BRC / RD6 & 7 / RALI CEREDIGION
12/10/2024WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW SCOTT
After a grueling Grampian gravel affair in Scotland, the 2024 Probite British Rally Championship saw the crews descend on Aberystwyth, Wales for its penultimate round on the Asphalt and a doubleheader points-scoring opportunity.
First run in 2019 and with it, taking the honours as first ever closed road stage rally in Wales, The Rali Ceredigion has come on leaps and bounds since, raising the bar year upon year, until this year gaining FIA European Rally Championship status. The JDS Machinery Rally Ceredigion would also, therefore, allow the British crews to measure themselves up against some top talent from around Europe, but they could not be distracted by such competition. As the series entered the business end of the Championship, titles were hanging in the balance and so they had to focus their efforts on the job in hand in Wales.
Last time out in Scotland, Chris Ingram delivered the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2’s first BRC win on the Grampian gravel. However, Ingram would still arrive in Wales trailing Irishman William Creighton, who led the driver’s standings by just a single point. Scotsman Robert Proudlock took his second victory in the Junior British Rally Championship and would hold a healthy lead coming into Wales. Meanwhile, John Rintoul would lead the Open and William Mains the National standings, but the margins were close in all classes, so Wales would be a vital opportunity to really make their marks on their respective title bids.
The event would span over three days, with 14 stages and a shade over 114 miles to content, it was, therefore, a challenging event. The organisers who are spoilt for roads to choose from in Wales would offer up a route which would feature all-new stages, with the exception of the Nant y Moch test which has been a firm favourite and perhaps also a signature stage of the event since its birth.
BRC1
The event would begin on Friday with a Qualifying stage which would give the crews their starting road positions. The Ford Fiesta Rally2 of William Creighton with regular Co-Driver Liam Regan would record the best time of the BRC1 crews ahead of his M-Sport teammate and BRC returnee, Jon Armstrong; with Chris Ingram in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 in third.
Photos By Andrew Scott
RD5 / LEG1
The action would begin later that day with two short but sharp blasts along the Aberystwyth street stage in front of a mass of rally fans and locals, who were treated to an action-packed evening of rallying. Chris Ingram & Alex Kihurani would hold an overnight lead of just 2.2 seconds to Jon Armstrong & Eoin Treacy, having both taken a stage win each on the opening night. Creighton & Regan would hold third, at just. 0.1 of a second down on Armstrong heading into the rally proper the next morning.
Photo: Chris Ingram & Alex Kihurani – By Andrew Scott
RD5 / LEG2
The morning would begin in bright sunshine, and first up would be a new stage to the event, Brechfa, for which most avid rallying fans might be familiar with the name from the days of Wales Rally GB when it used the Brechfa Forest complex. This twelve-mile asphalt test would deliver both highs and lows for the British crews, beginning with a low for William Creighton who was forced to stop mid-stage to change a wheel following a puncture.
Photo: William Creighton & Liam Regan – By Andrew Scott
This was a terrible start to the day for the title contender, his rally although had only just got going, was perhaps, now already over with a time loss incurred which would see him tumble right down the leaderboard.
“You would think that I’m trying to drive over things on purpose”, “Just on the inside of a corner there was a bump, we went over it twice in reccie, just a small impact and I didn’t think we had a puncture”
William Creighton
Whilst Creighton was suffering misery, local boy James Williams was right at the other end of the scale and experiencing a massive euphoric moment in his Hyundai N i20 Rally2. The Welshman had got it all hooked up to deliver the stage of his life, going quicker than even ERC front-runner, Haydon Paddon by 4.2 seconds, Williams would take up the lead of the BRC leaderboard.
“It’s hard to describe it right now, I’ve not got many words” “What an incredible feeling, driving over a home stage, there are so many people out there, I just wanted to be committed on every corner. Ross was immense on the notes and I just had an amazing feeling with the car. Everyone is doubting this car and we’ve shown the pace of it this weekend” “I’m buzzing”
James Williams
Photo: James Williams & Ross Whittock – By Andrew Scott
However, Williams’s world would soon come crashing down on him in the very next test, the picturesque Llyn Brianne stage, which was the longest on the route. Williams, perhaps all giddy over his blistering fast stage win in Brechfa had seemingly got too carried away with things and would roll his Hyundai out of the rally and into retirement. From a massive high to this very low, his premature end to the rally would be a massive disappointment.
