If you're not excited for this one then you are not a rally fan! Round 2 of the MSA British Rally Championship is the historic Circuit of Ireland Rally, which apart from Rallye Monte-Carlo is the oldest rally in the world. After the grueling mud and gravel of Rd 1 in Wales, the tight, twisty and jump-littered roads of Northern Ireland could not be more different, which just adds to the challenge of the 2016 BRC.
What adds extra spice to this second round of the rejuvenated BRC is that the British drivers will be wading into battle with the Irish Tarmac Championship runners and the boys from the European Rally Championship, creating one mega battle and a record breaking entry list of 44 R5 specification vehicles. Leading the British Rally Championship runners away is championship leader Elfyn Evans, who won his home round of the series last time out. Close behind in the running order are his nearest rivals from the Mid Wales Stages Fredrik Ahlin, Tom Cave and David Bogie. Ahlin and Cave are in Fiesta R5's while Bogie is the leading Skoda Fabia R5 on the entry list. Seeded fifth and closest to Evans is Keith Cronin, who had a disappointing Mid Wales but has been strong in the Irish Tarmac series this year. Other BRC drivers to watch are Euan Thorburn who claimed a solid fifth on round 1 and who did this rally last year in a Fiesta S2000, Max Vatanen, Jonny Greer and Desi Henry, who is another along with Greer and Cronin that is contesting both the Irish and British Championships in 2016. The battle in the DMACK Juniors is likely to be between the Fiesta R2T's of Gus Greensmith, Adam Bustard and Meirion Evans and the works Vauxhall Adam R2's of Robert Duggan, Mattias Adielsson and Arron Windus. The battle for BRC honours is only part of the equation for the top runners though, who surely will be interested to see how they can do against the European contenders, which include 2016 ERC points leader Alexey Lukyanuk (Fiesta R5), 2015 ERC Champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Fiesta R5) and 2015 Circuit of Ireland winner and Citroen WRC driver Craig Breen (DS3 R5). One thing is for sure, it's going to be epic! Check out the full entry list here.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
BRITISH RALLYINGArticles covering rally in Britain, looking at the MSA BRC Archives
September 2017
Categories |