A champion rally driver has lost a £2 million damages claim after alleging route notes provided by Brechin-based Scotmaps failed to accurately describe a bend where he crashed at a motor event on Speyside.
A judge said he was satisfied that there was “no error” in the description provided of the bend at the Clashindarroch Forest where Raymond Munro’s Subaru Impreza was damaged in August 2004.
Mr Munro (48), a former Scottish champion, claimed that he suffered psychiatric injury following the crash and gave up his hobby and passion of rallying and could no longer concentrate on his business interests.
He raised a damages action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh against Bill Sturrock who trades as Scotmaps and provided the route notes and an accompanying DVD for the course at the event.
Mr Sturrock, of Swan Street, Brechin, denied liability and said many other drivers purchased the notes and used them in the rally and none made the same mistake as Mr Munro.
He maintained the accident was wholly the fault of the driver in failing to negotiate the bend at a speed and in a way that was appropriate.
Lord Uist said in his opinion the crucial issue in the case was the angle of the bend. A surveyor had given expert evidence and the judge concluded that the description of the angle of the bend in the route notes did not require to be mathematically accurate and was within the range of acceptability.
Lord Uist dismissed the action against Mr Sturrock and said, “I am satisfied that there was no error by the defender in his description of the bend.”
Yesterday Mr Sturrock said, “I am very pleased at the decision issued by Lord Uist. Getting to this point has been difficult, for since this action was raised in 2007, it has put a lot of pressure on me mentally as well as placing a significant financial strain on the business.
“I am grateful for the extensive support my legal advisers provided as they guided me through this action.Challenging timeHe added, “I don’t think I could have got through this challenging period without the continuous support of the many well wishers from the world of rallying and elsewhere, and at times I have been overwhelmed at where the support was coming from across the world.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who voiced support over the past six years since the accident and I trust that they will take heart from the fact that the sport has risen above this action.”
Mr Sturrock said the decision came almost six years to the day since the incident.
“I will try to get back to some sort of normality. The possible consequences of losing the case would have been significant, not just on my business but other note makers around the world of which there about 13 or 14. There was also the potential impact it would have on the way rallying was conducted.”
He added, “The competitors rely heavily on what we produce. We get it as accurate as possible but it is always my interpretation of what the route does for every level of competitor. It is up to them how fast they drive everyone has different skills and machinery.
“In light of this decision I am sure the rallies committee of the Motor Sport Association will issue some sort of response.”
Mr Munro, of Resaurie, Smithton, in Inverness, crashed about four miles from the start of stage six of the Speyside Stages rally. His car, which he had bought for £180,000 sustained £23,000 worth of damage.
He maintained details of the route notes were accurately relayed to him by his co-driver Heather Connon (31) and he approached the bend at an appropriate speed and line, but he said in the pleadings in the action he saw there were the foundations of a wall on his nearside under a grassy overlay and the bend was a more acute angle had been indicated.
One of his tyres went over the wall foundations and the car was thrown offline and he was unable to steer through the bend and hit a bank.
Mr Munro claimed that if the route notes had accurately set out what was involved in the bend he would have taken it at a substantially slower speed and on a different line.
Mr Munro said he had stopped rallying about three months after the accident and told the court, “I no longer had any confidence in the notes provided.”
Mr Sturrock has prepared route notes for between 140 and 170 rallies throughout the UK, Europe, South Africa and the Caribbean and former Scottish champion rally driver Barry Johnson (48), who drove immediately behind Mr Munro in the 2004 event said he had no criticism of the description of the bend in the notes and it appeared to him to be accurate.
Lord Uist said he was satisfied from evidence at the hearing on liability that Mr Munro did not clip the nearside verge and that “all that happened was that he ran wide at the bend and up the banking on his offside.”