CHAMPION EDWARDS RETURNS TO THE BRC IN A VOLKSWAGEN
Two-time title winner switches motors as he aims for British rally title hat-trick
British Rally champion Matt Edwards is the first man to confirm his plans for the 2021 BRC season, switching from an M-Sport Ford to a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
The 2018 and ’19 title winner has only driven
Ford Fiestas in the BRC since switching from a Mitsubishi Lancer E9 to R5 at the end of 2016. Melvyn Evans Motorsport will run the VW for his 2021 campaign.
“To be in a car that’s obviously been so successful is exciting,” Edwards told Motorsport News. “The motivation is to get back rallying again because that’s what we love doing but title number three is a massive factor. I’m beyond hungry for it and I’ve been kept waiting a lot longer than I should’ve been, so let’s get at it!”
Matt Edwards has told Motorsport News the opportunity to drive a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 in this year’s British Rally Championship is exciting but doesn’t represent a breakdown in his relationship with M-Sport.
Aside from a one-off drive in a Hyundai on Wales Rally GB 2019, Edwards has only driven Ford Fiestas in the R5 class since stepping up towards the end of 2016. He won both the 2018 and
’19 British titles and was leading the 2020 series before it was cancelled due to Covid-19.
The Polo Edwards will steer in 2021 will be supported by long-term backers Yuasa, Swift Group and new sponsor TPS. Melvyn Evans Motorsport will run the car and Darren Garrod is expected to co-drive.
Edwards said: “It’s exciting and obviously to work with Melvyn who’s got a long history in motorsport and the Welsh aspect and all the rest of it is brilliant. It feels really good from an environment point of view [and] to be in a car that’s obviously been so successful is exciting too.”
Edwards is pushing to become the first man to win three British titles on the bounce and said the motivation to achieve that is “massive.” In doing so, he will become the first man to drive a Volkswagen in the BRC since Tapio Laukkanen piloted a Golf IV Kit Car in 2000 but it will mean he has to acclimatise to an all-new car.
“There’s a lot of challenges,” he said. “The car and the time out are the biggest of them but that said the Fiesta for the Cambrian last year was such a radically different car as well and we won first time out with that when the main rivals were in familiar machinery. So I don’t foresee the car being a problem and the reputation of the Polo precedes itself so there is no doubt we’re in capable machinery.”
However Edwards has admitted that leaving M-Sport is “tough” given the success he and the team have shared. But he insisted “there’s definitely no problems with the relationship,” proved by the fact he is doing weather crew for the World Rally Team on this week’s Arctic Rally Finland.
“The change is not to do with the team or the equipment it’s purely the situation we find ourselves in,” Edwards explained. “I absolutely loved the new car on the [2020] Cambrian Rally and it’s the best rally car I’ve ever driven that’s for sure. It was tough, it’s not the situation I wanted to find myself in because they’ve done great things to help me get the two titles so it’s a shame.”