With the unfortunate exit of Williams, Chris Ingram would take up the position at the top of the BRC leaderboard having picked up his second-stage win here and stopping the clocks 5.6 seconds sooner than Championship rival, Keith Cronin.
Osian Pryce would secure his first stage win in the final stage before the midday service, besides the Nant y Moch reservoir, this would see the Welshman climb into P3. Ingram & Kihurani upfront had already built up a lead of 18.7 seconds to Cronin & Galvin in the second which was looking like a strong defendable margin heading into the afternoon’s loop.
Photo: Osian Pryce & Rhodri Evans | Chris Ingram & Alex Kihurani – By Andrew Scott
“It’s been really difficult in the new car, I just don’t have the confidence to push yet, but when you look at the result, we are in a great spot so we have to keep focused now and try and manage that pace” “With a bit more time I think we can be there”
Chris Ingram
Although Ingram was leading, clearly he didn’t feel one hundred percent at one with the new Yaris just yet. Another man not to have the feeling was, Keith Cronin. “I feel like I’m not going the best today, see if we can work on the car, maybe the tyre or something or look at the set-up”, the Irishman reported. The same could be said for Osian Pryce, something wasn’t quite clicking with the car for this two-time Rali Ceredigion winner. “We’re gonna adjust a few things, we have been improving the car slowly over the loop, that one was a step forward”
Photo: Jon Armstrong & Eoin Treacy – By Andrew Scott
As the crews headed into the afternoon loop, Jon Armstrong had clearly consumed a Cadburys Boost as he stuck his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 car right at the top of the timings in the repeated pass of Brechfa. Armstrong’s performance had increased significantly to the point where he blitzed the competition by winning all five of the afternoon stages, climbing from sixth to fourth by the end of the day.
“OK we had some good pace but this morning we had lots of trouble, this afternoon has been more clean and we are happy”
Jon Armstrong
Despite that performance from Armstrong, the lead of the rally remained with Chris Ingram & Alex Kihurani in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 who would keep the likes of Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin at arms lengths throughout the afternoon to claim maximum points towards their Championship campaign.
Photo: Chris Ingram & Alex Kihurani – By Andrew Scott
Irishman Cronin had managed to claw back a bit of time to the leaders, and the final margin was 11.6, but at least Cronin had seen a better loop in the seat of his Ford Fiesta Rally2 car: “Definitely feeling better this loop, but Chris was too far ahead, so we just tried to be careful and get enough points as we could today” “I didn’t expect this (to be 2nd) after the first loop as the feeling wasn’t good”
Photos: Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin | Osian Pryce & Rhodri Evans | Matt Edwards & David Moynihan | By Andrew Scott
Rounding out the final podium place was our 2022 BRC Champ Osian Pryce with Co-Driver Rhodri Evans who was a further twenty-four seconds adrift from Cronin; but admittedly the Welshman, like Cronin, had struggled to find the sweet spot.
“In terms of the championship, third is looking better than it was looking this morning, it is what it is”
Rounding out the top five was another former BRC champ, Matt Edwards, who has spent most of the year over in Ireland contesting the tarmac championship. Edwards with the help of David Moynihan would put in some consistent times, managing top-five stage times on all but three
RD5 RESULTS
| POS | FINAL RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #8 C.INGRAM / A.KIHURANI | 1:08:44.8 |
| 2 | #9 K.CRONIN / M.GALVIN | +11.6 |
| 3 | #7 O.PRYCE / R.EVANS | +35.6 |
| 4 | #5 J.ARMSTRONG / E.TREACY | +35.7 |
| 5 | #10 M.EDWARDS / D.MOYNIHAN | +46.8 |
RD6
The next day the crews would see the clocks reset for what was another points-scoring opportunity. A further 35 stage miles over four stages (two of repeated) would make up the final day of the event.
