MOTORSPORT UK CHAIRMAN BACKS RALI CEREDIGION FOR ERC
Motorsport UK boss
Hugh Chambers hopes
Rali Ceredigion can feature on the European Rally Championship calendar in future, an ambition shared by the organising team.
The first closed-road stage rally in Wales in 2019 returned this year after a three-year hiatus as a two-day rally and a round of the British and Asphalt Rally Championships.
WRC winner Hayden Paddon said: “It’s one of the best rallies of its kind anywhere in the world.”
Chambers told Motorsport News: “I think it’s a brilliant event. It has a really fresh approach – the close collaboration with the councils and local communities is an exemplar of how that works.
Chambers continued: “I think it was also a very lean operation and was paving the way for the future in terms of sustainability credentials. We all hope it will get into the ERC. We’re really supportive of it and it’ll be great if it can grow into a bigger event.”
Asked if the organising team was interested in joining the ERC, event chairman Phil Pugh said: “I’d definitely say we wouldn’t be rushing it, but if the opportunity came we’d probably look at it very seriously. We know what’s coming in the next 12 months with hardship for everybody, and that’s maybe another factor where we’ve got to temper our ambition a bit. Because that is the reality of 2022 and the here and now: people are going to have hard times now, so we have to be very mindful of that.”