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British & Irish Championships 2024
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That’s frankly bizarre and unexpected. I don’t know what to make of it other than it yet again proves the BRC is scraping the barrel. Nothing wrong with the Grampian, Rallynuts etc. but they are most definitely ‘clubman’ events - even if they try and run another single extra stage for the BRC which will get barely enough entrants.
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The Rallynuts (Severn Valley) used to be an ANCRO round - so approx 60-70 miles, and run in June in south Mid Wales. It's almost a different event nowadays....
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It says they'll be "Longer, more challenging rallies" which sounds great... but how many entrants actually want that ?
The events might not be Championship standard, but I guess they want to try something new. Also no Irish or Belgian events is sad, but not many want or can afford to travel overseas to compete anyway.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
The Rallynuts (Severn Valley) used to be an ANCRO round - so approx 60-70 miles, and run in June in south Mid Wales. It's almost a different event nowadays....
I will probably go to that one, missed it since the one which ran in November for various reasons. Unless we have an April heatwave!
Will definitely go to Ceredigion again, and may go to the Cambrian this year as well as next so plenty of BRC action for us who live in Wales or the Marches :D
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fast Eddie WRC
It says they'll be "Longer, more challenging rallies" which sounds great... but how many entrants actually want that ?
The events might not be Championship standard, but I guess they want to try something new. Also no Irish or Belgian events is sad, but not many want or can afford to travel overseas to compete anyway.
Dropping Belgium can only be a good thing. Great event but what is it doing on the BRITISH rally championship calendar? As many of us said this time last year it was pretty much an admission that we don’t have enough high quality events over here - not really the case if you juggle your calendar spots around though…
It’s a shame the Down Rally couldn’t be included in Ulster’s place - that would have given a nice gap between Jim Clark-Down-Ceredigion, returning to the Grampian in the probable heat of August seems an odd choice
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From a selfish/local POV am disappointed that Yorkshire once again has dropped off the calendar however suspect there wont be any tears shed at Trackrod Towers. NW Stages is a good add however is bi-annual so how is that going to fit with the Championship continuity? Just really surprised that a N.Ireland rally has not been added as Cronin amongst others was quite vocal this year in suggesting the addition of an Irish event would potentially encourage some more Irish crews to enter and Motorsport Ireland seem very supportive of their drivers at the moment.
Interested in the Ceredigion date and how that fits in with the rumoured ERC status the organisers were looking for. Time will tell on that I trust.
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Here's a throw back to 1999:
Calendar
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Just thinking that with Ceredigion being a double header its just possible that a top runner from the BTRDA Tarmac championship could also win the BRC without putting a tyre on the loose.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
Here's a throw back to 1999:
Calendar
I remember well. We didnt realise at the time it was a bit of a golden age for the BRC, with great some great drivers, events, sponsors and even manufacturers !
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
Here's a throw back to 1999:
Calendar
We could almost replicate some of that this year - Rally North Wales will run on the weekend of 16/03 next year and Down Rally runs on the penultimate weekend in July :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sal yet again
Just thinking that with Ceredigion being a double header its just possible that a top runner from the BTRDA Tarmac championship could also win the BRC without putting a tyre on the loose.
They’d have to be bothered to register for BRC points though, and none of the ARC drivers were interested in doing so at this year’s Jim Clark or Ceredigion
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Plenty for the mechanics to do with tarmac/gravel/tarmac/gravel all year long ..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
Here's a throw back to 1999:
Calendar
I should have said that four of those events have either disappeared, or changed from what they were.
Vauxhall Rally of Wales no longer exists.
The Pirelli is now the Kielder Forest Rally run in June.
The Scottish is a one day SRC round.
The Manx International is now Rally Isle of Man, but hasn't been run since 2017.
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In my haste I didn’t actually read the press release while I was at work today
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fast Eddie WRC
It says they'll be "Longer, more challenging rallies" which sounds great... but how many entrants actually want that ?
Rallynuts: “…the Builth Wells-based event has been re-named for its 50th anniversary and will offer a dynamic twist on its traditional format next year, offering up a longer and more challenging route which uses some of the best forest stages in the world.”
I’m intrigued to hear where the extra mileage will be - there is far more stage km available in Hafren and Myherin that can’t always be squeezed into a 70km event - and also how much more than the interclub event it will be.
Jim Clark: “…The legendary closed-road event will offer increased mileage for 2024, including a longer opening leg on Friday night…”
Again, intrigued to find out where the extra mileage will be - hopefully some stages not used for a while like Bothwell would be nice.
