British & Irish Championships 2024

[Sunbeamti]

Great, probably as a result of folk sharing it all publicly or on Facebook. Excellent work chaps…

Yes disappointing, I dont really see the harm. Mostly its dedicated spectators that look as deep as this. It certainly helped me on the NW stages this year after a mess of a morning. The Marshalls had little knowledge of the nissues when I asked them! Oh Well back to my trusty scanner.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

West Cork Rally Top 5 and it was a 1-2-3 for the M-Sport Fiesta Rally2 !

1 Cronin 2:11:36.2s
2 Edwards +57.2s
3 Creighton +1:26.4
4 Moffett +2:10.4
5 Greer 2:52.5

[Andre Oliveira]

Beautiful

Some of the images this morning I shot at the press team launch of MEM and Meirion Evans
Press Release

Castrol teams up with Melvyn Evans Motorsport to launch new Castrol MEM Rally Team for 2024 British Rally Championship

Rolls of Monmouth, 18 March 2024 – Castrol, a global leader in lubricants, announced today its partnership with Melvyn Evans Motorsport (MEM) UK, to form the new Castrol MEM Rally Team, that’s set to compete in the 2024 Probite British Rally Championship (BRC). The team will showcase their talent with a pair of Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 cars adorned in the iconic Castrol rally livery.

Meirion Evans, along with co-driver Jonathan Jackson, will pilot the first car in the UK’s premier rally series – beginning with the North West Stages this weekend (22/23 March). After strong performances in Ireland on asphalt in recent years, Meirion tried his hand at the Wyedean Stages Rally in the Forest of Dean last year and showed equally good speed on gravel. This has resulted in the Welshman stepping up to concentrate on the BRC in 2024.

The second car is slated for delivery ahead of the third round and will be driven by the 2019 FIA European rally champion Chris Ingram and co-driven by the American ace Alex Kihurani. The cars have been built by Toyota Gazoo Racing in Finland and will be maintained and run in the UK by Melvyn Evans Motorsport – a two-time BRC Teams champion.

The new Castrol MEM Rally Team paid tribute to Castrol’s rich rallying history with Toyota, displaying the ex-Carlos Sainz Castrol Toyota GT-Four ST185 owned by Nicky Grist at their launch event held at the Rolls of Monmouth country estate.

Nicola Buck, chief marketing officer, Castrol, said: “This partnership marks a thrilling chapter in our racing legacy, as we join forces with Melvyn Evans Motorsport UK to unleash the potential of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 cars. Racing with Castrol lubricants in an extreme rally environment demonstrates the confidence we and our customers have in delivering high performance.”

Meirion Evans said: “This opportunity is the most exciting one I've had in my career to date. For us as a team to be trusted by Toyota Gazoo Racing to bring the first Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 into the UK means a lot to us and to re-establish the iconic Castrol Toyota link and livery is phenomenal, not only for us but for rallying in this country. To have Chris [Ingram] as part of the team is fantastic. We have been friends since we were both very young, so to get the opportunity to finally work together and represent a brand like Castrol is something we are both excited for. It will be a bit of a change for me having driven a Polo for the last few years, but we will try to adapt as quickly as possible to the Yaris so that we can chase results from the outset in what is undoubtedly the strongest field the BRC has seen in over ten years.

Chris Ingram said: “It’s a dream come true to have the opportunity to drive in Castrol colours in the prestigious British Rally Championship in the latest Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, prepared by the esteemed British team Melvyn Evans Motorsport. The British Rally Championship’s announcement that it will be covered by ITV will provide a huge boost to UK motorsport and our partners. To represent such an iconic brand is a huge opportunity and I am going to give it my best shot. Including my team-mate Meirion Evans, we are going to face serious competition from some of the UK and Ireland’s best drivers. No driver in history has ever won both the British Rally Championship and the European Rally Championship, so that is my ultimate ambition for the season ahead.”

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Wowza ! Fantastic news for the drivers and the BRC !

[HKSjbg]

Wow, wasn’t expecting that at all!

[the sniper]

Great to have a recognisable, professional looking, big brand sponsored team as the series returns to TV. Hopefully it'll attract other sponsors to the series. The car looks great! Can't wait to see them on the stages.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

More on Osian Pryce's BRC return in a Fiesta Rally2:

https://www.rallyinguk.info/post/a-f...y-championship

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Keith Cronin is my pick to win the NW Stages. Here's his take on the BRC and preview of the event:

Fresh from their victory on the West Cork Rally last weekend, Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin commence their 2024 British Championship campaign on Saturday with the North West Stages Rally, which will be based in the Lancashire town of Garstang. Having also won the Galway International Rally last month, the Killarney and District Motor Club crew are in a strong position at the top of the Irish Tarmac Championship points table, and will be hoping for an equally positive start in the British series.

