Google search engine
Home » British Rally Championship – Grampian Forest Rally 2024 Preview

The Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally marks the switch back to gravel for the Probite British Rally Championship and a welcome return to the super-fast and flowing stages in Kincardineshire next weekend [9/10 August].

Credit – Rally Media UK

Last included on the BRC roster in 2022, the popular Scottish event’s addition to the calendar is the fourth round of the season, and the last gravel event for contenders until the season finale’ in Wales in October.

New for 2024, is a shift to a two-day format with stages on Friday evening before the remaining mileage on Saturday. Based just 15 miles west of Aberdeen near the town of Banchory, the Grampian will provide crews with blisteringly fast and flowing loose surface tests in the Durris, Drumtochty and Fetteresso forests in an action-packed blast through the breath-taking landscape.

With only a handful of the BRC front-runners sampling the Kincardineshire forests previously, the event is likely to throw even more unpredictability into the mix, as the BRC1 top-flight, Junior BRC, National Rally Title and Open Rally Title protagonists battle for top honours and maximum championship points to boot.

Credit – Rally Media UK

With three rounds complete, it’s 2021 Junior BRC champion and 2023 Junior World Rally champion William Creighton who is in the pound seat.

Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan have enjoyed an impressive BRC form in their debut season in Rally2 machinery, taking three second-place results so far this season. The M-Sport Ford Rally Team crew are dovetailing a WRC2 campaign and head to Scotland in their Pirelli shod machinery fresh from a string of super-fast WRC gravel events.

A further sign of the BRC’s competitive nature this year is that 2019 European champion Chris Ingram lies second, starting his season off in fine style with a North West Stages win.

A dismal start to the year for four-time BRC champion Keith Cronin was put well and truly behind him at the Jim Clark Rally with a win in his Fiesta Rally2 and Mikie Galvin alongside.

Credit – D Harrigan Images

Lying third, the Irishman has a busy year behind the wheel and seat time can only be a good thing heading to Banchory. He is also a former winner of the Grampian, beating Osian Pryce in a ding-dong battle in 2022.

The Junior BRC crews will also have their sights set high in Banchory. Many of the rapid youngsters are also chasing the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup honours, and home-grown hero Robert Proudlock enjoyed victory on gravel in April so is likely to feel well at home this time around.

Proudlock [Peugeot 208 Rally4] also heads the Junior BRC standings but it was Kyle McBride [Peugeot 208 Rally4] who took the top spot last time out after a spectacular battle in the Scottish Borders lanes with newcomer Ryan McHugh [Fiesta Rally4].

Credit – Rally Media UK

Heading the Open charge is John Rintoul who also leads the championship standings and after an outing in the Citroen C3, revert to the Fiesta R5 he used on the Severn Valley Stages.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here