Ypres Rally win for Hall ensures Junior World Rally Championship title showdown in Spain

FIA Junior World Rally Championship co-driver Phil Hall guided fellow Briton Jon Armstrong to a dominant Renties Ypres Rally Belgium victory last weekend (13 – 15 August), meaning he heads into the final round of the series within sight of clinching the iconic title.

The Motorsport UK Team UK rally co-driver steered Armstrong to seven stage wins in their M-Sport Fiesta Rally4, winning the demanding closed-road event by over a minute from their nearest rival. Hall’s result in Belgium puts him just three points shy of the lead of the Junior WRC heading into the final round in Spain in October.

Creighton secures a magnificent seven stage wins in Ypres

– Junior World Rally Championship contender William Creighton storms to seven stage wins at the Renties Ypres Rally
– The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy ace shows true potential, but is denied a top result due to a technical issue
– Moira driver heads into final round of the series in fifth place

Creighton excited by a return to the Ypres Rally

– Junior World Rally Championship contender William Creighton cites upcoming Ypres Rally as a pivotal event in the calendar
– The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy pilot has enjoyed a solid points haul on every Junior WRC round so far this season
– Moira driver continues to build vital experience of World Championship events

2020 British Rally Championship calendar announced

– Six rounds in six countries for exciting motorsport series
– New round in Clacton-on-Sea, South East England
– Junior BRC Champion to walk away with €60,000 JWRC prize
– New BRC Academy Trophy for aspiring stars

As the action-packed 2019 series heads to an exciting final round showdown, the Motorsport UK British Rally Championship (BRC) has today (4 September) confirmed its exciting 2020 calendar.

In 2020, Britain’s premier rallying series will feature six rounds in six territories, with events across the UK in Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The series will once again visit Belgium for the classic Ypres Rally as well as the popular staple in Irish Rallying, the West Cork Rally – successfully introduced into the series last year.

Bell bags career-best British Championship result in Belgium

Ruairi Bell enjoyed a successful return to the Junior British Rally Championship last weekend by securing a career-best second place at the Renties Ypres Rally (28 -29 June).

Fresh from a debut in the FIA World Rally Championship at Rally de Portugal in which he won his class, Bell mastered the Belgian roads to claim his first JBRC podium at the fourth round of the series. His impressive result means he now heads the race to secure a 60,000 Euro prize fund from M-Sport and Pirelli towards a campaign in the 2020 Junior World Rally Championship.

McCormack proves British Championship pace in Ypres

Marty McCormack proved he has the pace to compete with some of the best drivers in Europe, after setting some impressive stage times at last weekend’s Renties Ypres Rally (28-29 June), the fourth round of the British Rally Championship.

The TigerRisk Skoda Fabia R5 pilot has enjoyed success in Ypres in the past, taking eighth overall behind the wheel of his S2000 spec machine in 2015 as part of the European Rally Championship. He would return this year with the aim of bettering that result. Sadly, despite a positive showing on the opening day of the event, McCormack’s Fabia left the road on day two and the subsequent damage meant he was forced out of the rally.

Williams gives EDSL Sport maiden Junior British Rally Championship win in Ypres

Welsh Rally driver James Williams gave the 2019 Fiesta its first Junior British Rally Championship (JBRC) win last weekend, securing victory by over eight minutes and dominating the RC4 class at the demanding Renties Ypres Rally (28 – 29 June).

Williams and co-driver Tom Woodburn showed an impressive pace from the very first stage, beating many local drivers and asphalt aces to hand M-Sport Ford a maiden JBRC win for the Mk8 Ford Fiesta R2T as the championship visited Belgium for the fourth round of the season.

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.

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.