Chris Ingram and the Castrol MEM Rally Team led the Probite British Rally Championships drivers’ and teams’ standings after Round 5 of the series (JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion Leg 1) and remain in contention for both titles despite a dramatic Leg 2/Round 6 – while team-mate Meirion Evans secured a strong double header points score on both rounds, having been as high as third overall on Saturday afternoon against top FIA European and British Rally Championship competition.
Chris and co-driver Alex Kihurani were first to demonstrate the pace of the Castrol Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on asphalt on their first appearance on the Welsh closed road stage event (30 August – 1 September). The Suisscourtage / Michelin-backed driver was able to maintain his early pace despite feeling unwell on Saturday afternoon to end Leg 1 an impressive 11.6 seconds ahead of his nearest BRC rival to score maximum points and retake the lead the of series. He was also lying second overall, with only the 2022 Rali Ceredigion winner Hayden Paddon ahead.
It was Chris’ third win in as many rallies in the Yaris (Nicky Grist Stages, Grampian and Round 5 of the BRC), his third BRC victory of the season (having won the opening round in a Volkswagen Polo GTi R5) and the first BRC win on asphalt for the Yaris Rally2.
The clocks were reset in terms of BRC points on Sunday, and with just 34.81 stage miles Leg 2 was going to be a flat-out sprint from start to finish. The hot and sunny weather had been replaced by humid and cloudy conditions as crews set off for the morning loop of two challenging stages. On a shiny section of bumpy road on SS11, Chris lost the rear of his Yaris under braking for a fast right-hand corner and spun into a wall and then a hedge at over 100mph. The impact ripped a wheel off the car and with it his hopes of more maximum BRC points, and a second-place overall result, were gone. It also dropped him to second in the BRC drivers’ standings, just one point behind William Creighton, with it all to play for on the final round.
Meirion finished the opening pair of Aberystwyth town stages on Friday night ninth in the BRC standings, but the fact that he was just 6.4 seconds off the lead indicated what an incredibly close contest Rali Ceredigion was going to be.
That extremely close battle continued on Saturday when the Carmarthenshire driver climbed to third overall by midday service. Unfortunately, an intermittent problem with the pop-off value saw his Yaris Rally2 lose turbo boost pressure during the afternoon stages and with reduced power Meirion and co-driver Jonathan Jackson dropped to 11th overall and sixth BRC at the end of Leg 1.
With the pop-off value changed, Meirion was hopeful for a better day as Round 6 of the BRC started afresh on Sunday, particularly as he’d elected to play his bonus points-scoring BRC joker. However, it turned out to be another frustrating day with things out of his control conspiring against him.
Conditions had been dry on Sunday morning, and with Meirion lying third in the BRC at midday service he selected the tyres for the afternoon loop based on what turned out to be an incorrect weather forecast – which resulted in him being on the wrong tyres for the final two stages. This caused a time-consuming spin, which saw Meirion slip down to fifth in the BRC at the end of Leg 2 and finish the event in ninth position overall, just over a minute shy of an overall podium position.
Chris Ingram said: “Saturday was my third win out of three events in the Yaris, so I was very pleased with that performance. It was also our third BRC win of the season, and the first BRC win on asphalt for the Yaris. I felt that we’d done everything that we needed and wanted to against ERC competition, and scored maximum BRC points to keep us in contention for the championship. It’s a shame we couldn’t do it again on Sunday.
“The speeds were so high that it was just a split-second moment that caught us out under braking on a very shiny section of road. The few corners before were shiny and the car had good grip, so I wasn’t expecting this corner to be any different. Unfortunately, there was a little bump in the braking area which caused the rear to lock up and at 110mph it was just like pulling the handbrake. I was a passenger from that moment on.”
Meirion Evans said: “As soon as we started to get going properly we were pegged back somehow – with the pop-off value on Saturday and tyre issues on Sunday when we went with the forecast and the weather did the exact opposite! It’s just been little things like that which have cropped up and prevented us from clicking into gear, which of course is what we’d have really liked given that Rali Ceredigion is our home rally. We showed our pace at times, which makes it all the more frustrating because when we had a clean run the pace was there. We’d have obviously liked more, but we got to the end of both legs without any major issues and the overall rally result isn’t too bad. It was unfortunate for Chris, because he certainly showed his class on a big rally like this and despite what happened on Sunday championship-wise he’s in a good position. There is one more round of the BRC to go and hopefully we can secure both the drivers’ and teams’ titles there.”
The final round of the Probite British Rally Championship is the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally on Saturday 26 October.
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