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Rally News - December 4, 2009

Rallying in Court

In a case which could have serious repercussions for our sport, former Scottish Rally Champion Raymond Munro is suing Scotmaps in the Court of Session in Edinburgh for £2 million - yup, that's right, 2 million quid.

The action was raised by Mr Munro following his accident on the 2004 Speyside Stages Rally. Mr Munro blames the Route Notes for providing wrong information about the nature and severity of the bend at which his Subaru Impreza crashed.

Bill Sturrock of Scotmaps denies the accusation.

The case is ongoing and the Judge, Lord Uist, will decide the outcome, but we in the motor sports community have every right to be concerned. It's bad enough people who buy new houses close to existing motor sports venues complaining about noise, but it's quite another when someone makes a mistake and then seeks to apportion blame elsewhere.

However the big trouble arises when people who don't know or understand our sport sit in judgement over it and then have to adjudicate on what they perceive to be right or wrong. For instance, one of the arguments in support of Mr Munro's case centred on the statement that "Mr Munro had a co-driver who navigated the route by reading aloud the notes. Neither had been allowed to travel the route in advance."

To those outside the sport that may sound a bit unfair, not allowing crews 'to recce' the route, but we all know different, don't we? Route Notes are one thing, Pace Notes are rather different.

Everyone who enters a rally has to sign a declaration stating that they are aware that they are participating in a sport which has a risk element attached to it, and we are all only too well aware of the age-old maxim 'motor sport is dangerous'. It's not as if anyone who is new to the sport, let alone someone who has been around a few years, is unaware of the potential risk.

Raymond Munro has been a fan of the sport ever since he first competed in a Lada and was a worthy champion, that's why it's so sad that this action is now being pursued in the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

In rallying, the only truly accurate measurements are map references and the Greenwich Mean Time, everything else is subject to human interpretation. In fact, that is just another facet of this sport which makes it so appealing.

Rallying will never be 100% safe, but then neither will rugby, cricket or sky-diving.

The case is still underway, let's hope common sense and justice prevails.

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