FAMOUS SCOTTISH NAME ENTERED IN BID TO WIN JANUARY’S MONTE

An ambitious bid has been launched to bring together a Scottish super-team to win next month's Monte Carlo Classic Rally.

The historic Monte, which brought 6000 spectators to Glasgow in 2011, starts from Clydebank on January 29th, in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council.

And there will be a greater reason for Scots fans to line the streets this time, as a national team has been assembled with the aim of being the first in Monte Carlo.

In a further twist, the group has been given permission to enter as Ecurie Ecosse, the Edinburgh outfit that shocked the world by winning Le Mans twice in the fifties.

The man behind the 7-car charge is 72 year old Ralph Forbes from West Linton.

Forbes will leave the start ramp in Clydebank in a 1978 Fiat 128, co-driven by son, Wesley.

A seasoned Monte competitor, he approached patron Hugh McCaig for permission to drive over the Alps to Monaco under the Ecurie Ecosse banner.

He believes the team of classic car enthusiasts could be ready to write another chapter in Scotland's rich sporting story.

"The challenge is to win it," said Forbes, who believes Russian and Norwegian teams will be favourites because of their ice experience in the mountain sections.

"Under event rules, the times from the best five competitors out of seven, count. So, if you can get five cars in the top 50, you are in with a chance. It will be very competitive. However, we have good, experienced drivers. My son, Wesley, has won his class at the Monte before. We know what is required but you also need luck."

The last complete Scottish team to tackle the event was in 1973 when the Scotsman newspaper entered a driver and crew in a Mini from Glasgow.

This year's seven-car team from Clydebank comprises divers from the north east, the Lothians and English-based Scots.

It also includes Rick Pearson, the man attempting to break the 1000cc world land speed record (313mph) at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 2012.

Swiss-based Pearson will pilot the methanol-powered 'Flower of Scotland' under the Speed Scotland banner at Bonneville but, first, is entering the Monte in a Porsche.

"It is going to be a memorable year but doing the Monte from Clydebank, under the banner of such an illustrious name in motor sport history, is going to be an experience of a lifetime," said Pearson.

Should the combined times of the Scottish cars secure victory after the 2000 mile trek, it will mean more glory for Ecurie Ecosse, by association.

The private team was founded in 1951 by Edinburgh accountant David Murray and was run from a Mews garage in Bruntsfield.

Despite taking on heavily funded works teams, Ecurie Ecosse won Le Mans 24 Hours twice, in 1956 and 1957, and boasted 68 victories in ten years.

Murray, himself, drove in the Monte Carlo rally of 1952 in a Ford Popular and patron McCaig, who will enter Ecurie Ecosse again in GT racing this year, wishes the Scottish outfit the very best.

"We were delighted to give the event our support and it is great that it is starting in Scotland again this year. I had actually come across a photograph recently of David Murray at the 1952 Monte and it was not long after that I got the call from Ralph to discuss the idea of having an Ecurie Ecosse-named team.

"This is the historic Monte Carlo rally so it represents the true spirit of the event. The team is also returning to international racing again this year so I felt it was a good timing. My only regret is that I can't compete in the rally myself."

The other starting venues for the world famous rally are Barcelona, Oslo, Turin, Reims and Warsaw.

Cars and crews start at differing venues, roughly equidistant from Monte Carlo, and make their way, non-stop, to the Principality over the snow-capped French Alps.