As the BTRDA series reaches its halfway mark, the Argyll Rally is an important event in the potential outcome of the overall and class titles. It’s also the last time for crews to register for points.
Although this will only be Jason Pritchard’s fourth rally in his North Road Garage/Guttercrest Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, the Builth Wells driver has settled into his new Pirelli-shod car exceptionally well and returns to Scotland on great form.
The three-time Protyre Asphalt champion has never contested Argyll before, but he has a deft touch when it comes to quickly getting up to speed on unfamiliar stages – helped of course by the co-driving mastery of Phil Clarke.
Could this be the event where Sam Touzel records his maiden Protyre Asphalt win? The Jersey driver has also been on sensational form this year and led the Proflex Manx Rally early on. He and co-driver Max Freeman would certainly be popular winners if they could pull it off in their Smart Scaffolding Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Hugh Brunton/Drew Sturrock showed great pace last time out in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Having dialled back a bit of their early season exuberance, a good result this time is surely on the cards – especially having finished sixth overall in Argyll last year.
Brad Cole/Jamie Vaughan are getting to grips extremely well with their Trick Motorsport prepared and East Budleigh Garage run Hydroline Solutions Fiesta Rally2. They had a brilliant run in Argyll in 2023, missing out on the top 2WD spot in their Escort Mk2 by just one second and collecting fifth-place Protyre Asphalt overall points.
John Stone won’t be looking forward to the night-time stages but come daylight he’ll be flying in his immaculate Legend Performance Engineering Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. He’ll be co-driven on this occasion by Keir Beaton.
