Four Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship crews will make the trip to Belgium this weekend to contest the Geko Ypres Rally, a round of the European and Belgian Rally Championships, as well as the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Third in the BRC and first of the four drivers in Ypres are Jonny Greer/Dai Roberts, who will take their place in the S2000 Fabia alongside twelve similar Škodas, not least Greer’s fellow Irishmen Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly. The cross border team will spearhead the BRC competitors’ assault on the rally, but with 31 S2000 cars on the event, it will be a tough challenge.
Two wheel drive front runners Mark Donnelly/Barry McNulty will be next of the four, one of ten R3 Clios contesting the rally. They will not want to repeat their Jim Clark Rally experience though, having spun and retired on the first stage, the car damaged by a kerb and a lamp post.
It will not be kerbs that concern the crews in Belgium though, many deep ditches defining the 180 mile route through farmland in the west of the country. Combined with square junctions that, when cut, can cause punctures on the exposed road edges, the rally is a real test of engine, brakes and nerve.
On paper Jason Pritchard will be at a disadvantage in his Impreza, the group N four wheel drive car heavier than the Škodas. But as one of just six Subarus in the event, he can still gauge himself against them and the normally reliable car should get him to the end without problems.
Jamie Brown is surely worth a mention too, the likeable youngster travelling least distance to the event. The Norfolk driver is making a monumental step up to mix it in the IRC, he and co-driver Craig Burgess currently contesting the BRC’s popular support series the BRC Challenge in their Fiesta ST.
Top seeded Brit at car number 12 is 2007/8 British Rally Champion Guy Wilks with co-driver Phil Pugh, who took the title alongside the County Durham driver in 2007. They will vie for IRC glory at the wheel of their UK Peugeot 207 S2000.
The rally starts and finishes in Ypres itself, the podium in sight of the famous 13th Century Cloth Hall and service area surrounding this and the City’s cathedral. The eighteen stage event starts in Ypres at 16:15hrs on Friday 24th June, returning for an overnight halt before the finish at 22:38hrs on Saturday.
Keep an eye on the crews’ progress over the rally at www.ypresrally.com.
No Driver/Co-driver Car:
29 Jonny Greer/Dai Roberts Škoda Fabia
30 Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly Škoda Fabia
48 Mark Donnelly/Barry McNulty Renault Clio
62 Jason Pritchard/tbc Subaru Impreza
117 Jamie Brown/ Craig Burgess Ford Fiesta
For more information on the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship visit www.rallybrc.co.uk.