JACK BENYON

“Entry ‘problems’ are a product of circumstance”

When are rally fans going to get off the British Rally Championship’s back?

The Pirelli was four entries down, Ypres one, and Ulster two. All I saw at the weekend was grumbles that the BRC was weak and on its knees.

My view is different. While I didn’t get to the Ulster, I saw increased streaming on social media with some knowledgeable guests, live text updates on the BRC’S website, and a revamped results system which allows you to tab between seeing class results as well as overall results. You can also track the cars on stages. That’s an unprecedented amount of resource which many in the UK don’t realise is there and isn’t being done elsewhere.

There’s no doubt rallying faces struggles at a national level. But it’s not all Brc-specific.

There’s still too many events diluting entries. In France, there’s no rallying the week before a French Championship round. It helps give the national championship events a sense of occasion, something lacking in many UK events.

The question is, do we want another Colin Mcrae or Richard Burns, or are we happy that rallying is for fun? If it’s the latter, we may as well get rid of the BRC and everyone can do the BTRDA and British Historic Rally Championship. If it’s the former, these series should be on a graduated path towards the BRC, where drivers will get vital training.

It’s a big problem we don’t have enough variation in events. I’ve been to BTRDA events that offer the same level of occasion as some BRC counters. For what UK rallying needs the BRC to do, that’s not good enough.

If there’s fewer events, that should increase the entries of the remaining ones. The more money coming in for organisers of those events, the more they can reinvest into promotion and recruiting for much needed fresh blood in the organising teams.

For a BRC to work, it needs to give some of the country’s rising talent the chance to compete against the established best. Rhys Yates is a fine example, compete against the likes of David Bogie for a couple of seasons, raise the pace and move on up to Europe or the world.

But until there’s a better path, UK rallying won’t produce another WRC champion. There’s too many classes of cars and too many events to house them. There should be a direct path from top to bottom. Single-venues, National B Btrda-style rallies, BRC and then up to international.

There’s plenty of people putting money into rallying out there, look at the MN Circuit Rally Championship for its double-figure number of backers. If there are fewer events and championships and a more defined path to the top of rallying, then potentially the people who are putting money in have fewer places to do it. Prizes and driver sponsorship becomes easier to obtain and there’s more prizes for championships. Everybody wins.

It’s a pipe dream, and it would need the help of the governing body. But less regulation and more promotion appears the intention of new chairman David Richards. If we want another world champ, then this is the difficult course of action required.