One of the biggest sporting events in Moray – the McDonald & Munro Ltd Speyside Stages – will take an enforced break in 2026, with a lack of forestry venues forcing its cancellation.
The competitive sections of the rally, aside from the spectacular Cooper Park spectator stage, take place on forest roads managed by Forestry & Land Scotland (FLS) and consultation during the planning process has highlighted issues, particularly in relation to the time of year in which the event is run.
The event’s Clerk of the Course, Neil Shanks said: “Unfortunately, circumstances make running a forest rally on our traditional late April date impossible going forwards. Since the event returned after the pandemic-forced cancellations in 2020 and 2021, we have been aware that there are ever increasing environmental concerns that have impacted the event, with some of our best-loved stages becoming unavailable due to enforced route alterations at late notice.”
“We started our planning stages as normal earlier this year, but in discussions with FLS it has become obvious that another increase in the level of environmental constraints means there is no possibility of being able to run the 2026 event in April. As responsible organisers, we are committed to working with our hosting partners to actively comply with all responsibilities and legislative obligations as we have done over the previous 27 editions of the event.”
“We have investigated alternatives – including using different locations to maintain an April date, which was unworkable due to similar levels of constraints in the alternative locations, and running the event later in the year, which was not viable due to the busy calendar in October and November, both locally and nationally, but ultimately there were no viable alternatives.”
“This is a massive disappointment to the organising team who have consistently delivered a benchmark event – winning the best event in the Scottish Rally Championship in 2022, 2023 & 2024, and it will also be a massive blow financially to the local area, which will miss out on tens of thousands of pounds of revenue. It will also come as a huge blow to the competitors, volunteer officials and thousands of rally fans who have loyally supported the event and we thank them for their unwavering support. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to McDonald & Munro Ltd, our loyal headline sponsors since 2013, and also to our other sponsors & partners who have made the event what it is.”
“Going forward from here, we are actively looking at options for 2027 and beyond. We are unsure exactly what that future looks like at the moment, but there is much work to be done after the Christmas period as we look to continue what was started by a small 63 Car Club team in 1997, and has grown into an event which has innovated and set standards as we have evolved- and we don’t intend stopping yet.”