While Cronin is in a confident frame of mind heading to the English event, he regards his chances of three wins in a row as perhaps a bridge too far. "It's a busy start to the year for us, that much is certain, and it's gone very well so far", he said. "We had Galway last month, West Cork last weekend, the North West Stages is on Saturday, and we're back for the Circuit of Ireland the following weekend. The North West is a new event for us and there is a very strong line-up there, so we have to be realistic. A podium would be a great result for us, and to get some solid points on the board early on. There's six rounds in the British Championship this year, three on tarmac and three on gravel, and the first one is a closed road tarmac event, so that at least will be a help to us since we've just done three days in West Cork, although the surface over there can be very different to that in Ireland, what works here in terms of suspension set-up may not work in Lancashire, or in Scotland and Wales for the other closed road rounds".

As Cronin alludes to, the BRC has attracted much interest from competitors for 2024, and registrations are significantly up on previous years. This is no doubt fuelled in part by the fact that the championship will be televised on ITV4 and ITVX throughout the season, plus the introduction of a calendar which sees all rounds take place in Great Britain, thus reducing costs for the majority English, Scots and Welsh crews.

"The organisers have done a lot of work to boost the BRC, they have to be given credit where it's due, and the strength of the field for the North West is a reflection of that", noted Cronin. "Osian Pryce beat us to the BRC title in 2022, Meirion Evans came across to Ireland and won some of the Tarmac Championship rounds over the past couple of years, and William Creighton set some fastest times in West Cork at the weekend, he's going very well in the Rally 2 car so early in his career. Chris Ingram has to be the favourite though, he won the North West Stages on the most recent time in ran in 2022, he's a former European champion, he has an amount of rallying done across the continent. He went to a rally in France last year and was only a second or two off Sebastian Loeb, a nine-time World Champion, and that was on long stages, he's definitely the man everyone else will be watching".

The news revealed this week that Ingram will be in a new Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 from round three onwards (he will drive a Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 in the interim) has certainly added an additional dimension to the BRC. He and Meirion Evans will form a two-car Toyota line-up, and Evans will have a Yaris from the outset this weekend, marking the first ever appearance of the model on a UK rally. Its pace relative to the M-Sport built Fiestas of Cronin, Pryce and Creighton will be watched with great interest.

The Legend Fires North West Rally will consist of ten stages in all, a loop of five repeated, with the first getting underway at 9am. "Tyre choice will be absolutely crucial, especially if conditions are in any way mixed, which of course they could well be in March", said Cronin. "We get to pick our tyres in the morning before the start, and there's only one service during the day after that to change them, so it has be right, otherwise you'll just be at sea", added the Cork driver.

Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by M O’Brien Group of Companies, Lyons Motor Group, Shane Casey Electrical Services, Molson Equipment, Pirelli, EARS Motorsport Ireland, Cronin’s Centra (Ballylickey, Union Hall, Leap, Millstreet and Dundrum), Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Westlink Service Station and Daybreak Shop, Cremin Coaches, Keohane Seafoods, M-Sport and Wurth Ireland.

Legend Fires North West Stages Rally 2024
Top Ten Seeds
1: Chris Ingram/Alex Kihurani, Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2: Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin, Ford Fiesta Rally 2
3: Osian Pryce/Rhodri Evans, Ford Fiesta Rally2
4: Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
5: William Creighton/Liam Regan, Ford Fiesta Rally 2
6: Mark Kelly/Will Atkins, Skoda Fabia R5
7: James Williams/Ross Whittock, Hyundai i20 Rally2
8: Callum Black/Jack Morton, Ford Fiesta Rally2
9: Paul MacKinnon/Keir Beaton, Hyundai i20 R5
10: Garry Pearson/Daniel Barritt, Ford Fiesta Rally 2

Legend Fires North West Stages Rally 2024
Timetable
Friday 22 March
Scrutiny, Myerscough College, Garstang, 12:00-18:00
Ceremonial Start, High Street, Garstang,18:30 - 21:00

Saturday 23 March (First Car Due)
Stage 1, Beacon Fell 1, 09:00
Stage 2, Long Knots 1, 09:20
Stage 3, Crossgill 1, 10:05
Stage 4, Hawthorthwaite 1, 10:48
Stage 5, Nicky Nook 1, 11:04

Service, Myerscough College, Garstang, 11:29
Regroup, Myerscough College, Garstang, 12:19

Stage 6, Beacon Fell 2, 13:28
Stage 7, Long Knots 2, 13:48
Stage 8, Crossgill 2, 14:33
Stage 9, Hawthorthwaite 2, 15:16
Stage 10, Nicky Nook 2, 15:32

Ceremonial Finish, Cherestanc Square, Garstang, 16.10

[dodge33cymru]

Anyone here going on Saturday? I see from the limited spectator spots that they're trying to keep as many people away as possible.

Stage 1 has no tickets available and officially no 'spectate on the day'. But the stages are so close together if seems daft to not do two per loop. Anyone got any maps per chance?

[J4MIE]

Anyone here going on Saturday? I see from the limited spectator spots that they're trying to keep as many people away as possible.

Stage 1 has no tickets available and officially no 'spectate on the day'. But the stages are so close together if seems daft to not do two per loop. Anyone got any maps per chance?

Knowing just how much work the organisers have put into it, and the extreme hassle and stress they have all gone through, I don’t blame them at all.

Why any one would want to organise a rally I’ve absolutely no idea.