RALI CEREDIGION 2025
15/09/2025WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPY BY ANDREW SCOTT, JAMIE MOONE, NIGEL PRATT & ROB SAYER
When Britain lost its place on the World Rallying stage with the demise of Wales Rally GB in 2019, British fans were left initially in disbelief, which was soon followed by them feeling rather hurt that such an iconic event and Britain’s place in the WRC could be taken from them. An awful lot of resentment was floating about, and following a number of failed attempts from across the Irish sea, it seemed that there was to be no way back for our nation’s hand in our beloved sport to return to the top tier level of rallying once again.
Alas, the British fans wouldn’t have to wait too long before Wales would once again come to the rescue, offering up something that could initially have been seen as perhaps a bit of a compromise. I mean, how could anything compare to those infamous gravel stages in the Welsh Forests, which have provided the setting for so many iconic moments in British and indeed World Rallying?
Would the fans settle for anything else?
That very same year that Britain last hosted a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, The Rali Ceredigion came to life, taking the honours as the first closed road stage rally in Wales. That landmark event would be the catalyst for what has become Britain’s offering on the international rallying stage, and the fact of the matter is, that what this British offering from Wales has become IS more than a worthy and satisfactory substitute for the Welsh gravel and Forests!
The British fan would have to wait another couple of years before the event gained FIA status, first as part of the TER – Tour European Rally Series in 2022 & 2023. Then in 2024, the event stepped up yet another level into the FIA European Rally Championship, as well as playing a part in National rallying, including the Motorsport UK British Rally Championship.
Since its inaugural running back in 2019, the Rali Ceredigion has year on year grown to become one of the highlights of the British rallying calendar. It is also an event that Europe and indeed the World should be sitting up and taking note of, so much so that they should put to bed their belief that rallying in Britain and Wales is only about the loose stuff.
As Rali Ceredigion has reached its fifth birthday, it has yet again delivered quality on all accounts, both on and off the stages. From the abundance of challenging Asphalt stages in Wales that it has in its catalogue to offer the competitor, to the organisation, fan experience, media presence, and the bit that I personally really love, the environment in which the rally takes place, there simply is no competition when it comes to the stunning Welsh scenery that the rally route traverses.
PREVIOUSLY
Last time out in Scotland at Voly Grampian Forest Rally, the race for the British Rally Championship title took another step closer for front runners William Creighton and Liam Regan. The pair secured their second victory of season in their Castrol MEM Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car, and would therefore arrive in Wales leading teammates, Meirion Evans & Dale Furniss by ten points.
Meanwhile, Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle came out on top on the Scottish gravel in a fierce Junior British Rally Championship battle with rivals Kyle McBride & Darragh Mullen. However, McBride and Mullen would continue to leads the standings, and would hold a six-point lead heading into the penultimate round of the season in Wales.
PHOTOS BY: ANDREW SCOTT, NIGEL PRATT & ROB SAYER
From the rally HQ in Aberystwyth, more than 115 competitive miles across 12 stages spanning three days would await competitors competing in the FIA European Rally Championship, Motorsport UK Probite British Rally Championship, and those taking on the National rally event.
For the BRC1 class of the British Rally Championship who were also registered for the European Championship, they would benefit from a pre-event shakedown and qualifying stage.
Representing the class of Great Britain, Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 would be the ones to set the benchmark for the British-registered crews. Although Armstrong’s main focus at the event would be on his ERC campaign, as he did last year, the Irishman would also be registered for the BRC in Wales.
PHOTO: JON ARMSTRONG & SHANE BYRNE – BY ROB SAYER
LEG 1
The Rally proper would then get underway with a short but sharp blast around the streets of Aberystwyth in front of a mass of die-hard rally fans, mixed in with the casual spectator and locals, all enjoying the atmosphere that the rally had brought to town.
Again, Armstrong was signaling his early intent here to BRC Championship contenders, Creighton and Evans; just 0.4 seconds was enough for Armstrong to take up the lead of the rally on the opening night of action.
PHOTOS: JON ARMSTRONG & SHANE BYRNE – BY JAMIE MOONE | WILLIAM CREIGHTON & LAIM REGAN – BY NIGEL PRATT
The next morning a full day of action was on the cards, six stages out in the Welsh countryside, ending with another blast over the street stage to end the day with, would face the crews, beginning with the 8.89 miles Cwm Elan stage, which takes in the picturesque Elan Valley region of mid-Wales.
