GLOBAL warming has, in recent years, meant that the traditional curtain-raiser to the ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship hasn’t always lived up to its title.

While that couldn’t be said 12 months ago, chances are that when the cars line up for the start of the 2017 Arnold Clark Jurys Inn Snowman Rally in Inverness this morning, there will be little winter chill.

Instead, we can expect some heated competition amongst those with title ambitions. Since the end of last season, piggy banks have been raided and hands stuck down the backs of couches to come up with the cash to campaign some competitive, state-of-the-art machinery to contest this year’s series.

Not so reigning champion Jock Armstrong. After making significant modifications during testing to the styling of his Subaru at the end of last year – “we needed a new shell after we hit something that didn’t move” – the Castle Douglas driver, seeded third with long-suffering co-driver Paula Swinscoe, believes this winning combination can take a third successive Scottish crown.

“I’ve given up with the mind games and trying to psych the opposition out,” says Jock, somewhat unconvincingly.

“A year ago I was joking that we were running a three-litre engine with a fancy turbo. The problem was some of the other crews believed me. So I’m staying quiet this year – although I’ll still take a walk around their motors, shaking my head, and look them up and down. Then shrug my shoulders and walk away. So no mind games,” he laughed.

After back-to-back titles, a third would be a bonus for Armstrong, who has again dedicated himself to his home series, rather than chase success elsewhere.

“The Scottish Championship suits me; we drive on a Saturday, party on a Saturday night, and head home on a Sunday. And we are competing amongst friends, allegedly,” he adds, though he concedes that others will have an advantage.

“A year ago we had to contend with a blizzard which made things impossible for everyone. I mean, even Donnie MacDonald managed to win. It wasn’t really an even playing field because the early runners were acting snowploughs.

“But it doesn’t look like there will be any interruptions – or excuses – this year. There isn’t any snow or ice forecast, so everyone will be pedalling like mad. There are some really quick drivers all wanting to make a winning start and they have the machinery to do it.

“Joking aside, there will be some very quick cars around that will have a definite advantage over us.

“The killer for us and a lot of similar cars are the stages where they use chicanes to slow the cars up; others will be able to brake later, have better traction so they can accelerate quicker, and be more nimble through the tight stuff. You can drop a second, maybe two, negotiating a chicane. So we need to be on our game from the start.”

The ceremonial start will take place on the High Street at 9.00am ahead of five timed special stages.

The 2016 Snowman winner and first on the road, Donnie MacDonald – crewed by Andrew Falconer – has swapped his long-serving Mitsubishi Evo 9 for an RSC-run Ford Fiesta R5 that he admits, he is still learning about.

“I’ve had one test session with the car a couple of weekends ago,” MacDonald admitted. “Dom Buckley [who prepares the car] took me round to show me how it worked then I had half a dozen runs myself.

“It felt right from the word go. I’m really looking forward to it but I’m a bit apprehensive. It is home territory and I know the local folks will be hoping for another home win but I’m keeping it low key and we’ll see how we go.”

Behind the wheel of an identical car, at No.4, is Duns pilot Euan Thorburn with local co-driver Paul Beaton, the 2014 championship winners having ditched their unreliable Peugeot 208 of last year for the fancied Ford. However, they were denied time to learn their new car last weekend down in Wales when the Cambrian Rally was abandoned after just one stage due to snow and safety concerns.

However, favourite for the Snowman is David Bogie, the Dumfries driver who with navigator Kevin Rae secured an unprecedented five-successive Scottish titles between 2009 and 2013.

The No.2 seed, Bogie, driving his Skoda Fabia, is according to Armstrong the man to beat.

“If David gets it right, I’ll be honest, he could disappear and the rest of us are left playing catch-up,” Armstrong admitted.

“But these fancy cars can be fickle; there is a lot to go wrong. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking from the old man with the old wheels.”