to round out his second season in the IRC with victory.

Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke arrived in Scotland for the inaugural IRC event in 2009 as the IRC champion following a dominant first full season in the series. However, the Peugeot UK driver’s title defence has been unsuccessful due to a spate of crashes and technical maladies. He has vowed to end his stint in the IRC with a win on his home event and make up for the disappointment of being stripped of first place on the rally last year due to a technical infringement.

Alister McRae, the younger brother of the late Colin McRae, inherited second place on Rally of Scotland 11 months ago and returns at the wheel of a factory-backed PROTON Satria Neo. The Lanark-born driver, who is set to attract a great deal of local support and media interest, is relishing taking part on his home rally and will be hoping to capitalise on the improvements made to the Satria Neo in recent months.

Keith Cronin, who recently captured his second British Rally Championship title, will rejoin the PROTON team in a second Satria Neo after a strong showing on Barum Czech Rally Zlin in late August when the Irishman recorded a succession of top 10 stage times. Welsh teenager Tom Cave will drive a third PROTON, albeit run by his own team rather than by the main MEM squad.

Andreas Mikkelsen, a former junior skiing champion in his native Norway, is a hugely capable driver and has shown plenty of pace in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta on rounds of the IRC this season. He will prepare for the event with an extensive test session and is a dark horse for honours.

Thierry Neuville has also shown promise in his first IRC campaign but lacks experience on gravel having only tackled four events on loose surfaces so far. However, the 22-year-old Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg driver will be looking to make the most of team-mate Kris Meeke’s knowledge of the event.

Other drivers in Super 2000 machinery include female pilot Burcu Cetinkaya, who works as a television presenter when she’s not competing in her Peugeot Sport Turkey 207, and rally rookie Daniel Oliveira, who will travel from Brazil to drive his Stohl Racing 207.

Several Scottish drivers will be in action on the event including double national champion David Bogie and Dave Weston Jr, who contested the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium back in June. Both have shown lots of potential during their early careers and will be firm contenders for traditional Group N class honours.

The IRC 2WD Cup is likely to be a close fight between Scot Colin R Smith, in a Honda Civic Type R, and England’s Harry Hunt, who drives an M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2. Hunt beat Smith to IRC 2WD Cup success in Sardinia in June so Smith will be looking for revenge on home soil.