DMACK WON’T RUN R5 TEAM IN 2017 BRC
Reigning manufacturer champion feels it has achieved its goals
Reigning British Rally Championship manufacturer champion DMACK British Rally Team won’t enter any cars in the BRC 1 category next year, but has confirmed a willingness to back the Junior championship again in 2017.
DMACK won the manufacturers’ trophy with drivers Elfyn Evans and Max Vatanen. Evans took the drivers’ championship a round early on the Ulster while Vatanen didn’t return after April’s Pirelli Carlisle Rally.
DMACK boss Dick Cormack confirmed to MN that last year was successful for the tyre firm in terms of raising its profile.
“We’re not going to enter a dedicated team in the British Rally Championship next season,” said Cormack. “When we went into 2016, we went with one aim and that was to win the title. We have achieved that and supported the series in its returning year, but now it’s time to move on. This doesn’t mean we won’t have a presence in the championship. We want to stay there and probably the best way to do this is by supporting one of the teams who are competing at the front of the field.
“Doing the BRC has definitely improved the profile and sales of the tyres in the UK – there’s a big demand for the new product that we’re making in the UK and that’s coming off the back of what Elfyn’s been doing in the BRC and, of course, what Ott was achieving in the world championship.”
Potential drivers DMACK could back in 2017 include Matt Edwards, who has driven on the firm’s tyres since the early 2000s. He makes a step up to a Ford Fiesta R5 full-time in 2017 having won last year’s BRC 2 category for Group N cars. He drove the R5 to top 10s on the Ulster and Manx.
Cormack also confirmed that DMACK would again support the Junior BRC, but a final decision on the exact deal isn’t expected to emerge until this week.
“We will continue to support the DMACK Junior BRC – that’s been great this year and the speed Rob Duggan has shown to win it has been very impressive,” added Cormack.
MN understands that DMACK is pushing for the same deal as last year, where the category ran to a control tyre format but with any R2 specification allowed. But sources inside the BRC have confirmed that other offers are on the table from other tyre manufacturers. Additional reporting by David Evans.
ROAD RALLY ROUND-UP
Once again a North Wales rally was won by the rapid Ford Escort of Arwel ‘Sbidi’ Hughes-jones and Huw Rhys Manion, as they took victory on the JJ Brown Memorial Rally on Saturday night.
Carwyn Evans/dylan John Williams put up a strong challenge, having got to within one second of the winners at one point, but fell away and finished 18 seconds down at the end. Kevin Kerr/ Dale Bowen had also been in the hunt initially but faded in the second half. Paul Morris/ Merfyn Williams retired with a failing clutch in the first half.
Mark Brotherhood/james Dowley took top spot on the Roamerlite Novice Rally. They were the quickest crew of the night, even beating all the Semi-expert entries, who weren’t eligible for overall awards.