British Rally Championship Champions Collection

CDM wrote:Paul

A Reliant Sabre kit on ebay 19/07


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294282702757?hash=item44849dafa5:g:nDcAAOSwZQpg9II1

CD

Thanks Chris - i have my beady eye on it!

Paul

Good stuff.

Mmmm you can see how bad it is just in the metal!!???

Good luck, just dont sweat too loudly that we can all here!!

CD

CDM wrote:Paul

Good stuff.

Mmmm you can see how bad it is just in the metal!!???

Good luck, just dont sweat too loudly that we can all here!!

CD

I’ll try not to!

2 more additions and photos updated. Will Sparrows Mini from the 1970 Red Hackle Rally with the weird extension on the bonnet to house bigger air filters for the carbs and Keith Cronin's Renault Twingo RS R1 which he used in the 2012 opening round (the Sunseeker) before switching to the Citroen DS3.

3 more additions - the 1958 Standard Pennant from the RAC rally (base model British Heritage Models) and the 1962 RAC and 1963 COI Reliant Sabre 4's (no records located of what number the COI car carried) which are pretty rough but were based on extremely rough TW white metal kits.

2021 British Rally Championship season review (taken from the BRC website)
The Motorsport UK British Rally Championship made a sensational return to the stages in 2021 as a bumper list of contenders, awash with champions from the past and present, were all eager to do battle for the prestigious title.

After a year’s hiatus thanks to the pandemic, a shuffled season saw an action-packed seven round calendar announced offering a dynamic mix of events on both gravel and asphalt, visiting each one of the UK’s four home nations.

Round 1. Neil Howard Stages in assoc. with Graham Coffey Solicitors

In a first for the BRC in its 63-year history, the BRC would contest an event held entirely at a race circuit as the Neil Howard Stages at Oulton Park opened proceedings in May.

In a star-studded entry list, it would be Irishman Sam Moffett who took first blood, taking victory by a slender but all-important one-second margin over the chasing M-Sport pilot Rhys Yates.

Moffett and co-driver Keith Moriarty hustled their Pirelli-shod Ford Fiesta Rally2 to a maiden BRC win as Yates and co-driver James Morgan equalled their best BRC result. However, on paper, it was Frank Bird and Jack Morton who topped the leader board after a blistering day of action on the Oulton stages, only to fall foul of a technical regulation that handed them exclusion.

Osian Pryce and Noel O’Sullivan would keep the pressure on the front-runners to take their Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 to the final podium spot.

Round 2. Nicky Grist Stages

July heralded a more traditional BRC encounter as the legendary forests of mid-Wales offered up another scintillating prospect of Britain’s elite crews battling it out for honours in the world-class gravel stages of Halfway and Crychan on the Nicky Grist Stages.

Bouncing back from a “trying” opening round, it would be two-time BRC champion Matt Edwards and co-driver Darren Garrod who took his Melvyn Evans Motorsport Polo GTi to a five-second victory over fellow Welshman and BRC returnee Tom Cave after a thrilling battle in the classic Welsh forests.

Edwards, bidding to be the first driver in history to take three BRC titles in a row, secured the first victory for the Volkswagen Polo GTi in the British Rally Championship – ending a 21-year drought for the German marque, with team mate Pryce yet again rounding out the podium in his Michelin backed machine.

There would be drama further down the field as the Proton Iriz R5 of Ollie Mellors and Max Freeman headed for the sun in a dramatic accident just a few hundred yards into the opening test of the rally. The crash would end their BRC title bid for the season whilst Freeman recovered from a subsequent leg injury.

Yates missed out on a podium in fourth whilst a familiar name made a sensational BRC comeback; Matthew Wilson. The 2005 champion would be tasked by M-Sport to make in-roads into the Melvyn Evans Motorsport lead in the team charge and his appearance would be one of many throughout the season alongside team mates Yates and Seb Perez.

Round 3. Grampian Forest Stages

The third round saw the BRC head for the northeast Scottish forests of the Grampian Stages for the first time in well over 20 years and the super-fast tests of Drumtochty and Fetteresso would provide yet another unpredictable encounter.

It would be M-Sport Director Matthew Wilson who stormed to his first victory in the BRC since 2005 as he took an inspiring win in the Ford Fiesta Rally2. After opening up an early advantage on the first stage of the day, he would never relinquish the lead to win by a comfortable 20 seconds from Pryce, as Yates wrestled with pop-off valve issues to finish 18 seconds shy.

Four-time BRC champion Keith Cronin made a shock comeback to the series in Wales. Driving a Hankook Ford Fiesta Rally2, he and co-driver Mickie Galvin built their pace gradually throughout the season to take fourth on only Cronin’s second event behind the wheel since 2018.