“… the perfect opportunity for a BRC duel.”
You would hope the BRC had set their sights a bit higher than just two entrants fighting it out next year :p
Grampian: “… the Grampian is based just outside of Aberdeen and will shift to a longer, two-day format with some exciting plans from rally organisers due to be revealed in the coming months.”
More of the same, I take back my knee-jerk criticism from this morning, lets just see what actually transpires next year.
Costs: “…the championship will also introduce a raft of new measures to assist in competitive costs, including the reduction of championship registration fees. Costs will be reduced by up to 66% to enter the British Rally Championship, with the National categories being slashed by a staggering 86%.”
I wonder if this good enough to tempt drivers like Meirion Evans to the BRC as he was quite vocal about registrations at Rali Ceredigion. And maybe some returning names like Matt Edwards, Tom Cave etc.
Media: “A revised media package will also be put into place in 2024…”
Just hope they don’t mess with the Youtube coverage from this year, it was a massive improvement over 2022. Mark James on commentary please!
And here’s the problem: “…At the same time of course, we have been rigorously looking at budgets to ensure the BRC is attainable for all…”
I don’t see why it has to be attainable for all. F1 isn’t, British GT isn’t, BSB isn’t, ERC isn’t and they’re not worse because of it. Trying to make it ‘for all’ just dilutes what it could be and as we’ve seen in recent years ‘all’ ends up being four, five, six, maybe seven if you’re lucky. Clubmen who could just do the BTRDA, ARC or BHRC instead aren’t interested, international drivers aren’t interested and there’s very few left outside of that…
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Destra quattro
Plenty for the mechanics to do with tarmac/gravel/tarmac/gravel all year long ..
Isn’t that the case anyway with cars being rented out to various drivers doing all manner of rallies all year long?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sal yet again
Just thinking that with Ceredigion being a double header its just possible that a top runner from the BTRDA Tarmac championship could also win the BRC without putting a tyre on the loose.
I suspect that this won't happen, as the Asphalt Championship frontrunners are all running R5+ or Rally2+ cars, therefore are illegible for the BRC. From the points standings on the Asphalt Championship website, only 3 drivers registered for points used R5/Rally2 homologated cars, and only one did more than two rounds.
Ideally Rally2+ would be banned, but that isn't happening anytime soon.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
HKSjbg
“… the perfect opportunity for a BRC duel.”
You would hope the BRC had set their sights a bit higher than just two entrants fighting it out next year :p
Most rallies rarely have more than two drivers fighting for the win after a few stages.
And a duel for the Championship would actually be an improvement on this season...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
Here's a throw back to 1999:
Calendar
I was in the results team on all of them apart from Ulster!
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Go back another 20 years to 1979:
Calendar
Round |
Event |
Date |
Winning Time |
1 |
Mintex International |
23-25 February |
2:33:54 |
2 |
Circuit of Ireland |
13-17 April |
8:29:29 |
3 |
Welsh |
10-12 May |
3:25:53 |
4 |
Scottish |
9-12 June |
4:44:30 |
5 |
Manx |
14-15 September |
3:38:40 |
6 |
Ulster |
19-20 October |
3:27:05 |
7 |
RAC |
18-21 November |
8:03:38 |
I watched a few of those - they were before my results days!
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So the RAC was part of the BRC in the past. I didnt know that.
As theres no more Rally GB, imagine if the BRC used the Roger Albert Clark Rally...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fast Eddie WRC
So the RAC was part of the BRC in the past. I didnt know that.
As theres no more Rally GB, imagine if the BRC used the Roger Albert Clark Rally...
I can imagine the outrage from the Historic brigade......
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fast Eddie WRC
So the RAC was part of the BRC in the past. I didnt know that.
Feast your eyes on the 1977 season! Two rounds more than that year’s WRC! https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1977/?nat=2
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fast Eddie WRC
As theres no more Rally GB, imagine if the BRC used the Roger Albert Clark Rally...
…or the Anglo-Caledonian Rally
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
Here's a throw back to 1999:
Calendar
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Steve Boyd
Go back another 20 years to 1979:
Calendar
Round |
Event |
Date |
Winning Time |
1 |
Mintex International |
23-25 February |
2:33:54 |
2 |
Circuit of Ireland |
13-17 April |
8:29:29 |
3 |
Welsh |
10-12 May |
3:25:53 |
4 |
Scottish |
9-12 June |
4:44:30 |
5 |
Manx |
14-15 September |
3:38:40 |
6 |
Ulster |
19-20 October |
3:27:05 |
7 |
RAC |
18-21 November |
8:03:38 |
I watched a few of those - they were before my results days!
