2024 Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship

2024 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship calendar announced

Posted: January 1, 2024 11:38 AM

The 2024 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship will feature some of the UK’s most challenging, well organised and popular events – with the emphasis on giving crews the very best closed road stages to compete on.

The BTRDA organised sealed surface series will contain seven rallies next season. One, the Manx National Rally, will be a double header – with the six best scores from eight rounds counting towards the overall and class titles.

The championship will be supported by title sponsor Protyre Motorsport for a seventh consecutive year. Protyre is the largest supplier of Pirelli, Michelin and Hoosier motorsport tyres in the UK and since 2018 has supplied registered championship competitors with the very best motorsport tyres, an on-event fitting service and a generous tyre reward incentive for drivers in all classes.

Next year’s Protyre Asphalt Championship will run in association with Motorsport News, whilst all the events will be filmed and streamed live by Special Stage TV.

The opening round of the 2024 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship will be the Legend Fires North West Stages. Taking place on 22/23 March, the Motorsport North West organised event is famous for its hugely popular Garstang town centre and challenging closed road stages in Lancashire.

Rounds 2 and 3 will be the Manx National Rally. Organised by Manx Auto Sport, it will feature many of the classic Isle of Man stages and will be a double header event with full championship points awarded after Leg 1 on Friday 10 May and after Leg 2 on Saturday 11 May.

The Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally will host Round 4. Based in Duns and organised by the Jim Clark Memorial MC, the event will take place on the classic closed Scottish Borders lanes over the weekend of 24/25 May.

The series remains in Scotland for Round 5 for the Dunoon presents Argyll Rally on 21/22 June. The Mull Car Club organised event will have closed road stages around the Cowal peninsula in the picturesque Argyll and Bute region.

Round 6 will be the Nigel Ferguson Fabricators Tour of Epynt. Organised by Port Talbot MC, the event will take place on 3/4 August with stages over the famous rollercoaster military range above Sennybridge.

The seventh and penultimate round will be the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion. Jointly organised by Newtown, Aberystwyth, Lampeter and Teifi Valley motor clubs, the Aberystwyth-based closed road event will take place on 31 August/01 September.

The eighth and final round will see the return to the Protyre Asphalt calendar of the Hills Ford Stages. Organised by Cheltenham Motor Club the event will start in Ledbury town centre, with closed road stages in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire on 14/15 September.

Callum Black, the reigning Protyre Asphalt champion, is delighted with the 2024 calendar of the events.

“I’m really excited by the 2024 Protyre Asphalt calendar,” says Callum.

“It’s got some classic rallies, combined with some fresh new and ambitious events. Going to the likes of the Isle of Man will bring some nostalgia, while it’s refreshing to see some newer events like Rali Ceredigion on there again, which is showing real ambition and will provide a benchmark against international competition.

“Every event in the calendar is there on merit and over the course of the season I think it has something for everyone. Paul [Morris] and the team have put together an exciting championship and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it again next year.”

The 2024 calendar has been created by Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship Co-ordinator and competitor Paul Morris (who most recently navigated for the 2022 Protyre Asphalt champion Steve Wood on the Hills Ford Stages) and his team that includes Paul Wakely (whose rallying career spans over 40 years and includes victories on Epynt with Melvyn Evans and Bob Fowden), and an organising committee that includes current registered competitors.

“We are delighted to announce the calendar for the 2024 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship, which contains seven of the very best asphalt rallies in the UK, a good geographical spread of events and a championship which starts in March and finishes seven months later in September,” says Paul Morris.

"I would like to welcome the Legend Fires North West Stages to the calendar. It's going to be an explosive start to the championship in the lanes around Garstang. I’m also pleased to welcome back Port Talbot Motor Club’s Nigel Ferguson Fabricators Tour of Epynt along with the Hills Ford Stages.

“It will be fantastic to continue our relationships with the Manx Rally, Beatson's Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally, Dunoon presents Argyll Rally and the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, as all four events have outstanding stages and were extremely popular with competitors last year.

“And finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the Reed Group East Riding Stages and the Carryduff Forklift Down Rally for hosting rallies in the 2023 championship.”

More information on the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship is available on the championship website, link below.

Championship Rounds (Updated 18 Jan)

Posted: January 1, 2024 11:37 AM

1. North West Stages - 22-23 Mar 24
2. Manx National Rally - 10-11 May 24 (Double Round)
3. Jim Clark Rally - 24-25 May 24
4. Argyll (Tarmac) Stages Rally - 21-22 Jun 24
5. Tour of Epynt - DATE CHANGE 20-21 Jul 24 WAS 3-4 Aug 24
6. Rali Bae Ceredigion/Cardigan Bay Rally - 30 Aug-1 Sep 24
7. Three Shires Stages - 14-15 Sep 24
   
   Reserve: South Yorkshire Rally - 19-20 Oct 23

Motorsport UK National Asphalt Rally Championship