HOWEDWARDS DOMINATEDBRC
W
hile the results sheet shows four event wins out of four and a dominant championship win for Matt Edwards, no one event was easy for the M-sport Swift Rally Team driver and his navigator Darren Garrod.
The number of R5s was similar to the end of the previous season with 10 at the opening round. There were four names that stood out as the men who would battle it out for the title. Alongside Edwards, there was David Bogie, Keith Cronin and Rhys Yates.
Edwards was on the front foot with a 60-mile test before the first event, the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle, in a Ford Fiesta R5 he’d driven the previous year. The only change was from Hankook to Pirelli tyres. Bogie could rival this continuity as he was back with CA1 Sport in his Skoda Fabia R5 for a third year and on DMACK’S rubber for a second.
However, Bogie’s title bid unravelled on the Pirelli Rally where he rolled. But he did end the season on Rally GB with a chance of the title. Even though he won the opening leg of the two-points scoring rounds in Wales, it wasn’t enough. The biggest loss to Bogie’s title attack was, perhaps, the loss of the opening round, the Border Counties Rally. It was canned to bad weather. “Once we’d lost a gravel round and a rally I knew quite well, that was disappointing,” says Bogie. “I was eager to make up for it on the Pirelli Rally but to go there and make a mistake so early on put us on the back foot for the rest of the year.”
Taking a leap forward as Bogie faltered on the Pirelli Rally was Yates, who arrived with pace in his Fabia and he could have won the rally. He showed much improved speed from 2017.
“The Pirelli Rally was a surprise, we didn’t expect to be on that pace so soon,” says Yates. “If we’d have gone into that event knowing we’d had that pace, we would have attacked more.”
Cronin fought hard with Yates but had to settle for third on the Pirelli Rally behind his rival and Edwards. One of the criticisms of Cronin in recent seasons has been his gravel pace.
The second round, the Ypres Rally, was expected to see Cronin return to form. Switching to a Hyundai i20 for 2018 meant a third different car in as many seasons.
He pushed hard in Ypres, where he had won the year before, and had some major moments in trying to stay ahead of Edwards. A puncture caused by an excursion while leading the final nail in his title chances as he dropped to third place in Belgium. He wouldn’t be seen again during the season.
Edwards had myriad electrical issues, but continued to fight and his relentless pressure on Cronin was enough to guarantee victory in Ypres.
One man not in the fight was Yates, who visited a ditch and then co-driver Elliott Edmondson became ill. Ultimately it was another case of great pace during the season but no result for Yates.
With Cronin gone, Yates and Bogie both stepped up to the mark on the Ulster Rally. Yates admitted he“ran out of talent” on a fast right-hander while closest to leader, Edwards, and Bogie struggled to match the latter’s step-up in pace. “Ulster was my best result,” says Edwards. “The pace was there on stages I hadn’t done and I was up against – and beat – the guy who ended up being Irish Tarmac champion [Josh Moffett]. I didn’t just win the BRC bit, I wanted to win the rally. It’s a famous rally and I love the history. I watched the WRC growing up but I always found the British Championship drivers more relatable.”
After that, the series should have gone to the Isle of Man, but struggles obtaining road-closure permits less than two weeks before the rally was a shambles.
“I don’t think we’ll ever find out the correct story of what went on,” says championship manager Iain Campbell. “It’s disappointing from that perspective, but what wasn’t disappointing was the action on the stages [this year].”
And he’s right. The series does need more cars, but the four that did properly challenge for the title produced good scraps on all of the rallies. The loss of two events was just impossible to fix.
That left a Rally GB finale, where set-up struggles meant Yates wasn’t on the pace from the get go and ended up in a Myherin ditch. It was a far cry from the promise and speed he’d shown all season and he could have won any of the events previous.
Edwards needed fourth on the first leg to win, and he delivered. Bogie knew it was over even before the event started.
Alex Laffey had a mathematical chance of the title, and the M-sport driver built on his consistency this year finishing every event. A Rally GB fastest stage time in the BRC section will be something to remember.
But the man with most to take away from the year will be his team-mate, Edwards, whose fast but sensible approach delivered a brilliant title win. The others simply couldn’t marry the same blend of speed and consistency.