Does latest tragedy mean end of the road for the Jim Clark Rally?
Berwickshire councillor Aileen Orr responds to call to ban event...
Last updated 25th May 2025
Questions are being raised over the future of the Jim Clark Rally after a crash at this weekend's event left one man dead and another seriously injured in hospital.
It was stopped in 2014 following the deaths of three spectators.
And today's Reivers Rally - which had more than 100 entries - has been cancelled as a mark of respect.
Together, they are believed to be worth almost £4 million a year to the local economy.
And Berwickshire councillor Aileen Orr is keen to see both return.
She told Greatest Hits Radio: "We know that rallying and motorsport is dangerous. How many people have been killed at the TT (motorcycle racing on the Isle of Man) but it still carries on?
"The point about it is... these enthusiasts have spent years and years and years getting to the top. They know the risks.
"Nobody thinks they're going to die but, at the same time, they are very, very aware of the risks.
"And if they want to do it, and we want to spectate, then why ban it?"
Earlier we reported, 39-year-old Welsh man Dai Roberts died after the car - a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 - he was co-piloting crashed near Edrom.
His driver, 27-year-old James Williams, was taken to hospital with what's being described as "serious, but not life-threatening, injuries".
"It happened at my daughter's farm, and they are terribly upset because they are real rally lovers," Councillor Orr continued.
"I support the Jim Clark Rally, I think what they do is phenomenal. My own son was a navigator at one point."
The event is supported by a team of around 400 officials - many of them volunteers, including marshals.
Councillor Orr stressed no decisions should be taken on the future of the event without communities being consulted.
"If communities don't want it then it will have to go," she added. "But, as far as I'm concerned, the Jim Clark Rally is an important part of our annual calendar and people love it.
"It creates this buzz in the place, and it lifts people; and it's just a tragedy that this happened."
An investigation has been launched to confirm the cause of the smash, which has devastated the UK's rallying community.
A spokesperson said: "Motorsport UK is deeply saddened to announce that co-driver Dai Roberts lost his life in an incident at the Jim Clark Rally.
"Driver James Williams was taken by ambulance to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
"Motorsport UK sends its condolences to Dai’s family and friends, the Jim Clark Rally, Jim Clark Memorial Motor Club and members of the motorsport community.
"Motorsport UK has initiated a full investigation into the circumstances of the incident and will work closely with the Jim Clark Rally event organisers and Jim Clark Memorial Motor Club and will cooperate with the relevant authorities."
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