GREHAN AND EDWARDS SET TO GO HEAD-TO-HEAD FOR BHRC CROWN CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS
Historic title to be settled in Kielder forest this weekend – and it is in the balance...
The destiny of the British Historic Rally Championship will be decided between Henri Grehan and Matt Edwards in Kielder forest on Saturday.
The Carlisle Stages is the sixth and final round of the season and Ludlow-based Grehan is close to securing a first major rallying title in his Ford Escort Mk2. However, three-time British Rally champion Edwards could yet grab the title in his Fiat 131.
The last person to win the BHRC in other than a Ford Escort was the late Dessie Nutt with his Porsche 911 in 2009.
While Grehan can afford to take a measured approach to the notoriously tricky Kielder stages, Edwards must go out and try and win the historic section of the rally. If Edwards wins, Grehan needs to finish in the top four registered contenders. If Edwards does not win, simply starting the rally will be enough for Grehan to take the BHRC title at his first attempt.
Edwards and the Rallysport Developments team are on the back foot as they missed the opening Riponian Stages while Edwards was trying to piece together a deal to contest the Irish Tarmac Championship. His BHRC campaign then suffered another blow when he retired with broken suspension on the Woodpecker Rally. Edwards has won the three rounds he has started while Grehan has scored strongly on all five rounds, capped by victory on his local Woodpecker.
Speaking exclusively to Motorsport News, Grehan said: “It’s doable. Obviously, Matt’s geared up to win. If I try and take him on, it’s going to probably put me in a very difficult and tense position.
“But you can get caught out by going too slowly. I’ll probably go there and just try and find the rhythm with quite good pace, but it’s going to be a tricky day, I’m sure.
“It’s just about trying to keep in the middle of the road and just trying to stay in the pack. I think there’s a good chance that he’s just going to storm into the lead and that’s what he’s got to do.”
Grehan will score six points just for starting the Carlisle Stages, taking his total to 132.
If Edwards wins, he will score 30 + 5, to take his total to 135.
If Edwards wins, Grehan needs to score points for fourth place. He will then drop his 16 scored on the Trackrod and count 20 points from Carlisle to take his total to 136.
If Edwards finishes second, he will score 25 + 5, with a total of 130: not enough to overtake Grehan, regardless of where Grehan finishes.