EuroRallye

General information

EuroRallye is a business specialising in buying and selling new and used rally cars and parts run by proprietor Iain Shirlaw. Iain's passion for motorsport grew while he was studying Engineering at The University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Upon graduating Iain started competing in club rallies across the UK in a Mk 2 Escort while working as a Performance Engineer for Rolls Royce PLC (Aero Engines).
In 1991 Iain decided to pursue his motorsport interests on a professional level and took over K.N. Motorsport from International rally driver and business man Ken Skidmore. Iain renamed the business 'Motorsport Direct' to promote the growing mail order side of the business. The business specialised in Escort rally cars and RS2000 fast road cars.
In the late 1990s Iain made the change from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive and bought a Group A Nova rally car.

Competing in the Nova introduced Iain to many new competitors who were competing in similar cars and were asking Iain to source second hand Nova and Corsa rally cars and parts. The move towards the GM/Opel cars proved so successful that before long Iain was specialising in the brand and trading in Nova & Corsa rally cars and parts all over Europe.
Recognising that nothing stands still in motorsport in 2003 Iain bought Martin Meadows BTRDA Gold Star Championship winning Proton Satria S1600 rally car. Experience with the Proton allowed Iain to offer his customers a step up from their Nova & Corsa rally cars.

2004 brought another change in trading name. To help fund the purchase of new premises Iain sold the Motorsport Direct domain name to ex Formula 1 racing driver and entrepreneur Jonathon Palmer to promote his Motorsport Vision portfolio of UK racing circuits. To reflect the growing European side of the business Iain renamed the business 'EuroRallye'.

In 2006 EuroRallye expanded to offer 'Arrive & Drive' rally car hire packages. Iain was able to offer competitive rally hire packages initially with Nova and Proton hire cars.

In 2008 Iain teamed up with G&M Mechanical Services to run the hire cars. EuroRallye and G&M are able to offer complete rally packages including the supply and running of the car, on event mechanical support, transport and on event hospitality. Iain was eager to expand the rally hire business to include a car that could be used at every level of rallying including Internationals at an affordable price. Comprehensive research lead Iain to buy the team's first Honda Civic Type R rally car in 2009.

It was through running this car this car on the 2009 IRC Rally of Scotland that led to Estonian Honda gearbox manufacturer 'Bollverk' to contact Iain with the view to EuroRallye becoming sole distributors for Bollverk in the UK and Ireland. After substantial testing EuroRallye became sold UK and Ireland stockist for Bollverk competition gearboxes. Bollverk specialise in transmissions for Honda EK4, EP3 and FN2 applications. The business relationship has developed to a point where EuroRallye are proud to work with Bollverk in testing and developing new products. All the products are tested on a selection of EuroRallye maintained cars.

Through working with the Honda hire cars Iain offers a selection of Honda rally cars through the rally car sales side of the business and is working with teams in the UK, Ireland, Europe and as far a field as Uruguay and Australia.