British series to have Ulster climax
THE British Rally Championship has been scheduled for a July return, with the Ulster Rally listed to be the last of six rounds.
The series has been in suspension since June, with only one round completed in 2020 before the coronavirus took hold and rallying went into hibernation.
Originally planned to kick off with the Circuit of Ireland at Easter, the Championship was put on hold after all of the first three rounds were cancelled.
But now it has been reformatted and the Championship organisers are optimistic that crews will be allowed back onto the special stages by summer time and have announced details of a series which will pack six rounds into the second half of the year, finishing with the Newry-based Ulster Rally in November.
It will start with the Nicky Grist Stages in July followed by the Grampian Rally in August, Rally Yorkshire in September, the Mull Rally and the Cambrian Rally both in October before the trip to Ulster.
BRC manager Iain Campbell said: “It’s been an extremely tough time for all forms of motorsport over the past 12 months or so and the British Rally Championship hasn’t escaped the challenges caused by the pandemic.
“But we have been working hard behind the scenes to create a calendar worthy of the Championship and I believe we have come up with a challenging yet cost-effective offering.”
Traditionally held in August and last won by Craig Breen in 2019, the Ulster Rally had already been rescheduled for November 19-20 before confirmation it would be part of the series.
Welshman Matt Edwards won the title in 2018 and ’19 and has already announced he will switch from Ford to Volkswagen to challenge for a hat-trick.