A teenage rally driver from Culloden has won the coveted Scottish junior rally crown.
Jude MacDonald was hailed the new Scottish Rally Championship Junior Champion after another class win on the final round of the season, the Galloway Hills Rally.
The youngster and co-driver Michael Cruickshank, 25, quickly found the perfect balance between speed and consistency to take victory on five out of the six championship rounds.
Only a minor mechanical difficulty on the first round prevented the clean sweep.
The 18-year-old’s feat was made even more impressive as he had never competed on gravel roads before, only tarmac.
He said: “The main aim for this year was just to get to the finish of events and gain experience of the events and get used to driving the car on gravel, so to win five out of the six rallies and take the junior championship win is completely beyond what I ever thought would be possible.”
The result means that Jude wins a day of one to one tuition with former British Rally Champion Tapio Laukkannen.
The teenager also received a nomination for the John Horton Star Driver award.
The championship organisers nominate one driver from each event to go to a “shoot out” style event at Knockhill.
Jude said: “I am honoured to be nominated for such an award in only my first season and in the search for vital sponsorship for next season, the exposure we’re receiving can only help our cause.”
Next year, the team aim to build on their success of their debut season and concentrate on fine tuning the car’s set up and hope to compete in a mixture of tarmac and gravel events.
The teen was congratulated by Culloden Academy on their Facebook page, who said: “Huge congratulations to Jude MacDonald who has won the coveted Junior Scottish Rally Championship.
“The former Keppoch Scots student has been working towards this accolade all year so a huge well done from everyone at Culloden Academy.”