REVAMP FOR BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Six-round shake-up for UK’S domestic series
The 2020 British Rally Championship calendar has been unveiled with crews set to compete in six rounds across six different countries next year.
The season will once again begin with the Cambrian Rally and end with the Galloway Hills Rally, with visits to West Cork, Ypres and Ulster rallies taking place during the year.
The newest addition includes the closedroad Rally Tendring and Clacton, while the popular Pirelli International has been dropped for 2020.
BRC championship manager Iain Campbell said: “Our calendar allows competitors to compete on some iconic stages against some of the best drivers in the world, as we go head-tohead with the Irish Tarmac Championship on two occasions and also with the Belgian Championship – lifting the pace of everyone in the process.”
Rally Tendring and Clacton has been announced as the newest addition to the British Rally Championship as the UK’S leading rally series has unveiled its calendar for 2020, which will consist of six rounds in six countries.
The Essex-based event became the first rally in the UK to make use of new closed-road legislation when it was first held in 2018 and, over the last two years, it has continued to grow into one of the most popular contests on the national rallying calendar.
Event director Tony Clements has admitted that a slot with the BRC was the ultimate goal for the event, but that the call has come much earlier than expected.
“We’re absolutely made up about it, I must admit that it’s come a little bit early for us to be honest,” said Clements.
“[But] I won’t make any bones about the fact that we’re very ambitious as an organising team and it was something we hoped might happen in the fullness of time.
“We’re putting a couple of new things in place for next year: the major one of which will be a spectator stage on the Saturday evening on the seafront which will be run at 30-second intervals, finishing right at the pier, running in reverse order and followed by a fireworks display.
“And then for 2021 we’ve got plans to get up to about 70 stage miles, which is where we want to be stage mileage-wise and until we did that I didn’t really think we were quite in the frame for the BRC.
“But according to Iain Campbell [BRC championship manager], he’s had lots of good reports from the event and was very keen to get us in and we’re very keen to be part of it so yes, very pleased about it.”
This year’s rally was a sell-out, attracting 125 crews, with the
2020 edition due to take place on an almost identical route which will consist of 55 stage miles across 12 stages.
The event is “very much like a Belgian one-day event or an
Irish National one-day event”, according to Clements, and will be run as three loops of four stages.
Despite being added to the BRC calendar sooner than expected, Clements is confident the event can run at the highest level.
“I have absolutely no qualms about our ability to run an event of any standard,” he added.
“Our clerk of the course, who does most of the paperwork, has been involved with Wales Rally GB for years and one of our deputy clerks of the course is clerk of the course for Wales Rally GB national