Beginning with Bethania, the morning would only get underway for a handful of crews before the stage had to be cancelled due to two big offs. Chris Ingram & Alex Kihurani were the first to crash out in this first test after hitting a bridge in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. In addition to Ingram’s exit, Keith Cronin & Mike Galvin who were following them into the stage would also have a sizable crash of their own also retiring.
Prior to the stage canceling, William Creighton set the benchmark ahead of his M-Sport teammate Jon Armstrong, with Meirion Evans in third. Of the BRC crews, Osian Pryce, Matt Edwards and Garry Pearson were the only others to complete the stage before moving on to the Hafod test where Armstrong would return fire taking his first stage win or morning.
“I tried to push, the grip at the start of the stage was good but in the narrow road it was deceptive, I tried to push without risk and I tried to be clean, it just depends on what the guys behind do, it felt clean, I didn’t overdrive, but yeah OK.”
William Creighton
With just the repeated loop of two to go the weather had taken a turn for the worse, the previous two days of the event had seen ideal, dry and sunny conditions, but a final gift of rain came to keep everyone on their toes. Although BRC Open class crew, Callum Black and Jack Morton would secure the fastest stage time in the repeated pass of Bethania, it was three times BRC champ Matt Edwards, would finally pick up his first BRC1 class stage win also.
Photo: Matt Edwards & David Moynihan – By Andrew Scott
But out front, Jon Armstrong & Eoin Treacy were heading into the final stage of the event with a lead of just eight seconds over team-mates, William Creighton & Liam Regan. Armstrong would indeed emerge from the Hafod test on paper as the rally winner, stopping the clocks with a final margin of twenty seconds over Creighton.
Photo: Jon Armstrong & Eoin Treacy – By Andrew Scott
“It’s been good to be here and it’s good to see our pace against the BRC regulars, William and Matt Edwards today have been really fast, it’s a shame that Chris had an issue”, “It’s really good to be provisional winner, we are really happy with that, to be on paper the winners, but we’ve got to do the team job now”
Jon Armstrong
However, there was to be a last-minute change in the final classifications, as Armstrong hinted when speaking at the end of the stage to the BRC media team. Armstrong had not contested the fall season of the BRC, unlike his M-Sport team-mate, Creighton. As expected, he would therefore step aside, checking in late to the final time control, allowing Creighton to walk away with maximum points to put towards his BRC title bid.
Photo: William Creighton & Liam Regan – By Andrew Scott
“Yesterday wasn’t great for me, some small mistakes and costly errors, and that put us behind but we reset today”, “I think we’ve done a pretty good job today, thanks to all the team who got behind us, hopefully, we can come away with a good result now”
William Creighton
Best of the rest was Matt Edwards alongside David Moynihan eleven seconds down on Creighton. However, their end to the rally would end in drama. The pair were on a bit of a push to get a strong finish but their Ford Fiesta Rally2 would cut out mid-stage a number of times, completely losing power and needing a reboot. Edwards was visibly angry and arrived at the end incredibly frustrated.
“To end the day with a right kick in the nuts isn’t brilliant, I don’t know what to say really, we were having a good go in there and then it went into limp mode and cut out four times and we had to restart, It doesn’t matter how hard you try”, “We’ve made some good progress really but we didn’t expect to be fighting for a decent position so we’ve taken a lot of confidence away”
Matt Edwards
Photos: Matt Edwards | Osian Pryce | By Andrew Scott
Of the regular BRC crews, Osian Pryce alongside Rhodri Evans would reach the end of the rally feeling a little bit dejected. Osian who is a two-time winner of this event seemed to take a bit too long to nail down the setup of his Ford Fiesta Rally2 car. He also knew that the results from this weekend weren’t going to be what was needed to be in the fight for the championship.
“You can’t be a two-time winner and finish as low down as this again, it’s just that one per cent per corner that we are missing with the car. We could have pushed too far and put the car off the road. Generally, I’m happy with what we’ve done, but, as far as the championship goes, that’s probably as far as we’ll get this year. It’s been a tough year, it has probably been one of the toughest that I’ve done in the BRC, I’m glad we got around in one piece but I think our season ends here.”
