BRC COMPETITORS LOOKING ABROAD AFTER SERIES’ CANCELLATION
UK competitors ready to carry on their 2020 programmes overseas
The cancellation of Wales Rally GB has had ramifications for the British Rally Championship which has been scrapped with too few rounds remaining on its schedule.
The West Cork, Tendring & Clacton and Ulster rallies had all previously been cancelled before two more rounds were lost with the Rally GB bombshell.
Proton driver Ollie Mellors told Motorsport News: “I think everyone knew [the cancellation] was going to happen. It’s a bit of a saving grace they’ve done it now rather than two weeks before the event [GB]. You don’t want to end up in a situation like West Cork where everything’s been booked, planned, paid for and then they go and cancel it.”
Rival Josh Mcerlean added: “It’s fully understandable. With Rally GB gone it’s a big loss of two rounds of the BRC to be gone so it was a no-brainer really to cancel the championship. There’s always 2021 isn’t there?”
The after effects
Ypres Rally in Belgium has successfully been rescheduled from May to October but the fate of the Galloway Hills Rally is unknown. If it does run, it will be without any championship status as the Scottish championship was cancelled back in March.
Teams like EDSL Sport are likely to be the most affected by the BRC’S demise as it runs several Ford Fiesta R2s in the Junior BRC. But team principal Alex Waterman is confident his firm can ride the storm.
“Hiring is one of our main revenue streams but is it our only revenue stream? Absolutely not,” Waterman told MN. “For the time being we’ll be OK but what it looks like past November, December – even next year sort of time – depends [on] what happens with [individual] rallies.”
Driver William Creighton, meanwhile is aware several people find themselves in a fragile situation which could have repercussions for 2021.
He said. “There’s a lot of work still to be done. [The BRC] struggled for numbers this year so what’s it going to be like the year after coronavirus? We don’t know. Nobody’s going to have [a] magic wand I don’t think.”
Desire to compete
Several BRC competitors are still looking for competition this year, with Ypres an attractive option to many. Mellors had already entered Ypres and the Monteberg Rally in Belgium before the BRC’S cancellation, and has now lodged an entry into the Tour of Flanders too.
“Monteberg is one weekend, Flanders is the weekend straight after so you wouldn’t even bother coming back,” he explained. “We don’t need to move the trucks from there or anything so cost-wise hopefully it won’t be too bad.”
Hyundai i20 R5 pilot Mcerlean is similarly hopeful he can compete this year but doesn’t have any concrete plans in place yet.
“I think we will be rallying this year,” he said. “It’s quite promising the way Belgium has shown it’s interested in having events. The Czech championship is on, as are the Italians, so it’s hard to know where to go or what we can do.”
Others like Osian Pryce however can’t afford to quarantine for 14 days – which is currently mandatory for everyone flying into the UK – due to the nature of his business.
“I don’t want to have a quiet year next year,” he said. “I want to be as busy as I can so if that means sacrificing this year and drawing a line under it, I don’t really mind.”