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Just two weeks had passed since the Cambrian Rally took place over the World Class gravel stages of North Wales and the BTRDA was soon back in action on the Rally Nuts Stages for the final round of the 2021 MRF Tyres Rally Series.
The Championship contenders faced more of the World Class Welsh Stages that we know and love, only this time they were a just little further south in the Myherin and Hafren Forest Complexes.
Making its return to the FIA World Rally Championship and closing the season for the second year running (after a forfeiting Rally Japan); the ACI Rally Monza signified the final outing for the outgoing generation of World Rally Cars before the switch is made to Hybrid next year.
inal event in which last year saw Frenchman Sébastien Ogier clinch his 7th World title after snatching the Championship away from his Welsh teammate Elfyn Evans; would once again also deliver one last battle for the 2021 title between the pair of Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers.
There was a whiff of Wales Rally GB in the air of North Wales for the penultimate round of the 2021 British Rally Championship at the Visit Conway Cambrian Rally….. but then the sun came out. Heavy overnight rain with some early morning fireworks out on the stages all contributed to this atmosphere, which some likened to the British round of the World Rally Championship that has played out of the very same stages in recent years.
Organised by the very capable North Wales Car Club, the seaside town of Llandudno once again played host to this 66th edition of this top national event. Totalling some 42 competitive miles, the event featured six gravel tests over the World-Class stages of Gwydir Forest, Penmachno and Alwen.
The penultimate round of the 2021 MRF Tyres BTRDA Rally Series headed to North Wales for the Visit Conway Cambrian Rally. The Sea–Side town of Llandudno once again played host to this North Wales Car Club organised event which was now in its 66th edition.
With a selection of hand-picked World-Class Gravel Forest Stages on offer, the event covered 42 miles over 6 Gravel Stages in Gwydir Forest, Penmachno and Alwen; with a final short all new Asphalt stage called Twin Lakes thrown in to end the day with.
Next year the FIA World Rally Championship will reset and move to a new generation of Hybrid Rally1 cars, in a new wider sustainable approach to its competition; beginning at the iconic Monte Carlo Rally in January.
This implementation of hybrid rally cars in the top tier Rally1 competition class and the usage of sustainable fuels is part of WRC’s and the FIA’s desire to cut down on carbon emissions from the World Rally Championship and throughout motorsport.
After his previous two victories at the Azores and Fafe rallies, heading into the penultimate round of the 2021 European Rally Championship at Rally Hungry, Andreas Mikkelsen had one hand on the 2021 ERC trophy already with his 71 point lead.
A fast mixed asphalt rally was the 7th round of the ERC and covered 182km over 14 stages which would allow the Norwegian Mikkelsen to be crowned his second international rally title in just a week.
The event got underway with a short 4.35km Shakedown qualifying test for which a returning Nikolay Gryazin topped the timings.
After a two year, COVID enforced absence from the FIA World Rally Championship; The RACC Rally Catalunya De Espana made a welcomed return for round 11 of the 2021 season. For an event that first joined the WRC in 1991 and relocated to Salou in 2002, after many years of being a mixed surface event; the penultimate round of the seasons saw a return to an entirely Asphalt event for the first time since 2009.
With 17 fast, flowing, super-smooth tarmac stages that covered 280km, the event got underway on Thursday morning with a short 4.3km shakedown test stage over part of the Riudecanyes stage. Here is where the current championship leader Sébastien Ogier posted the fastest time.
st time since its inception back in 1958, the British Rally Championship arrived on the picturesque Isle of Mull for the fifth round of the 2021 season – The Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally. With 17 stages covering 148 miles, this event was to be one of the longest and perhaps the most individual of events on the calendar this season and would be a challenging one at that.
For an event that began life in 1969 as a club level road rally, it offered up an immense challenge for the handful of BRC crews that had boarded the ferry across the Scottish seas. The rally was spread across three legs and consisted of a real mix of narrow but quick tarmac roads.
The FIA European Rally Championship remained in Portugal but moved to Fafe close to Porto on the mainland for Round 6 of the 2021 season. Whilst previously the Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras has run as an Asphalt event, this year for the first time in its history it moves onto the gravel.
After his win, last time out on the Azores Rally, Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen arrived in Fafe leading the Championships. With 16 Stages covering 197 km, some of which are used on the World Rally Championships, Mikkelsen and Spaniard Dani Sordo who returned for his second outing in the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 were to be the favourites.
Toyotas Elfyn Evans arrived at the final day of Rally Finland 2021 with a 9.1 second lead over Hyundais Ott Tänak. After a dominant performance on Saturday morning, Welshman Evans then came under pressure in the afternoon from the surging Estonian but held on to his lead heading into the final morning of the rally.
All Evans had to do is keep his nerve and make it through the final 45km and 4 stages of the rally.