A name missing from the list of finishers would be Edwards. Wilson’s nearest challenger at the mid-point of the event, Edwards suffered from a chronic misfire in his Polo and despite the team affecting repairs in service, he was forced to park up on the final loop throwing his third title challenge into disarray.

Round 4. Trackrod Rally Yorkshire

With three rounds completed, the BRC had seen three different winners and that scenario had the potential to continue in the Yorkshire forests at the end of September as the championship made a return to the Trackrod Rally.

Yates impressively led the standings after a consistent season but with just 14 points separating the top five and the prospect of the bonus point Joker cards being brought into play over the closing rounds, choosing a champion at this stage of the season would have been a risky affair.

Yet there was a strange familiarity with the Trackrod and the rally was arguably decided on the Friday night. Just one stage was on offer, but the dry, dusty and unforgiving Dalby forest under the cover of darkness proved pivotal.

Edwards opened up a whopping 17-second lead through the 12-mile test as others battled with visibility in the still September night. Pryce was his closest challenger although he would be forgiven for not feeling very close to the front at all, with five more stages in store the next day.

But Edwards’ form continued all rally long, winning all but one of the events super-fast tests to go some way to reconcile his Grampian retirement.

Round 5. Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally



Title charge firmly back on for Edwards then?

Well, he wasn’t out the woods yet – well, actually for one round he was, as the BRC made its maiden voyage to the iconic island of Mull for the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally. The toughest and most demanding event on the calendar, with most of the event’s closed public road mileage taking place overnight, the Mull Rally would test even the most experienced of BRC crews.

Its status on the British rallying calendar is legendary; its stages favour the brave, those that can see in the dark – and the locals. But the British Rally Championship contenders had been eyeing up the challenge all season

Sadly, just a handful of protagonists made the journey and it was a two-horse race between Edwards and Pryce as they sat on the start line of the opening test. But by the time Pryce was shown the 10-second countdown, Edwards was already off the road.

An uncharacteristic error by the Conwy man saw him damage the rear of the Polo after cutting a left hander and pivoting into the scenery. He limped through and with roadside repairs, Edwards could make it back to service, albeit almost 7 minutes lost.

What followed was an Edwards masterclass. Seven stage wins and numerous stage records were broken over the next two days with Edwards throwing everything he had at catching Pryce. Overhauling him would be a tough ask and Pryce enjoyed a mature drive to keep Edwards at arm’s length, taking his first BRC win since the two-wheel drive era in 2012.

Junior BRC contenders William Creighton and Liam Regan were another crew to shine on the tricky island event, taking a sensational third in their Ford Fiesta Rally4 – no mean feat from the progressive young driver.

Round 6. Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally

After a searing season of action on the stages, the fight for the three BRC categories was set to reach an important phase as dropped scores begin to take effect on the title race, and the Cambrian Rally marked the penultimate round of the season.

The popular North Wales forests have often witnessed World Championship battles, and the fight for top honours on the slippery gravel stages could well shape the 2021 BRC outcome. Four drivers headed into the event with a chance of the championship; Edwards, Pryce, Yates and Wilson. But by the time they emerged from the seventh stage – that was down to two.

Pryce was on form. Ten seconds faster than anyone else on the opener saw Edwards have his work cut out, despite being on home soil. Retaliating on the third test enabled him to claw back four seconds but a second, fairly major error in 2021 followed in the next, damaging his Polo’s suspension and dropping 1m 47seconds to Pryce.

That allowed Pryce to cruise to his second BRC win of the season and ensure the title fight would go down to the wire in Ulster. Seb Perez was an impressive second place for M-Sport after a clean run saw him get to grips with the Fiesta in fine style.

What of Edwards? Well – read this to see how he managed to recover to third place – and keeping his title hopes firmly alive into the final round of the season.

Round 7. Modern Tyres Ulster Rally

It all came down to this.

Pryce vs Edwards.

With dropped scores and Joker scenario’s taken into account, Edwards HAD to win to take the title. If he didn’t anything less than score maximum points, it would be Pryce who would take the trophy back to Wales.

Ahead of them, the tricky, bumpy and hugely unforgiving Ulster lanes around Antrim and with an almost `winner takes all` approach – the fight for the title in the lanes would undoubtedly be blistering.

Joined by some of Ireland’s best drivers, the BRC contenders would enter a battle royale – and it would be first blood to Pryce. But by the second stage Edwards took control and as he settled into the Northern Ireland roads, Pryce was feeling less than comfortable.

Despite briefly taking back the lead on the fifth test, Edwards once again regained control to head into the final loop of three stages with an eight second lead. At this point, it is worth pointing out that Pryce and Edwards were about 1m 30secs ahead of ANYONE else, such was the intense battle for the title.

