Teenager vows to carry on despite car flipping scare at race in Scottish Borders

Georgia Shiels, 18, and co-driver Tom Woodburn,19, lost control of their rally car, which turned on its roof after clipping a tree stump during a major rally in Kelso, Scotland.

The pair’s miraculous escape came a day before the 44th Jim Clarke Rally was cancelled after three spectators were killed.

A racing car ploughed into bystanders during the Swinton stage of the event. The incident happened around 4pm on Saturday.

Lancaster Grammar School student Georgia, of Catterall, had just arrived home from Scotland as news of the of the tragedy broke.

She said: “I’d just got home when I heard - everyone is just devastated. It put everything into perspective and lots of people have struggled with it.”

For the former Garstang High School pupil the event marked her debut in the Junior British Rally Championship.

The aspiring driver lined up against 30 competitors for the eight-stage race, held in the Borders area of Scotland, around the town of Duns.

Georgia and Tom rolled out at stage seven Tweeside after losing control of her newly built Abarth 500 R1 rally car.

She said: “We were both absolutely fine, the car took a knock but it just shows how safe the cars are built.

“Up until then we were going very well, setting a good pace for my first tarmac rally. It was more frustrating as it was unexpected, we even tried to get the car going again. It is unfortunate but part of rally driving.”