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Mount Stewart Lanarkshire Car Club first ran a Special Stage rally in 1970 Based in Dunoon, with sponsorship from Burmah Petroleum, and under the guidance of Ian Muir & Stuart Parker, it quickly became one of the premier rallies in the UK, forming part of the Motor RAC Rally Championship. For two years in 1977 & 78, it ran as an International event, but then the British Open Championship was launched, with fewer rounds, and the Burmah Rally was one of those dropped. Such was the status of the Burmah, that for a few years, the club also ran a second forest rally, also in Argyll, - the Blane Stages. Tony Pond, Opel Ascona, 1974 Burmah. In its heyday, a Burmah Rally entry list read like a Who’s Who of rallying. Mikkola, Clark, Vatanen, - they were all there. In 1974 the event was won by rising star, Tony Pond in an Opel Asona. Billy Coleman & Roger Clark had actually been faster on the stages, but made mistakes in their road timing, and Pond was promoted from 3rd to 1st. Pond would return to Argyll a few years later (by now an established star) to give the MG Metro 6R4 its world debut. After the Burmah sponsorship ended, Andrews heat for Hire, Forth Electrical Services, Autofit, and Johnstons & Paton followed, but in 1990 the rally became synonymous with Inverness based, Weldex (International) Offshore Ltd., and the rally’s ten years as the "Weldex" were among its most successful There was no rally in 2001 due to Foot & Mouth restrictions, and the event never quite regained its momentum again after that. By 2003, the organising team (the same team as was now also running the Mount Stuart Motorsport Classic) was getting rather stretched, and after a falling-out with the Scottish Rally Championship, the event was dropped from the national series. Without championship inclusion, it was too large a financial risk, and the event was dropped. The 1978 Burmah is still the only international rally to have finished in a dead-heat. When the results were published, Hannu Mikkola in a Toyota Corolla, and Russell Brookes in a Ford Escort, had set identical total times. The tie was resolved in favour of Mikkola, who had been the faster on the opening stage, repeating his victory of the previous year, and giving him victory on both Burmah International rallies.