JBRC ‘unfeasible’ for Gallagher in 2020
Marty Gallagher has told Motorsport News the decision to switch to a onemake series for the 2020 Junior British Rally Championship has effectively priced him out of the new-look competition.
This year the JBRC is open solely to one-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged Ford Fiesta R2T cars at a cost of over £70,000 each.
In order to try and accommodate those R2 drivers who will not take part in the new-look series, British Championship bosses have created a BRC Academy Trophy.
The overall winner of the 2020 JBRC will still receive a cash-injection totalling €60,000 from M-sport and Pirelli, which they can then put towards a drive in the 2021 FIA
Junior World Rally Championship.
Gallagher – who has been a regular in the British Rally Championship since 2016 – reckons the Fiesta series is too prohibitive financially. Instead, he looks set to switch his focus to Motorsport Ireland’s returning Junior Rally Series.
“We have still to make a firm decision but the new Junior Rally Series is the one that appeals to me most,” said the Peugeot 208 R2 driver. “The funding that is needed to do the JBRC in 2020 is hard to find; you really needed to spend 2019 in a Ford Fiesta to learn about the car and work on the set-up to be ready for 2020. All things considered the car and two seasons in it would cost you £500,000.
“There is the other championship [Academy Trophy] but you won’t receive the same recognition. When the announcement was made to adopt a one-make series I knew it just wasn’t feasible for us.”