Quote Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC View Post
Thats going back three decades though. The ban has been on for a long time and the sport continued with good events and entries. This was with new sponsors and new Manufacturers like Seat. These are what needs to come back but sadly rally is not seen as a worthwhile investment any more in the UK. How do other national championships do it ?
Three decades ago is when the decline started. While the F2000 era is fondly remembered by many, it happened because of a restriction that banned 4WD cars from the BRC in response to declining entries and marginal finances. It attracted a few manufacturers for a few years but there were costs to events and competitors.

The Manx and Scottish had to withdraw from the ERC. You could say it wasn't a great loss as they didn't attract many European competitors but the Europeans didn't come because those that did struggled to compete against the best of the BRC. That gave at least some measure of the level of the UK competitors.

The Manx and Jim Clark were also forced out of the Irish Tarmac Championship limiting entries on those events and removing a way of gauging British championship drivers against those from the Irish championship.

It also took away the opportunity for the top BRC runners to measure themselves against the WRC runners in Rally GB. Burns & McCrea, and before them Brookes, Pond, Wilson &c could enter the RAC (Rally GB now) in the car they used all year and compete in the same class at the top world runners. Under the BRC F2000 rules they needed to find a different car to do that.

The fall off in manufacturer inerest in the BRC coupled with losing a year due to the foot & mouth outbreak caused another re-think of the rules. 4WD S2000 cars were permitted but nobody was interested in them. If only they had taken off like R5 did we may have seen an upsurge in the BRC.

I also believe that trying to market the BRC as a "stepping stone" was a mistake. The BRC should be sold as an end in itself. It should be strong enough for the top drivers to want to compete in it for a decade or more, not just do 2 years and then move on elsewhere to ERC or WRC or give up because they can't get a WRC or ERC deal. If the BRC was that strong we'd get young Scandinavians coming here to get experience and prove themselves and the series would actually be a stepping stone for some while still being a career opportunity for others, but that needs promotion and finances that simply aren't there.