Brc 2021

[the sniper]

Andy & Sniper

What you have completely failed to take into account is that nobody is prepared to pay the going rate to enter the kind of events you'd like to see. ANCRO went bust because nobody wanted to pay for 60/70/80 miles of forest on one day. BRC entires dried up because nobody wanted to spend a day of recce followed by a 2 -3 days of competition.

I've been involved as spectator, service crew, competitor, marshal and event organiser for 50 years & I'd love to see the "golden age" return but until enough people are prepared to pay for it it isn't going to happen.

If you are really serious about the kind of event that you'd like to see then you need to lobby your MP to bring back tobacco & alcohol advertising. That's where the money really came from to cover the cost of those classic events you'd like to see return.

While I do understand that, the Roger Albert Clark shows that people are willing to pay more for something with greater value. The RAC is two thirds of what I'd like to see as a BRC season, in terms of time and distance. As it is, with 7 mainly shorter events, including a trip to Mull and Northern Ireland this year, must involve additional costs that a shorter season of 5 longer events would eliminate or at least match.

With the difficulties with accessing the forests and the increasingly onerous responsibility put on organising clubs, I think the whole model needs to change. My vision would be 5 MSUK organised, two day rallies, three in the forests (Yorkshire, Scottish, Welsh), two on tarmac (NI & Manx), 200km to 220km each. You'll have BRC with recce and, as has been working this year, a British National title, for those not doing recce. Ideally you'd get the British Historic Championship to follow the same calendar, as it's actually somewhat truer to what rallying historically was. The poorer rich guys spending 250k on Escorts or more on WRC cars that can't afford that can do the BRTDA instead, if it can continue to find 7 surviving forest rallies going forward...