Alas, in the cockpits of the rally cars, there would be no time for taking in the glorious sights of the Welsh countryside, Armstrong and Byrne would be setting the benchmark for the BRC crews right from the off and would extend their early lead over M-Sport teammates, Romet Jürgenson and Siim Oja, to a tad over 3 seconds.
PHOTOS: JON ARMSTRONG & SHANE BYRNE – BY ANDREW SCOTT | ROMET JÜRGENSON & SIIM OJA – BY ROB SAYER
Jürgenson was in the mood for a bit of a race in Wales, and the young Estonian would react in the very next test, the longest stage of the rally, Y Diafol. At just over 21 miles in length, Jürgenson was able to get the feeling in his M-Sport Fiesta on the Welsh Asphalt, and he was rewarded, stopping the clocks 1.7 seconds quicker than Armstrong.
Behind the pair of M-Sport Fiestas, Creighton was struggling to match their pace, dropping some thirteen plus seconds on the long one known as “The Devil”; was the win on this one going to be beyond his reach so early on?
Again, Jürgenson got the better of Armstrong in the final stage of the morning (SS4 Mydroilyn) before the mid-day service halt, clawing a further 1.2 seconds back from the rally leaders. Creighton had a much better run here, and was just 1.1 slower than Jürgenson, holding P3 ahead of Callum Black & Jack Morton.
PHOTOS: WILLIAM CREIGHTON & LAIM REGAN – BY JAMIE MOONE | CALLUM BLACK & JACK MORTON – BY ROB SAYER
Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen were leading the charge for the JBRC crews, having picked up two of the three fastest stage times over the morning’s loop. The pair had been going well in their Peugeot 208 Rally4, pulling out a sizable lead of well over seventeen seconds to their rivals, Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle.
PHOTOS: KYLE MCBRIDE & DARRAGH MULLEN – BY NIGEL PRATT | JOSEPH KELLY & KILLIAN MCARDLE – BY ANDREW SCOTT
Elsewhere, the Toyota Starlet was lighting up the Welsh tarmac with Chris Richmond-Hand at the wheel who was leading the BRC National class with a thirteen-second lead over Rob Cotton in the Subaru Impreza.
PHOTOS: CHRIS RICHMOND-HAND & IZZIE HOLAM – BY NIGEL PRATT | ROB COTTON & RICHARD CROZIER – BY ROB SAYER
Sam Touzel & Max Freeman would be chasing down the BRC National title in Wales, and they were on course to hit the mark early on in their Ford Fiesta Rally2. The pair had already built up a sizable lead of over one and a half minutes to Dylan Davies & Mark Glennerster in the Skoda Fabia R5.
PHOTO: SAM TOUZEL & MAX FREEMAN – BY JAMIE MOONE
Further down the British Rally Championship leader board, it did not make comfortable reading for a couple of the series regulars. Local boy Meirion Evans was languishing down in ninth, Scotsman Garry Pearson was super rallying, and another to Super Rally, Max McRae was having the complete opposite to his Grampian, going from fighting for a win, to just making it through and simply getting in some stage milage.
Armstrong returned to the stages in the afternoon and was back on top of the BRC timing sheets once again in the repeated passes through the Elan Valley (SS5 Cwm Elan 2) and stage six (SS6 Y Diafol 2). Jürgenson was, however, still pushing hard and secured his third fastest BRC time in the seventh stage (SS7 Mydroilyn 2); this time, he was 1.2 quicker than Armstrong.
PHOTO: ROMET JÜRGENSON & SIIM OJA – BY ROB SAYER
The challenging day was rounded off with another blasts through the Aberystwyth street stage, where Armstrong and Jürgenson matched each other, Armstrong and Co-Driver Byrne would be heading into the final day of the rally with a 7.3 seconds margin in hand.
PHOTOS: JON ARMSTRONG & SHANE BYRNE – BY ANDREW SCOTT | ROMET JÜRGENSON & SIIM OJA – BY NIGEL PRATT
William Creighton & Liam Regan would be the best of the rest in their Yaris, but the pair were more than half a minute off that battle for the lead. Perhaps not where the leading BRC contender would have wanted to be at this stage in the rally, alas, his nearest BRC Championship protagonist, namely that of his Castrol MEM team-mate, Meirion Evans, was well and truly out of the picture having a home rally to forget.
PHOTOS: WILLIAM CREIGHTON & LIAM REGAN- BY ANDREW SCOTT | MEIRION EVANS & DALE FURNISS – BY ROB SAYER
Evans and Co-Driver Dale Furniss went into the event hoping for more, much, much more, and after that first proper full day of rallying, it was blindingly obvious that things were not going to plan, not even remotely close to what the expectations would have been. At the end of Leg 1, Evans would, however, climb back up to 8th BRC registered crew.
