The fight for the Probite British Rally Championship (BRC) crown will go down to the wire at the final round in North Wales, after the merciless Welsh close road mountain stages of the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion saw a dramatic rise and fall of several title challengers last weekend.
The Aberystwyth-based event featured on the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) for the first time and brought some of Europe’s fastest drivers to Wales to go head-to-head with the BRC regulars.
Two points scoring opportunities across the tricky three-day closed road event meant that the approach to the weekend for BRC contenders could well be a tactical one and two top scores for several of the front runners could significantly shape the championship standings. Points were allocated after Saturday's stages, with another opportunity to score on the final day.
Over 184km of flat-out driving on closed asphalt public roads ensured crews would need to be on their "A-game" across the daunting asphalt tests and it was undoubtedly shaping up to be the toughest event of the year.
Sadly the eagerly anticipated appearance of Jason Pritchard in the North Road Garage GR Yaris 2 didn’t materialise. Continuing delays with registering the car for the public highway left the Builth Wells driver bitterly disappointed of being unable to start.
After the afternoon’s sell-out ceremonial start on Aberystwyth seafront, two blasts around the promenade street stage were in order and the short sharp test saw Nicky Grist Stages winner Chris Ingram set the pace on his asphalt debut in the Castrol Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Behind Ingram, a fascinating battle for the overnight honours unfolded with ERC regular Jon Armstrong receiving a late call-up from the M-Sport squad to score points for the team and making an instant impression, taking second overnight.
Just 0.1s behind would be Will Creighton with an under-the-weather James Williams setting an impressive pace to finish the day fourth in his Hyundai i20 N Rally2. Whilst the opening day was brief, Saturday offered up a stark contrast with over 124km of special stages and eight tests providing the bulk of the competitive driving.
The opening Brechfa stage - west of Llandovery saw a masterclass performance from Williams, who recorded a breathtaking pace which was not only fastest BRC time, but also the fastest time overall, his maiden European stage win. Sadly, that would be all undone on the very next Llyn Brianne stage north west of Llanwrtyd Wells when he and co-driver Ross Whittock left the road.
Punctures for William Creighton and Jon Armstrong over the opening loop of the day threw the leaderboard into chaos and positions would change with every passing stage.
Heading into the mid-point service it was Ingram out front, Cronin second and Osian Pryce in third.
Armstrong would be the man of the moment over the repeat loop, setting the fastest BRC time over each one of the afternoon’s five tests but his earlier puncture meant that fourth would be the best he could manage.
Despite just one stage win, Ingram was uncatchable and ended the day in second overall, giving him his third maximum BRC score of the season.
"I've been so careful this afternoon with so many guys getting punctures,” said a delighted Ingram.
Ingram and co-driver Alex Kihurani’s result meant they headed into the final day with the BRC title within reach; a win could be enough to seal the crown. Second went to Cronin and Mike Galvin with Llandrindod based Rallynuts Stages winner, Osian Pryce and Rhodri Evans in third.
With the clocks reset for points purposes, Sunday would be a short, sharp blast of just four stages, kicking off with the treacherous Bethania test - North of Lampeter. Creighton was one of the first on the road and would set the pace but behind him, the drama unfolded in spectacular fashion.
Braking for a fast right-hander, Ingram’s Yaris rear end stepped away and launched him off the road and into instant retirement. If that wasn’t enough, just a few minutes later Cronin clipped the inside of a wall and rolled his Fiesta spectacularly, meaning once again the BRC leaderboard was thrown into disarray.
Eager to capitalise, Armstrong was quickest on the next test to move into the lead for Sunday’s points. Three-time British Rally champion Matt Edwards’ return to the series was a testing one, but the fastest overall time on the Bethania repeat was some consolation for a difficult weekend in his Fiesta Rally2.
Another scratch time from Armstrong on the final stage of the rally gave him the win on paper, before electing to check into the finish time control late to incur a 20 second penalty – enough to hand teammate William Creighton the round six win and a vital top score for the Irishman’s Championship aspirations.
“It's been great to be here and compete against the BRC regulars and compare our pace, especially William [Creighton] & Matt [Edwards], said Armstrong.
Equally happy was Creighton, who now heads to the final round in the lead of the standings, by just one point over Ingram. In a class of their own for overall ERC victory was 2022 Rali Ceredigion event winner Haydn Paddon and John Kennard who swept all before them taking a 1min 47 second winning margin over second placed Italian Andrea Mabellini. It was an amazing performance from the New Zealand pairing who took fastest time on all but four stages.
It had been an excellent rally with the local economy benefitting to the tune of an estimated 3 million pounds, leaving local residents along the close road route eagerly awaiting next year’s event. The safety and smooth running of the rally can be partly attributed to the safety marshals, where both Brecon and Epynt Motor Clubs provided assistance.
