IRELAND DISAPPOINTED TO BE OFF 2022 BRC SCHEDULE
Logistical concerns for teams and maintaining gravel events will prevent Irish outings, states series manager
Irish rally bosses have expressed their frustration at being left off the 2022 British Rally Championship calendar, with all of the planned events falling within England, Scotland and Wales.
The series will hold its first full post-pandemic season without a trip across the Irish Sea. This year, the Circuit of Ireland was scheduled for an April date but uncertainty that surrounded the ‘R rate’ at the time forced the fixture to be abandoned. The Ulster, meanwhile, was drafted into the revised calendar, with event director Richard Swanston agreeing to run it three months later than its traditional August slot to help keep it a seven-round series.
“I am very disappointed that we will not be a part of the championship again in 2022,” said Swanston. “There are no rounds in Northern Ireland and none in the south, either, as West Cork hasn’t got a look in.
“When you consider how many Irish drivers support the BRC, it’s nice to have even one home round.”
The Circuit of Ireland’s event director, Graeme Stewart, echoed those sentiments.
“I’m not terribly happy. It was my understanding we were to be a round, but obviously that has since changed. From a local perspective it’s very disappointing. Our loyalty lies with the Irish Tarmac Championship but it would still have been nice to have been a round of the British
Rally Championship.”
BRC series manager Iain Campbell explained that logistical challenges lay behind the Irish events missing out. “The reason is very simple: we just could not get any dates to fit within the other events we wanted to form part of the Championship next year,” he told MN.
“The Circuit is the weekend before Corbeau Seats Tendring and Clacton Rally, the Ulster Rally is the weekend after the Grampian Forest Rally and the Down Rally the weekend after the Nicky Grist Stages.
“We need to have strong gravel events, which the Nicky Grist Stages and Grampian Forest rallies are,” Campbell continued. “There’s no way that competitors could do these rallies and then re-prepare their cars, on top of changing them from gravel to asphalt settings for the following weekend.”