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The Voly Grampian Forest Rally will continue its long-standing partnership with Carbon Positive Motorsport in 2026, with a new locally based project bringing the environmental benefits even closer to the event.
The Voly Grampian Forest Rally returns to Aberdeenshire on 7 and 8 August, bringing more than 100 cars to some of Scotland’s finest gravel stages for another high-profile weekend of rallying.
Based around Banchory, the event brings together three major championships, with the Probite British Rally Championship joined by the Asset Alliance Group Scottish Rally Championship and Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup.
This year’s rally arrives at an especially significant time for motorsport in the region, following confirmation that the FIA World Rally Championship will return to the UK in 2027 with the new Rally Scotland, based in Aberdeen and using gravel stages across Aberdeenshire and Moray.
Against that backdrop, the Voly Grampian Forest Rally is continuing to demonstrate how major motorsport events can combine high-level competition with practical environmental action.
Carbon Positive Motorsport will work with the event for a sixth year, continuing a partnership which began when the Carbon Positive Motorsport brand was launched at the Grampian Forest Rally in 2021.
For 2026, the partnership takes another step forward with an important change to the event’s carbon mitigation programme, introducing a new Scottish project much closer to the rally itself.
The Craigievar project, situated between Aberdeen and the Cairngorms National Park, will see more than 37,000 Scots pines planted to reconnect smaller areas of Caledonian forest.
As the woodland develops, the trees are expected to store more than 37,000 tonnes of carbon while creating important wildlife corridors. These will provide new habitat for species including the red squirrel, support the dispersal of native tree seeds, and encourage further natural woodland regeneration.
The project forms part of a wider programme to restore woodland across north-east Scotland, creating connected, diverse and resilient habitats for the future.
For competitors choosing to participate in the Voly Grampian Forest Rally carbon mitigation programme, support for the local Craigievar project will be combined with verified Carbon Reduction Units from an established project in Colombia.
This approach combines verified carbon mitigation with support for longer-term environmental improvement much closer to the communities and landscapes that host the rally.
The partnership comes as the Voly Grampian Forest Rally continues to grow, both as a sporting event and an important showcase for rallying in north-east Scotland.
Friday 7 August will see pre-event scrutineering and the ceremonial start at King George V Park in Banchory before competitors tackle the opening forest stages. The action continues throughout Saturday, with the Rally Zone in Banchory providing a central hub where spectators can see the cars and crews at close quarters before the ceremonial finish.
The rally’s combination of fast forest stages, major championships and accessible spectator facilities has established it as one of the highlights of the Scottish rallying calendar.
Its continuing relationship with Carbon Positive Motorsport demonstrates how environmental responsibility can become part of the established way an event operates.
By supporting a project in the same part of Scotland that hosts the rally, the 2026 programme creates a tangible link between enjoying the region’s forests through motorsport and helping to protect and restore them for the future.
With solutions created specifically for motorsport, Carbon Positive Motorsport works with events, clubs, championships, teams and individuals to help address their environmental impact through practical, proportionate action.
Motorsport does not need to cost the earth. Whether you are competing, supporting or simply travelling to an event, taking responsibility for the emissions you generate can make a positive difference.
For more information visit carbonpositivemotorsport.com and for information about the rally, go to grampianforestrally.com
