New look for 2024 Fuchs Lubricants Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship
Posted: January 1, 2024 11:46 AM
The Fuchs Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship has revealed a brand-new look to the season ahead, opting for a mixed surface calendar and the introduction of several top-quality events to the roster.
In a bid to truly reflect the British Championship marker, series promoters The Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club have introduced nine top-drawer events to make up the calendar, which is bolstered to 11 points scoring rounds by the introduction of two double header opportunities. The best seven scores will count towards the championship.
The season ahead marks a switch to a full multi-surface challenge from February to November and will continue to provide a wide range of classes for historic specification machinery, catering for competition cars registered from 1968 to 1990 including everything from Category One to FIA specification and four-wheel-drive Historic examples.
The Riponian Stages Rally will once again kick-start the season in Thirsk in February, offering classic tests in the Yorkshire forests, many with a unique feature of closed road link sections to provide a dynamic start to 2024.
Another staple of the series, Rally North Wales aims to build on its successful move to Welshpool in 2023 and continues to utilise world-class stages in the nearby forests during March, many made famous by Wales Rally GB.
New to the billing for 2024, the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages, adds more classic Welsh stages to the calendar from its base in Builth Wells. The BHRC has a long history with the event which has been rekindled for their 50th anniversary running in 2024.
The first sealed surface event of the season will see a trip to the Isle of Man for the popular Manx Rally in May. The two-day blast across the Manx roads is a firm favourite for competitors with longer and more challenging stages than many on the mainland. It also becomes a double header, with two points scoring opportunities during the weekend.
Staying on the asphalt, the Argyll Rally is the first of two brand-new events in the season. The two-day closed-road event on the west coast of Scotland has launched from strength to strength and offers a unique challenge for crews to test their mettle across the bumpy narrow lanes.
Returning after inclusion last year is the Tour of Epynt which is set to run as a two-day event across the infamous Epynt Military ranges in Wales. Precision driving is key to success and will mark the final asphalt round of 2024.
Back to the gravel for the remainder of the year, the Woodpecker Stages Rally will offer a superb mix of English and Welsh forest stages in September, before Trackrod Rally Yorkshire enjoys the super-fast northern forest stages in and around the Dalby complex later in the month, complete with the traditional night-time blast on the Friday.
The final round of the championship heads to Scotland for the all-new Anglo Caledonian Rally, a two-day gravel marathon event to round out the season in style. Organised by the same team responsible for the legendary Roger Albert Clark Rally, the event will also become a double header and takes the series to a thrilling climax at the end of November.
Fuchs Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship Manager Colin Heppenstall has worked extensively on the 2024 calendar.
“I'm delighted to reveal a very different look and feel to the Fuchs Lubrications British Historic Rally Championship offering for 2024,” he says.
“We have tried various formats over the past few seasons, and each was a successful example, but I aim to always keep the series interesting and exciting for all. It’s clear by looking at the British rallying calendar that we have some great closed-road asphalt events on offer and as the numbers continue to rise, it was only right that we take the BHRC back to a fully dual surface series.
“We have increased the points scoring rounds to 11 to give competitors much more choice for their own needs and campaigns, meaning they compete for their class or championship titles over seven rounds. This means they can choose a calendar to suit their requirements but every one of them has unique characteristics and formats which I believe takes the championship to another level in 2024.”
The Championship will continue to run a class under the Rally 2 banner for non homologated historic two wheeled drive cars, and again for 2024 two classes have also been included for Historic 4x4 vehicles within Categories 4a and 4b.
As will all new categories of cars when they are brought into the British Historic Rally Championship and using this precedent, these vehicles will not be able to score Championship points for the overall BHRC Championship. These vehicles will compete for their own awards based on the class position and starting points system. When these cars will be eligible for overall championship points will be discussed by the committee during the year for future announcements.
Championship Rounds (Updated 18 Jan)
Posted: January 1, 2024 11:44 AM
- Riponian Rally - 11 Feb 24
- Rally North Wales - (Sat) 16 Mar 24
- Rallynuts (Severn Valley) Stages Rally - (Sat) 13 Apr 24
- Manx National Rally - 10-11 May 24
- Argyll (Tarmac) Stages Rally - 21-22 Jun 24
- Tour of Epynt - DATE CHANGE 20-21 Jul 24B (WAS 3-4 Aug 24)
- Woodpecker Stages - (Sat) 7 Sep 24
- Trackrod Rally Yorkshire Forest Stages - 27-28 Sep 24
- Angelo Caledonian Rally - 23-24 Nov 24
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