ASPHALT CHAMPIONSHIP LAUNCHES WITH SIX-ROUND CALENDAR
The MSA Asphalt Rally Championship has revealed a six-round calendar for 2018 and competitors will only be able to score points if they purchase tyres from title sponsor Protyre or one of its suppliers.
The championship, which hasn’t run since 2016, relaunched in Builth Wells last weekend. The calendar features three rounds off the mainland, with Rally van Wervick in Belgium – a traditional Ypres curtain-raiser – along with the Down Rally in Northern Ireland and the regular Manx National.
The series will open with the Tour of Epynt, returning to the area later in the year for the Mewla Rally and the final round will be the Cheviot Stages over the Otterburn Military Ranges.
A prize fund of 72 tyres for drivers finishing first to third on events over the course of the season has also been confirmed, while Protyre will also reward class success with tyre packages, although they are yet to be confirmed.
Other incentives include registered competitors being offered a 15 per cent discount on ferry travel through an arrangement with Nutt Travel. The series had previously confirmed Special Stage TV coverage with live streaming of its rounds.
Mike Broad, president of the BTRDA, said: “This is the start of an exciting three-year project which will see the Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship focus on the classes, as well as the big guys at the front.
“It’s a national championship with an international flavour – with the Down Rally in Northern Ireland giving the series a good national geographic spread and the Rally van Wervik in Belgium offering an exciting challenge in nearby mainland Europe.”
The Down Rally was due to run on gravel in 2017 but was canned after the Tollymore and Castlewellan forests became unavailable for motorsport. However, it is set to run over 100 miles of asphalt in 2018.