Peter Scott – in his own words

Who is P.E.R.S. you are probably wondering. Peter Edward Rosborough Scott is who. And why the initials? Well, those of you of a ‘certain age’ will remember when the publication now known as Motorsport News was originally titled “Motoring News” and was just about the only way the rallying clubman could find out what had happened on the weekend before and what the future held. When one wrote a report on a rally, one’s initials were at the bottom; J.D.F.D was John Davenport, T.A.H. was Terry Harryman and P.E.R.S. was yours truly. I covered Northern Ireland.

The next thing you need to know is that I am old, seriously old, and competed in my first rally in 1965, aged 15. With any luck sometime in 2022 I will compete in rally number 1200. During this time I have sat with hundreds of drivers in even more hundreds of cars. About 100 of these events have resulted in outright wins and I still compete in 15 or so events annually on both sides of the car. 12 years or so ago, number one wife decided that she and rallying were no longer compatible so a trade in for a newer, younger model was required and hence wife two, Victoria. I met her on the train while on my way to London for Stirling Moss’ 80th birthday party at the Royal Automobile Club In Pall Mall. Back then I visited Nice and Monaco quite regularly for motor sporting reasons. I took Vic with me on one trip and she was suitably impressed when the manager at the Boticelli greeted me by name when we stopped off for lunch.

How did I get into this rallying game? My very staid bank manager dad always liked to spend our summer holiday somewhere a bit posh and in 1961 the Northern Counties Hotel in Portrush (we lived in Londonderry, Northern Ireland) was chosen. It overlooked the Harbour Car Park and when, after breakfast one morning, I heard lots of engine noises dad and I went to investigate. The car park was full of cones and middle aged, respectable gentlemen were doing all sorts of exciting things in Ford Anglias, Sunbeam Rapiers and the brand new Mini. How did I know they were gentlemen? Because, even after rallying all night, they all wore sports jackets or blue blazers and ties! Well, one did, didn’t one? Anyhow, when one of the Minis – still 848cc, the Cooper had not yet come out – attempted what I later came to know as a reverse throw, it rolled. I was hooked and from then on my meagre pocket money was spent on motoring magazines.

A couple of years later on my way home from school I noticed that a parked car, a Rochdale Olympic – Google it – had a badge in the window saying “North of Ireland M.C.”, the club that organised the rally in Portrush. I waited by the car until the owner returned and questioned him as only a 14 year old can. He was the club Chairman and, impressed by my knowledge, said that if my parents agreed I could attend the club meetings as a junior member. It wasn’t long before I persuaded him that I should navigate him in the course car in their next rally. Word soon spread that I had done a pretty good job of this and local policeman Bertie Trueman asked me to sit with him on his first rally run by a new motor club. It had only one entry of note, the winner of the previous years Circuit of Ireland, Ronnie McCartney, who duly won, but my policeman and I finished third.

The Circuit always took place at Easter and, still only 15, I persuaded my parents that I should be allowed to get the train to Belfast and go to see scrutineering. Paddy Hopkirk’s motor accessory shop in Belfast was then the epicentre of NI rallying, especially after his Monte Carlo Rally win the previous year, so that was my destination. And what was parked outside – CRX 89B, his works Cooper S, tartan red with a white roof. Scrutineering was at the Ford dealer’s just up the road and when Paddy came out to drive there I talked him into letting me sit in the hallowed car for the short journey. Paddy then asked Vic Elford to take me ‘round the block’ in his Monaco Red works Cortina GT. What a day!

The adventure wasn’t over yet. The final night of the rally was passing through Co. Donegal, not far from our Londonderry home and I talked my father into running a time control at 2 am on Easter Tuesday morning. I reckon that was the first and only time he was out of bed at that unsocial hour. Timing then was by a device called a Longines Printimer, a bit like a factory clocking-on machine – into which the competitor entered his card and thumped the button at the correct time. Paddy, the first car, arrived about two minutes early and jumped out with the time card while Terry Harryman worked on his maps. Paddy recognised me – I was so proud and more determined than ever to succeed at this wonderful sport. My policeman had now upgraded to a Cooper S and, not yet 18, we won the novice class on a NI Championship Rally. If a Cooper S was a rare sight, a Lotus Cortina was beyond special and when local rallying farmer Marcus Currie bought one I jumped ship and in this car got my first semi-expert win. By this time I had left school and started work in the bank in Dungannon which had a super rally club. Potato merchant Jimmy Conlon had just taken delivery of the second Escort Twin Cam to be sold in NI so it was time to move driver again. This brought the first outright win, still just 19.

Episode 2

In the last episode, I got as far as my first road rally win – a ‘navigation rally’ as we called them in those days – with Jimmy Conlon in his very new Escort Twin Cam. In those days in Ireland, there weren’t so many stage rallies so all the top drivers competed in the navigation events.

People like Cathal Curley, in cars ranging from Cortina’s GT and Lotus, Escort TC, BMW 2002 and three different Porsches, who was to go on to win outright eight international rallies, the legendary McCartney brothers Ronnie and Dessie who starred in the sixties in various Cooper S, Ronnie winning the 1964 Circuit of Ireland amongst many, many other events. Adrian Boyd made sporadic appearances and Robert McBurney in Porsche 911-engined Beetles and BMW 2002 was a multiple NI rally Champion.

Future twice British Gp 1 Champion and works Avenger driver Robin Eyre-Maunsell was regularly seen in an ex-works Imp, and he often explains that in his first year of rallying he retired 13 times from 12 events. One event had two separate sections, enabling the extra retirement! Robin’s cars had a sort of magnetic attraction for the scenery but he had the right genes as his father Charles was personally responsible for numerous holes in Irish stone walls.

A few more semi-expert wins had me promoted into the expert class but, with the talent mentioned above, making the top 10 was still a challenge. One of my friends was a young man called Pat McCourt who became known as ‘Flat Pat’ for reasons which will become clear. Pat’s Father was a butcher who had some fairly big contracts including the naval base in Londonderry.

Only days after attaining the age of 17 Pat passed his driving test and took over the deliveries in a Morris Minor van, often with me ‘navigating’. There was a dramatic increase in the number of deliveries per hour as Pat opposite-locked his way around the route, but soon there was a problem. The aforementioned naval base had a quadrangle and Pat had to negotiate all four 90-degree corners before arriving at the kitchen. The camp Commandant’s office on the first floor provided an unequalled view of the parade ground and he was less than impressed with Pat’s abuse of the van’s Dunlop C41 tyres while only using the side windows for vision. Father McCourt wasn’t too impressed with the ensuing phone call!

Roger Clark was Pat’s idol and it was no coincidence that when the Escort van was introduced shortly after Roger won the ‘68 Circuit of Ireland that Pat requested an upgrade. The van was quickly fitted with bonnet rubbers, a works sump guard, and Goodyear ‘English’ Ultragrips. Back then, many mountain roads in Northern Ireland were still gravel, and each Sunday Pat and I would travel about 20 miles to such a road that provided numerous opportunities to practice being a rally driver, don our crash helmets, and have a most exciting afternoon – as the picture below shows!