FIVE IRISH EVENTS WANT BRC CALENDAR SLOT

British championship has been approached to visit ireland

The British Rally Championship has been approached by five different Irish-based rallies to join its calendar in the future.

Over the course of the Ulster Rally two weeks ago, BRC championship manager Iain Campbell was inundated with events looking to become a part of the series.

Since the loss of the Circuit of Ireland for 2017, the British and Irish Tarmac Rally Championship have only shared one round annually, the Ulster.

That means the two championships are fighting over the same customers instead of being able to join together, due to calendar difficulties.

“We were approached by five different Irish events over the weekend of the Ulster,” Campbell told Motorsport News. “There’s interest in the British Rally Championship and they must see that we are bringing value.

“We can pick up asphalt rounds, it’s where do we get the gravel ones from? Calendar-wise they wouldn’t all work out but it would be great to see.”

The BRC came under fire from some in the rallying community for the lack of entries on the Ulster but the championship took only one fewer car than it did in 2017.

While the number of R5s is down, the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is also down on numbers in that category, with just four competing on the Ulster.

While R5s were down, R2 entries were up. A total of 12 entered that class, while 11 entered in 2017.