Osian Pryce
Photo: Meirion Evans & Jonathan Jackson – By Andrew Scott
Another local Welsh lad, Meirion Evans would round out the top five BRC1 crews in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 car. Tarmac is probably his favoured surface and the seat time in the new machine is slowly delivering a better performance. The car did suffer a pop-off valve issue the previous day but Evans and Co-Driver Jonathan Jackson had a better day to end the event with, despite a tyre gamble on the final loop of the day not paying off when the rain came. “It was one of those weekends”, “the speed has been good, it’s just been maybe a case of what it could have been, I’ve enjoyed it but it’s been tough”
RD6 RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #5 J.ARMSTRONG / E.TREACY | 31:37 |
| 2 | #6 W.CREIGHTON / L.REGAN | +20 |
| 3 | #10 M.EDWARDS / D.MOYNIHAN | +11 |
| 4 | #7 O.PRYCE / R.EVANS | +4 |
| 5 | #12 M.EVANS / J.JACKSON | +23 |
Photo: Podium Round 6 – By Andrew Scott
JUNIOR
RD5
After the opening two Friday night street stages in Aberystwyth, Keelan Grogan & Ayrton Sherlock would hold a seven-second lead over Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen.
“Tricky, I messed up the hairpin a little on that one” “It’s a long day tomorrow with some big stages”
Keelan Grogan
The Juniors crews would be able to stretch their legs out the next morning with some proper challenging stages to get their teeth into. This began with Brechfa where Welshman Ioan Lloyd was the quickest out of the blocks in his Peugeot 208 Rally4. With Sion Williams beside calling the notes, the pair would set the benchmark time which was eight seconds quicker than Irishman Ryan MacHugh in the Rally4 Spec Ford Fiesta.
“A tricky start to the day, but that’s some stage to be fair, a lot of work in there but clean enough”
Ioan Lloyd
Because of James Williams off in the BRC1 class, the JBRC crews didn’t get a competitive run at the Llyn Brianna stage and the battle would resume to the north on the more familiar Nant y Moch test.
Photo: Ioan Lloyd & Sion Williams – By Andrew Scott
Lloyd was again on the money, this time beating Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen, who were contested the event in a Rally4 Opel Corsa for the very first time. Lloyd & Williams would be heading into the mid-day service halt with a fifteen-second lead over McBride & Mullens, with MacHugh and Arthur Kierans rounding out the top three.
“Good morning so far and clean enough for us, there’s a lot of mud dragged out which has made it tricky for us but the same for everyone”
Ioan Lloyd
Ioan Lloyd & Sion Williams would carry on their stage-winning pace into the afternoon, picking up all three of the repeated stage wins before heading back to Aberystwyth for another two runs of the super special street stage, where Kyle McBride would take both stages.
Photo: Ioan Lloyd & Sion Williams – By Andrew Scott
Lloyd and Williams would win the round having crossed the finish line with a whopping margin of one minute and seventeen seconds, securing maximum points for their first time this year.
“It’s been a long day, another tough day tomorrow” “It felt good”
Ioan Lloyd
Ryan MacHugh & Arthur Kierans would come out on top of the battle of the Irish, with Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen. The pair would bring the Ford Fiesta Rally4 home 21.6 seconds quicker than McBride’s Opel Corsa Rally4.
Photos: Ryan MacHugh & Arthur Kierans | Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen | By Andrew Scott
| POS | RD5 JBRC RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #33 I.LLOYD / S.WILLIAMS | 1:14:48.2 |
| 2 | #36 R.MACHUGH / A.KIERANS | +1:17.0 |
| 3 | #32 K.MCBRIDE / D.MULLEN | +21.6 |
RD6
Although the event had scheduled a further 35 stage miles over four stages (two of repeated) on the final day, because of a number of incidents, the JBRC crews wouldn’t see any competitive action over the first loop of two stages.
