Burnbrae Road & Race

After competing successfully in local Auto Cross events for several years, Colin Robertson realised that entrant numbers were dwindling and more and more events were being cancelled.  Looking for another form of motor sport, he heard about XR2 single make racing. He decided to build a car to compete in the 1999 Scottish XR2 Championship.

Working with John Robertson & Stewart Scott he entered his first race at Knockhill. There he met Dave Colville, an existing XR2 driver from Beith and formed Burnbrae Road & Race: John Robertson looked after the mechanical side, Stewart Scott the bodywork & painting. Dave and Colin raced the entire 1999 season working their way from the rear of the grid up to midfield. Pre- qualifying was the ultimate goal!  

 During this season Andrew Martin, a doctor from Crieff joined the team as third driver. With help from friends such as Stuart Waite, the team raced mainly at Knockhill, but had two away races at Croft and Oulton Park .  

With the first year under their belt, the team grew again in the 2000 season when Stewart Scott became a driver .The team now ran four cars and attacked the season with full force. Dave was very competitive with consistent top five finishes whilst Colin won the hotly contested Newcomers Championship by one point from Nicky Dickson. Colin was presented with his trophy at the Balmoral Hotel by Alan McNish in the company of Jackie Stewart and many other famous Scottish drivers.

During the 2001 season Violet Keith, a Ladies Auto Cross champion, tried her hand at track racing, bringing the team up to five cars. Again the team results were good with Dave, Colin, Andrew and Stewart finishing well in their races.

In 2002 the the team were joined by Ale Charlton, a novice to XR2 racing.

The team carried on racing until the end of 2003 with numerous top three places.  

After a test session at Silverstone, Colin Robertson and Dave Colville bought two MGZR race prepared cars to compete in the Mayflower MGZR Championship. This would give them the opportunity they wanted to race on many different tracks.  Stewart Scott continued in the XR2 Championship.  

Throughout the seasons, raising money through sponsorship was always a hard task and many sponsors have to be thanked.  

For XR2 support: Partco Autoparts, National Fuels, Crosskeys Art Gallery, 20/20 Computers, Mobil Oils,  Matthew Charlton,  Lucas, Langley Construction, Tayglaze.  

For MGZR  support:  Portnellan Highland Lodges, Millers Oils, Crosskeys Art Gallery , Milmack, Tayglaze.

In preparation for MGZR racing, a lorry was built that could carry the two MG’s plus  accommodation for four people.  John stayed with XR2s to help Stewart Scott. Stuart Waite  joined the MGs as race mechanic .  The first round was held at Silverstone. Colin qualified sixth and Dave eleventh, unfortunately a puncture on the fifth lap, finished Colin’s race but Dave picked up Driver of the Day.  

The second round of the MGZR Championship was at SPA!  Colin  personally recommends the Superfast ferry, although he is keen to go back to recoup his £5 loss at the casino! The atmosphere was fantastic and friends who made the trip over were rewarded with a great weekend's racing. An awesome track produced mixed qualifying in the wet, but thanks to some close racing, Dave finished 12th in the first race, and Colin 8th- narrowly missing out on his first "brolly dolly" but winning Driver of the Day. The sun came out for the second race. After gaining four places at the start, Colin dropped to 18th when he had to avoid two spinning cars.  He fought back to finish 10th and Dave enjoyed a good battle to finish 6th.  

By the end of the 2004 season, Colin and Dave had competed at Silverstone National, Spa Francorchamps, Oulton Park , Silverstone International, [Dave broke his leg at Cadwell Park and was unable to compete for the rest of the season],  however Colin raced at Cadwell Park and Brands Hatch. Dave hired his car to Iain Cowie an instructor and owner of ICR Motorsport for the last race at Brands.  

Dave Colville pulled out of the 2005 season due to the distance he was travelling to each race meeting - he lived in Inverness . So Colin turned up alone at a very cold Silverstone in April, only to hear the news that MG Rover had been put into administration. This could have been disastrous but the MG Car Club stepped into the breach and secured the race meetings for the rest of the season. Colin then competed at Silverstone National, Rockingham, Oulton Park , Mallory Park , Cadwell Park and back to Silverstone National for the final race. This was his best season to date. Colin secured his first race win at Oulton Park in Race One and second place at Oulton Park in Race Two. He continued his great form with a second place at Mallory Park . He won several Driver of the Day prizes and the Spirit of the Championship trophy at the annual awards ceremony.  

 Colin would like to thank all his team members, his sponsors and helpers throughout his years of racing.  

As for the 2006 season, Colin’s first race will be at Donington Park in early May.