McGONIGLE READY TO DO BATTLE IN “FRANTIC” BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Irish battler plots a return to the mainland and expects a tough battle for glory
By Luke Barry
Joe McGonigle has said the calendar of events and the opportunity to do more gravel rallies are what persuaded him to register for this year’s British Rally Championship.
McGonigle hasn’t competed in the BRC since 2013 in a Renault Clio R3 while that year’s Wales Rally GB was his last gravel rally other than the M-Sport Return to Rally Stages last August.
Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally2, McGonigle was competitive in Greystoke despite it being his first time on gravel for seven years, but he expects the strong pace in the BRC to a step forward for him year.
He said: “The likes of Matt Edwards, Tom Cave and Osian [Pryce] if they all go [into the championship], they’ll be very, very fast. I think Matt if he found the funds to be in WRC2 he’d be at the front of WRC as well. And we’ve seen Tom Cave in Finland, he did an amazing job there.
“It’s one of those things: you can go and do a national rally in Ireland and drive at 90% and win and then you go and do a Tarmac event and everything steps forwards. The BRC is the same. Everybody tries a lot harder and takes bigger risks.”
McGonigle, who admitted he’s been put off by the cost of the BRC in the past, is impressed with the calendar which is far more cost effective than in previous years as he is a fan of the compact itinery when competitors will recce on Friday and then rally on Saturday.
He added: “I wanted to go back to Wales, to me that’s where the best stages in Britain are, but at the same time I’ve done the Trackrod Rally and I really enjoyed it and Grampian actually looks very good, I watched some in-car of it, proper stages up there. And even Oulton Park will be brilliant! It might be a bit shit for the navigators but Oulton Park should be good enough to drive around.”