In contrast, Callum Black and Jack Morton were having a pretty good rally, holding their own amongst the BRC field and the European Championship crews. The pair were holding P7 overall in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 car, and were the fourth BRC crew, but were in a bit of a no man’s land when it came to the BRC field. A whopping two minutes forty-five would be the time deficit to Creighton ahead, so any chance of picking up a BRC podium in Wales would hinge on any misfortune occurring for the three up front.
PHOTO: CALLUM BLACK & JACK MORTON – BY JAMIE MOONE
Behind the top five BRC-registered crews, the scrap for the Junior British Championship honours was in full swing between Kelly and McBride. McBride and Co-Driver Mullen had racked up four out of five stage wins to their names and were going well. They had led from the first stage with right up until the sixth stage of the rally, until they would lose well over 25 seconds in the second pass of the long 21-mile Y Diafol test, handing the lead of the JBRC over to rivals Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle. Kelly & McArdle would end the day with 5.8 seconds in their glove box heading into the final day of the rally.
PHOTOS: KYLE MCBRIDE & DARRAGH MULLEN – BY ANDREW SCOTT | JOSEPH KELLY & KILLIAM MCARDLE – BY ROB SAYER
Leading the national event and holding P5 in the BRC standings, Sam Touzel & Max Freeman would extend their lead in the BRC Open class in what was a dominant performance in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 and they would be taking a huge safety net of nigh on three and a half minutes into the final day.
PHOTO: SAM TOUZEL & MAX FREEMAN – BY ROB SAYER
The Subaru Impreza of Rob Cotton would overtake the Toyota Starlet of Chris Richmond-Hand through the Aberystwyth street stage at the end of the day to lead the BRC National Class. Hand and Co-Driver Izzie Holman were leading the way from the second stage of the morning, increasing their lead throughout the day; however, it would all go out the window after suffering an engine misfire.
PHOTOS: ROB COTTON & RICHARD CROZIER – BY ANDREW SCOTT | CHRIS RICHMOND-HADN & IZZIE HOLMAN – BY NIGEL PRATT
END OF LEG 1
| POS | BRC LEADERBOARD | TIME (DIF) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #3 J.ARMSTRONG / S.BYRNE | 1:04:05.3 |
| 2 | #12 R.JÜRGENSON / S.OJA | 1:04:12.6 (+7.3) |
| 3 | #9 W.CREIGHTON / L.REGAN | 1:04:36.3 (+23.7) |
| 4 | #14 C.BLACK / J.MORTON | 1:06:47.5 (+2:11.2) |
| 5 | #101 S.TOUZEL / M.FREEMAN | 1:08:15.3 (+1:37.8) |
LEG 2
The final day of the rally would feature a further 36 miles over four stages (two of repeated), beginning with a firm favorite, the Nant Y Moch stage. Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne would not only be leading the BRC field, but also found themselves leading the European Championship as the overall rally leaders.
PHOTO: JON ARMSTRONG & SHANE BYRNE – BY JAMIE MOONE
It’s fair to say that for Armstrong, the BRC win wasn’t really the main focus of the attention in the cockpit of that M-Sport Ford Fiesta; the sights were firmly set on that first ERC win, and the pair would go on to deliver just that. Hungry for victory, the pair would step things up a notch over the final day, leaving Romet Jürgenson and Siim Oja behind, and that final winning margin for Armstrong would eventually settle at more than 29 seconds.
PHOTOS: JON ARMSTRONG & SHANE BYRNE – BY ANDREW SCOTT
Putting that impressive maiden ERC win for Armstrong aside, for the BRC regulars, Romet Jürgenson and Siim Oja, Rali Ceredigion perhaps unexpectedly delivered them a strong result. On the challenging and demanding Welsh Asphalt, the Estonian, predominantly a Gravel driver, had put in a rather impressive performance and was rewarded for it. One can’t help but feel for Jürgenson, as Armstrong’s one-off BRC event registration would deprive him of that first outright BRC win.
PHOTO: ROMET JÜRGENSON & SIIM OJA – BY ROB SAYER
For British Championship leaders William Creighton & Lian Regan, the third spot on the BRC podium was actually a pretty decent result. A fourth overall when comparing against the European contenders, the takeaway for Creighton in Wales did make for good reading. For sure, the Irishmen would have liked to have been in the fight with the guys in front, but sometimes in order to win a Championship title, you have to take the solid results and bag the points, regardless of being outgunned on the stages.