The action for them would finally get underway on the penultimate stage, SS13 Bethania 2 where Ryan MacHugh & Arthur Kierans would take the initiative in the Ford Fiesta Rally2 by stopping the clocks a whopping 10.6 seconds quicker than their nearest rivals Keelan Grogan & Sherlock Ayrton in their Peugeot 208 Rally4. Previous round winners, Ioan Lloyd & Sion Williams would follow a further 2.3 down in third.
Photo: Ryan MacHugh & Arthur Kierans – By Andrew Scott
With just the final stage of the event on the “To do” list, MacHugh & Kierans just had to keep it focused and navigate the final 11.5 miles of the Hafod test. They would do just that, not only picking the final stage win but securing the top step on the podium, and with it, earning maximum points on this second points-scoring round of the weekend.
“It was a good day today, we had a poor day yesterday but you have them in rallying, we put it behind us and had a good day today”
Ryan MacHugh
Despite having a little overshoot and stalling the Peugeot 208 on the final stage, Welshman Ioan Lloyd alongside Sion Williams, would end what was a very strong weekend of rallying for them in second, 11 seconds off MacHugh. Rounding out the final podium place and just three seconds behind were Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen in the Opel Corsa Rally4.
Photo: Round 6 Winner – Ryan MacHugh & Round 5 Winner – Ioan Lloyd – By Andrew Scott
| POS | RD6 JBRC RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #36 R.MACHUGH / A.KIERANS | 34:36 |
| 2 | #33 I.LLOYD / S.WILLIAMS | +24 |
| 3 | #32 K.MCBRIDE / D.MULLEN | +5 |
NATIONAL
William Mains would arrive in Wales leading the standing following the Grampian but his plucky little Vauxhall Nova would struggle with the increased level of competition at the Ceredigion. Joined by Nathan Evans & Rhys Edwards (Renault Clio RS 197) and Nathan Bolton & Phil Kenny (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) it was always going to be a case of getting to the end pick up the points. BRC National regular Darren Atkinson alongside Philip Sandham although was out competing in the event in the trusty old MKII Ford Escort, however, he was not registered for the BRC points scoring at the event, opting to focus on the Asphalt series.
Photos: Nathan Evans & Rhys Edwards | Nathan Bolton & Phil Kenny | William Mains & Tomos Whittle | By Andrew Scott
However, it would be newcomers Evans & Edwards who would dominate the first round of the event and walk away with the win in the Clio RS having secured nine out of ten stage wins on Friday & Saturday. Sunday would offer up the second points scoring round and would see Nathan Bolton & Phil Kenny fight back to take to the top step of the podium in their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, ending the event with a nine-second margin having won the final two out of the four stages. As expected William Mains would also successfully complete the event to round out the BRC national podium, enabling him to continue to lead the standings.
Bolton’s second place and win would see him move up into second in the National standings but is trailing leader Mains by sixteen points.
| POS | RD5 NATIONAL RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #132 N.EVANS / R.EDWARDS | 1:19:40.3 |
| 2 | #138 N.BOLTON / P.KENNY | +2:06:08.7 |
| 3 | #163 W.MAINS / T.WHITTLE | +21:41.5 |
| POS | RD6 NATIONAL RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #138 N.BOLTON / P.KENNY | 38:04 |
| 2 | #132 N.EVANS / R.EDWARDS | +8 |
| 3 | #163 W.MAINS / T.WHITTLE | +3:14 |
OPEN
In the British Rally Championship OPEN field, there was another dominant performance from Callum Black & Jack Morton. Black did not compete last time out the Grampian, and it was John Rintoul who would arrive in Wales leading the standings by four points over Hugh Brunton. Brunton won the Grampian but would not be making the trip down to Wales, so it would offer up the likes of Black to gain ground and Rintoul to extend his lead at this penultimate double header event.
Neil Roskell & Rob Fagg would hold the overnight lead of just 0.7 seconds on Friday after bagging the opening two super special street stages in Aberystwyth.
Photo: Neil Roskell & Robert Fagg – By Andrew Scott
However, it would be Black & Morton in would set the pace for the Open crews the next day with a full complement of stage wins in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 over the morning loop, to really set themselves up with a healthy lead of over 46 seconds to Kevin & Owain Davies in the VW Polo GTi R5.
