FIA starts Celtic Rally Trophy beginning with West Cork Rally

Drivers will fight for the inaugural FIA Celtic Rally Trophy in addition to Irish Tarmac Championship points on next week’s West Cork Rally.

The new series forms part of the FIA European Rally Trophy, revised to be the main support level for the ERC, with 25 events included from 16 countries across the continent in a calendar released by the FIA recently.

These will then be split into sub-series, with the International Rally of the Lakes, Donegal International Rally, Ulster Rally and Rally Isle of Man joining West Cork to make up the Celtic series.

Each of the events will run to full International status according to papers seen by MN. There is no registration fee and the series is open to all competitors holding an international licence and competing in an FIA homologated car up to the R5/S2000 level, which fits with both British Rally Championship and Tarmac Rally Organisers Association regulations.

For West Cork, it marks the second time in the event’s history it has held International status, while September’s Rally Isle of Man was formerly a long-term top- tier coefficient 20 ERC round.

The Manx event is a counter for the Modified and Historic sections of TROA. As the decider of this new series as well as the increased-points final BRC round, it is likely to attract crews in contention.

Other series that will make up the new Trophy include Balkan, Baltic, Central and Iberian, with the top three in each to move on to an end of year shootout to decide the winner.

The revisions are the brainchild of FIA steward Andy Millns, with Mike Broad taking on the coordinator role for the Celtic events.