Ypres Rally

The history books will show that the 55th Ypres Rally was a podium lock out for Volkswagen with the Polo R5 powering 4 of the final top 5 crews. It was Craig Breen & Paul Nagle who ended up taking victory by just over 45s from Kevin Abbring & Veronique Hostens. Abbring had set fastest time on the opening 3 stages but a costly loss of time on the 4th stage saw Breen take the lead, which he never relinquished. Abbring was on the fightback for the rest of the event, setting 10 fastest stage times to Breen’s 9. Third overall were Kris Princen & Bram Eelbode, just 13s behind.

Ypres Historic Rally

A total of 36 crews took to the start line of the Ypres Historic Rally, with just 21 reaching the finish. Defying their seeding Bjorn Syx & Ari Vanrobaeys (M3 E30) took victory by over a minute and a half from ‘Lucky’ & Fabrizia Pons (Delta Integrale) with over a minute further back, completing the podium places, Christophe Merlevede & Giljan Vandromme (M3 E30). There was also another historic field of cars taking a slightly shorter event, the Classic Rally, which was won by Cedriek Merlevede & Jeffrey Vandenbussche (Ascona) by just 5.7s from the Escort MkII of Dirk Deveux & Eddy Smeets.

Mellors Elliot Motorsport to debut newly homologated Proton Iriz R5 at Goodwood

British motorsport preparation firm Mellors Elliot Motorsport will debut the Proton Iriz R5 at next week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (4-7 July), in its first official public appearance since being homologated by the sport’s governing body, the FIA.

The four-wheel drive, 1.6-litre turbocharged machine is the latest R5 specification example to be ratified by the FIA, allowing it to be used at all levels in the sport, including the prestigious FIA World Rally Championship.

McCormack to battle Europe’s finest at the Ypres Rally

After a successful return to the TigerRisk Skoda Fabia R5 at Rally van Wervik (14-15 June), Marty McCormack will return to Belgium for the fourth round of the British Rally Championship (BRC), the Renties Ypres Rally (28-29 June).

The Draperstown driver headed to Belgium to get “match fit” ahead of a return to the BRC and despite not being behind the wheel of the potent Skoda since March, secured an impressive sixth overall against many rapid Belgian aces. McCormack will now aim for another solid points haul to boost his BRC title chase.

IMG confirms Projekt E as part of World RX weekend for 2020

IMG Motorsports today confirms that Projekt E, an electric development series, will showcase electric-powered cars on the same event schedule as traditional World RX Supercars at selected European rounds of the championship in 2020.

The underlying aim of Projekt E is to evaluate electric racecars in a World RX environment in accordance with the roadmap for electrification of the FIA World Rallycross Championship which was recently ratified by the FIA World Motorsport Council.

Retson reigns in World Championship prize fund with inspiring partnerships

Scottish rally driver Finlay Retson will continue the fight for the chance to scoop a prize fund worth 60,000 Euros in Belgium this weekend, as round four of the Junior British Rally Championship (JBRC) heads to the Renties Ypres Rally (28 – 29 June).

The nineteen-year-old Blairgowrie ace currently leads the race to bag a career-boosting sum towards a 2020 campaign in the Junior World Rally Championship from M-Sport Ford and Pirelli. Leading the fight by 15 points, he will still need another solid result to add to his impressive JBRC debut season so far.

Brown secures maiden British Rallycross podium at Pembrey

Toyo Tyres British Rallycross rookie Steve Brown secured his maiden BMW MINI Championship podium on Sunday, taking third place at Pembrey Race Circuit at the fourth round of the series in South Wales (22-23 June).

With the weekend double-header counting for rounds three and four of the series, Brown overcame a difficult Saturday to bounce back to a third place in the final the very next day, meaning he heads to the next round back at Lydden Hill in fifth place in the series and just two points behind fourth spot.

Puncture dashes Pearson’s Argyll Rally victory hopes

Front-running KNC Groundworks Scottish Rally Championship (SRC) contender Garry Pearson narrowly missed out on victory at last weekend’s Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally, after suffering a puncture which knocked him off the top step of the podium to finish second.

The 27-year-old Duns driver had a dream start to the event in his Asset Alliance Group, RAVENOL and George Anderson Builders backed Ford Fiesta R5, leading the rally at the halfway point, only to lose over 50 seconds with a deflated tyre on the sixth test, demoting him to the runners up spot in the closing stages.

Webster tops BHRC on Red Kite Stages

Simon Webster and Jez Rogers scored their first championship win on round four of the FUCHS LUBRICANTS Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship, Sunday’s Red Kite Stages (23 June).

The very popular win came at the end of a wonderful day-long contest with Steve Bennett and Osian Owen in the forests of South Wales. As thick dust in the morning was replaced by heavy rain, the Red Kite Stages drew widespread acclaim from competitors for the quality of stages in the Margam and Rheola complexes.

Local rally champion Jason Pritchard to contest Builth Wells-based Nicky Grist Stages in Historic Ford Escort Mk2

Builth Wells champion rally driver Jason Pritchard will contest his home forestry event, the Nicky Grist Stages, for the first time on Saturday 13 July in his North Road Garage-backed Ford Escort RS1800.

Having won the MSA British Historic Rally Championship title for a record three times in a row (2015, ’16 and ’17), this will be the first time that Pritchard has competed against the Historic crews in the Jordan Road Surfacing BTRDA Rally Series. So competitive is the Historic section this year that class leader George Lepley (Hillman Avenger) is also lying third in the overall BTRDA Series drivers’ points table!