I'll always be of the belief that losing the marketability and instantly recognisable core structure/format/calendar of 'English/Yorkshire', 'Welsh', 'Scottish', 'NI/Ulster' and 'Manx' rounds was fundamental to the downfall of the BRC, not just the nature of the events themselves being lost.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
the sniper
I'll always be of the belief that losing the marketability and instantly recognisable core structure/format/calendar of 'English/Yorkshire', 'Welsh', 'Scottish', 'NI/Ulster' and 'Manx' rounds was fundamental to the downfall of the BRC, not just the nature of the events themselves being lost.
Yes absolutely. Britain has a fairly unique advantage in that there are 5 nations plus some regions with a strong local identity of their own which could afford the championship some much needed gravitas.
I’ve always thought rallies which choose a name with the suffix stages smacks of ‘this is a club event’ which is disappointing for what should be Britian’s top rung rally championship
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
HKSjbg
That was the last year that included national status rounds before it became the fully International "British Open Rally Championship" - open to all comers with an International licence. There was no participation in national status events without a licence issued in that country in those days, so if a Fin or Swede wanted to do the British Championship they had to have a UK address and a British competition licence. It's why you sometimes saw Finnish and Swedish drivers on entry lists as British in the 70's. Moving to the open international series meant that Mikkola, Blomqvist, Eklund &c could compete with an international licence from wherever they lived.
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Nothing we hadn’t read already from the BRC calendar press release
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
HKSjbg
Nothing we hadn’t read already from the BRC calendar press release
Sorry, I was kidded thinking it was new with it starting about axeing the Ulster.
Btw, re your earlier post
"I wonder if this good enough to tempt drivers like Meirion Evans to the BRC as he was quite vocal about registrations at Rali Ceredigion."
I saw him reply to a guy on FB about BRC 2024 that "You dont know who's doing it yet..."
This could be an indication Meirion is planning to give it a go after doing the ITRC for a few years. Fingers crossed he does as we could be glad of his quality.
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Often is the way with news stories, if it were Dirt Fish there would be a whole piece on it with just one line of actual quote from anybody :D
Yeah it would be good to see how good he is now on gravel and in the Rally2. Plus his Castrol liveried car would be a nice professional-looking addition to an otherwise amateur feeling championship!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnaTUQ2UdMA
This type of show might help create more a buzz about rallying in the UK.
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Especially with a few of those cars being ex-Colin McRae (or at least his era of Subaru) cars and the general public still, just, remember who he was
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Getting a British version of this would help raise the profile of the sport here...
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-t...wrc-co-driver/
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I'm not that impressed by that story; oh, what a surprise, a Finnish TV star makes it to the WRC.......If it was somebody from Australia, NZ or Peru then it's a story.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndyRAC
I'm not that impressed by that story; oh, what a surprise, a Finnish TV star makes it to the WRC.......If it was somebody from Australia, NZ or Peru then it's a story.
Or from Britain...
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https://asphaltrallying.com/2023/10/...dar-announced/
2024 Asphalt championship calendar has been unveiled and sadly no place for the East Riding stages but kicks off with the North West Stages instead.
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‘Hills Ford Stages’? Are they no longer calling it the Three Shires?
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With the NW Stages being bi-annual wouldnt be at all surprised if the Three Shires is being viewed as a potential BRC round for '25..
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Hmmmm I hope not. It’s not the most exciting looking tarmac rally in the country. I was busy that weekend this year so I couldn’t have gone - Ledbury is less than half an hour from where I live - but even so I wasn’t that fussed, couldn’t have compared to Ceredigion.
The BRC needs to concentrate on quality rallies, not rounds for the sake of it.
Wouldn’t East Riding make more sense? It’s at the start of the season again, Yorkshire has already been lost from the BRC roster and wasn’t there discussion here a while back that the organisers had lofty ambitions of the ERC much like the Ceredigion team?
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BRC status maybe a good leg up for the East Riding and sure they were talking about some night stages on the first day for '24. There was an "incident" this year but not sure that will stand against them in the long run and hopefully we will see a strong rally again next time around to build on.
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From the spectator info available it looks like the Cambrian itinerary is going to be two runs through Brenig, once through Cloc and thrice through Elsi.
I don’t know if that is a change from the original plan or whether that was what it always was gonna be, it doesn’t exactly fill me with heightened anticipation for the BRC double-points season finale!