The Castrol MEM Rally Team has given the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 its first Probite British Rally Championship victory after Chris Ingram/Alex Kihurani won the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally last weekend.
Team-mates Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson fought back from an early puncture to finish sixth.
Neither driver had contested the event before, and it was Chris that made the better start – going into the overnight halt just four seconds off the lead in second position. The Suisscourtage/Michelin-backed driver took the lead with fastest time on SS5 and was able to manage the advantage all the way to the finish – completing the ninth and final stage nine seconds clear of the rest of the field. It was Chris’ second BRC win of the season and the first in the Castrol Toyota.
Chris Ingram said, “It’s awesome to get the first British Rally Championship win for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and a massive thanks to the Castrol MEM Rally Team and to all of our partners. It was an extremely challenging rally, but Alex and I kept our cool to take the lead and get the car to the finish against some seriously quick competition.
“The car ran faultlessly thanks to the Melvyn Evans Motorsport team. It’s time to switch focus back to asphalt and Rali Ceredigion in two weeks’ time. It’s a massive opportunity for Meirion and I with the two Castrol Yaris Rally2s in the FIA European Championship for the first time and a double header BRC round.”
Meirion Evans said, “It was a tricky start to the Grampian. We’d planned to get into a nice rhythm on the Friday night and keep building on Saturday, but unfortunately there was a massive rock in the middle of the road halfway through the second stage. I managed to miss it with the front, but the back swung around and it clipped the rock and punctured a rear tyre.
“Luckily the tyre went down slowly, but the end of the stage had some fast fifth gear corners and we had to back right off and lost around ten to twelve seconds. The opening stage on Saturday wasn’t our best, but from then on the feeling improved and we had a good middle loop which gave us a chance of getting back to fifth, but it didn’t quite happen.”
The next round of the British Rally Championship is the team’s home asphalt event, the double-header JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion 30 August to 01 September over 113 miles inc 14 stages which has pulled in 150 cars and brings international rallying back to Wales after the demise of Wales RallyGB in 2019 due to the pandemic and Welsh Government pulling support.
Osian Pryce finished runner-up for a third time on the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally (9/10 August) to keep his 2024 Probite British Rally Championship title challenge on track – and it was only a spin on a very narrow section of road that prevented him from winning!
He and co-driver Rhodri Evans (above) went into the overnight halt leading by four seconds after a strong opening two stages in their Dom Buckley RSC-prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2.
They maintained that lead at the start of day two, but the disadvantage of running first on the road and sweeping the worst of the loose gravel off the surface was to contribute to a spin on SS5.
Unfortunately, this happened on a narrow section of road and by the time Osian had got the car pointing in the right direction again he had lost almost 30 seconds and dropped from first to fourth.
Undeterred, the 31-year old Machynlleth-born driver flew over the remaining four stages, climbing back to second in two stages and regaining an astonishing 17 lost seconds to finish just nine seconds behind the winner.
The result maintains Osian’s BRC title challenge and the performance is a confidence boost heading into his local asphalt round, the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion, which Osian won in 2023, finished second overall on in 2022 and scored maximum BRC points on both times.