PHOTO: WILLIAM CREIGHTON & LIAM REGAN – BY NIGEL PRATT
Outside of the BRC podium, Callum Black & Jack Morton would keep their level heads and end their Welsh adventure with a solid result themselves, like Creighton, mixing it up with some of the European crews and recording a P7 overall on the event was another relatively good day in the office.
PHOTOS: CALLUM BLACK & JACK MORTON – BY ROB SAYER | MEIRION EVANS & DALE FURNISS – BY JAMIE MOONE
Meirion Evans and Dale Furniss would plough on to the finish line in their Castrol MEM Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to round out the top five BRC crews. Heading into the event with high hopes and a BRC title contender along with his teammate, Creighton, the result hasn’t exactly help to tighten up the race for the title but the Welshman’s keeps it alive, is still within reach and will continue on the title fight down at the final round in October.
The final morning would see Kyle McBride begin his day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as he and Co-Driver Darragh Mullen would arrive at the stop line of that first morning test, once again leading the Junior British Rally Championship. Having begun the day with a 5.8-second deficit to Joseph Kelly & Killian McArdle, McBride would take that back and some in the Nant Y Moch Stage. Again, the tides would turn in the very same stage, for the repeated run, this time it was Kelly’s turn to take a chunk of time out of McBride in Nanty, taking back the lead heading into the final stage of the rally.
PHOTOS: KYLE MCBRIDE & DARRAGH MULLEN – ROB SAYER | JOSEPH KELLY & KIERIAN MCARDLE – BY NIGEL PRATT
Kelly & McArdle would entre that final Mynnydd Bach stage with just a slender 0.6 seconds between them and McBride & Mullen, it really was eithers victory for the taken. Both gave it their all and both drove the wheel nuts off their Peugeot 208 Rally4 cars, but there could only be room for one winner on the top step of the podium.
PHOTO: KYLE MCBRIDE & DARRAGH MULLEN – BY ROB SAYER
Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen would be the ones to triumph in this epic battle in Wales, and they would secure the victory by 4.1 seconds. Ceredigion was their second win of the season and was just what they needed in the race for the JBRC title, keeping them just ahead of the rivals Kelly & McArdle. Rounding out the Junior BRC podium, Meghan O’Kane & Nikki Addison in their Ford Fiesta R2 would take to the JBRC podium for the first time.
PHOTO: JUNIOR BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP PODIUM – BY ANDREW SCOTT
After a dominant performance, Sam Touzel & Max Freeman would not only take the National rally win and BRC Open category win in Wales (their third of the season), but they would also land themselves the 2025 BRC Open title.
PHOTO: SAM TOUZEL & MAX FREEMAN – BY ANDREW SCOTT
With the pendulum swinging both ways throughout the event, Rob Cotton & Richard Crozier (Subaru Impreza STI) would emerge the victors in that BRC National Cup skirmish with Chris Richmond-Hand & Izzie Holman (Toyota Starlet).
PHOTO: ROB COTTON & RICHARD CROZIER – BY ANDREW SCOTT | CHRIS RICHMOND-HAND & IZZIE HOLMAN – BY JAMIE MOONE
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | BRC LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #3 J.ARMSTRONG / S.BYRNE | 1:34:52.0 |
| 2 | #12 R.JÜRGENSON / S.OJA | 1:35:21.2 (+29.2) |
| 3 | #9 W.CREIGHTON / L.REGAN | 1:36:07.2 (+46.0) |
| 4 | #14 C.BLACK / J.MORTON | 1:39:15.6 (+3:08.4) |
| 5 | #101 S.TOUZEL / M.FREEMAN | 1:42:32.8 (+3:17.2) |
| 6 | #10 M.EVANS / D.FURNISS | 1:45:32.4 (+2:59.6) |
| 7 | #103 D.DAVIES / M.GLENNERSTER | 1:46:43.7 (+1:11.13) |
| 8 | #23 K.MCBRIDE / D.MULLEN | 1:47:33.3 (+49.6) |
| 9 | #24 J.KELLY / K.MCARDLE | 1:47:37.5 (+4.2) |
| 10 | #117 R.COTTON / R.CROZIER | 1:49:52.5 (+2:15) |
PHOTOS: BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP PODIUM – BY ANDREW SCOTT & ROB SAYER
NEXT TIME
The overall British Rally Championship title & the Junior title fight will both come down to a final showdown in October on the gravel of North Wales, where the Cambrian Rally (25/11/25) will see our new Champions crowned on the legendary Welsh Forest stages at the seventieth running of the event.
