British & Irish Rally calendars 2022

[J4MIE]

This year’s Galloway Hills is pretty much running 2/3 of the stages they managed last year, but run 3 times each:

https://www.rally-maps.com/Galloway-Hills-Rally-2022

That doesn’t bode well for an event 2 editions ago was able to run about 3x unique stage mileage

They didn’t get enough entries to run the full event, so instead of cancelling they asked crews if they would want to do 3 loops of two stages, instead of 2 loops of 3 stages. It’s a shame as it’s my favourite event of the year to compete on (last year was the best rally I have ever done). Just wasn’t able to this year sadly, too many other commitments throughout the year.

https://dirtfish.com/rally/brc/the-f...ational-rally/

You've certainly got to admire the team involved, they're really thinking/organising in the way you imagine it should be done in this century.

One thing I'd disagree with Luke Barry on though, having attended both events last weekend, I really don't think tarmac rallying is better than gravel rallying, in terms of spectator spectacle anyway. I think in modern tarmac rally, as a spectator, you really have to put in effort or recce the stages and find a decent spot to get the most out of it (and aren't officially supposed to), whereas on gravel, even fairly unremarkable corners can still produce spectacle. From the competitors side though, I can see the appeal of tarmac rallying.

Going forwards think it'd be great if we could see a few rallies like this spread out around the country, largely based on the great old road rally routes of the past. The North West Stages has potential in this regard, a Blackpool stage and start/finish might be an idea.

Ceredigion organisers are certainly bold and have been pushing for a top level event already, but have spent a LOT of money doing so. The stages are superb and I would’ve liked to do it - maybe next year.

There are more and more closed road events being organised around the UK. Some events have happened (East Riding, NW Stages, Clacton, Argyll, Ceredigion, Three Shires), but others have encountered serious issues - Hertfordshire due to a cruise type thing resulting in a fatal accident a few years ago, Coast2Coast, plus others that I don’t think were publicised (one of which was half a mile from my hometown ).

It is EXTREMELY difficult to organise these events even if you can get it off the ground with local authorities - NW Stages have now decided to only do it every other year. Heard that one of the senior organisers put in 800 hours for this year’s event which is unsustainable.
With climate change being near the top of locals concerns, there is a minority of residents on proposed rally routes that simply doesn’t accept these events should happen. They need a lot of convincing about the positives that these events can bring to the area and can easily have a big influence on the viability of events (sadly).