But on the penultimate stage of the final round; the title race was decided.

Losing grip under braking to a square right, Pryce put his Polo into a field and on its roof  and out of the rally, out of the fight.

A third championship victory in a row – a feat never accomplished in its 63-year history went to Edwards after a nail-biting final encounter of the season. He and co-driver Darren Garrod could spray the champagne that night with Edwards a record breaker, firmly planting his marker as the best in the business.

Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes took third, giving Hyundai their first podium of the season in their i20 R5 whilst Cronin bagged his maiden rostrum spot of 2021 in third.

IXO base model, homemade decals

Taken from https://www.britishrallychampionship.co.uk/news/2022-british-rally-championship-season-review
Being a three-time British Rally Championship runner-up must be quite tough for a career-minded driver. There must come a point where you either concede defeat or stare the challenge in the face, tighten the belts and dig deep.
In 2022 Osian Pryce did just that. Assembling the same team which took him to second place in the 2021 title race, Pryce and co-driver Noel O`Sullivan elected to return to the BRC for another [and maybe even one last] shot at the coveted crown.
The BRC had tormented Pryce for several years, coming aching close to the top spot but with a largely unknown field of BRC1 contenders to battle against this time around, would 2022 finally be his season?
Unknown that is, apart from a four-time BRC champion in Keith Cronin. If anyone knew how to win titles, it was the Irishman and returning to the series in an attempt to equal Jimmy McRae’s five-time record, Cronin would quickly become Pryce’s fly in the title ointment.
Perhaps predictably, it was a tit-for-tat title fight between the two experienced drivers with a healthy mix of newcomers throwing their hats into the ring to keep the “stalwarts” honest.
The season kicked off in Essex for the first time in its history and Cronin led for much of the opener in Clacton, before Pryce overhauled him on the final loop, handing the Welshman the first win of the season and arguably the psychological advantage.
A swap to new rubber for Cronin at the Jim Clark Rally saw a calmer approach from the Volkswagen Polo GTi driver but eyes were fully on Pryce during the opening night’s loop of stages. Failing to stop and change a puncture breached an event regulation and the Welshman was excluded, allowing Cronin to cruise to victory. One all then.
The first gravel encounter at the Nicky Grist Stages saw Pryce take win number two and the perfect response to the calamity of the Jim Clark points situation, but Cronin replied with success of his own at the Grampian.
Three rounds remained and it was level pegging. Joker opportunities would mean a few extra points were up for grabs, but both played tactically, and it was the newcomer to the series, Rali Ceredigion that would prove pivotal in the title race.
Once again Cronin set the early pace but in the darkness of the opening loop, fired his Volkswagen off the road during the tricky night-time leg, leaving Pryce to quite literally, secure a home win. Advantage Pryce.
Trackrod Rally Yorkshire would be the decider and if Pryce could keep Cronin at bay – that elusive title was his. Cronin did all he could to curb a gusty drive from Pryce in Yorkshire, but the damage was done. Finally, Pryce and co-driver Noel O’Sullivan joined a list of greats including the likes of Colin McRae, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist and Hannu Mikkola.
But it wasn’t all about the two Polo drivers this season. A dynamic mix of BRC1 newcomers marks an exciting chapter in the top-flight series with some inspiring speed coming from many corners of the entry lists.
The only other British Rally Championship winner in 2022 was a well-deserved one at that – Ruari Bell. The Skoda Fabia driver had been knocking on the door of the top step all season long, securing no less than three podiums along the way. But success finally came at the Cambrian Rally, pushing WRC ace Oliver Solberg throughout the day to stamp his mark on the BRC scene once and for all.
If luck was on his side, James Williams may well have challenged for the title in his Hyundai i20. Seven stage wins during the season highlights the potential in the young Welshman but he could not quite bring it all together to take a win. Third place in the standings is however no mean feat for a debut BRC1 campaign.
Eamonn Kelly wrapped up the Junior BRC title in fine style, allowing himself to see out the season in a Polo R5 at the Cambrian and took second place in the process – undoubtedly one to watch in 2023.
Garry Pearson would swap from a Fiesta to a Fabia mid-season, encouraging a shift in speed and would lead the Cambrian Rally after the opening leg. But misfortune came knocking during the season and the only podium came at his home event – the Jim Clark Rally.
Other notable performances came from Elliot Payne in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 and Jason Pritchard in his Polo GTi. Pritchard bagged a fastest time on the gravel of the Grist and rounded out his home forest rally with a maiden BRC podium.
Andy Davies enjoyed his first foray into the BRC in a Fiesta R5, despite a topsy-turvy year, with Meirion Evans bringing his Polo GTi out for two events, fourth at the Jim Clark was a highlight.