Photos: Callum Black & Jack Morton | Kevin & Owain Davies | By Andrew Scott
The Davies boys would, unfortunately, retire in the first stage of the afternoon having picked up a number of punctures, whilst Black and Morton would again stamp their authority over the Open field in the repeated afternoon stages. Heading into the final two Aberystwyth Street stages on Saturday evening with a whopping two minute thirty-six seconds, meaning they could just cruise to the end to take the Open win.
Photo: Neil Roskell & Rob Fagg – By Andrew Scott
Neil Roskell & Rob Fagg would sign off their day by once again winning the Aberystwyth Street stages to take P2, ahead of Dylan Davies & Michael Gilbey who would round out the podium in their Skoda Fabia R5.
Photo: Callum Black & Jack Morton – By Andrew Scott
Callum Black & Jack Morton would carry on their speed into the final day, the next points-scoring round. Once again, the pair would remain unchallenged powering through to the top step on the podium have scoring a full house of stage wins. Through the four stages, Black & Morton had built up over half a minute to Neil Roskell & Rob Fagg, who once again were the bridesmaids. The battle between Roskell and third-place crew Dylan Davies & Michael Gilbey in the Skoda Fabia R5, would also end with a big gap of 56 seconds.
Photos: Neil Roskell & Rob Fagg | Dylan Davies & Michael Gilbey | By Andrew Scott
| POS | RD5 OPEN RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #101 C.BLACK / J.MORTON | 1:10:20.3 |
| 2 | #103 N.ROSKELL / R.FAGG | 1:12:55.2 |
| 3 | #105 D.DAVIES / M.GILBEY | 1:15:36.0 |
| POS | RD6 OPEN RESULTS | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #101 C.BLACK / J.MORTON | 0:33:37 |
| 2 | #103 N.ROSKELL / R.FAGG | 0:34:58 |
| 3 | #105 D.DAVIES / M.GILBEY | 0:35:54 |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
William Creighton would continue to lead the driver’s standings after Wales, in what looks to be a two-horse race to the title. Although the gap to Chris Ingram behind would be just a single point, Ingram has already played his joker, but Creighton leaves it until the final round to play his.
| POS | BRC1 DRIVERS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WILLIAM CREIGHTON | 96 |
| 2 | CHRIS INGRAM | 95 (J) |
| 3 | KEITH CRONIN | 75 (J) |
| 4 | OSIAN PRYCE | 75 |
| 5 | MEIRION EVANS | 55 (J) |
It would be Scotsman Robert Proudlock who would be leaving Wales, still leading the standings, although mathematically he could have crowed the champion in Wales, a fourth-place finish on Saturday and fifth on Sunday would not be enough and it would see him having to wait until the final round in Wales, The Cambrian Rally, in October.
| POS | JBRC DRIVERS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ROBERT PROUDLOCK | 97 |
| 2 | IOAN LLYOD | 80 (J) |
| 3 | KYLE MCBRIDE | 74 (J) |
| 4 | RYAN MACHUGH | 70 (J) |
| 5 | KALUM GRAFFIN | 68 (J) |
Callum Black’s double win in Wales would see him move into the lead of the Open standings but John Rintoul is trailing him by a single, it will therefore be a final rally showdown between these two, as it becomes winner takes all on the gravel in North Wales at the Cambrian Rally.
| POS | OPEN DRIVERS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CALLUM BLACK | 83 (J) |
| 2 | JOHN RINTOUL | 82 (J) |
| 3 | HUGH BRUNTON | 53 (J) |
| POS | NATIONAL DRIVERS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WILLIAM MAINS | 84 (J) |
| 2 | NATHAN BOLTON | 68 |
| 3 | DARREN ATKINSON | 52 |
GALLERY
NEXT TIME
The 2024 Probite British Rally Championship will conclude at the final round of the year, the Cambrian Rally. Here on the Welsh gravel made famous over the many years on Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship, multiple titles will be decided and champions will be crowned.
