International rallying returned to the UK for the primary time since 2019 last weekend, with Rally Ceredigion making a spectacular debut within the European Rally Championship. The event actually filled British rally fans with hope and might be the catalyst for the revival of Rally GB.
Last weekend was one other impressive milestone for the Welsh Tarmac Rally, achieving ERC status and returning the UK to the international rally scene for less than the fourth time. This was achieved because of the tireless efforts of the team led by Event Director Charlie Jukes, who managed to rally the community together, securing funding from local councils and businesses to make the concept a reality, via a military of 1,250 volunteers.
They deserve huge credit for achieving this, and much more so after Rally Ceredigion seamlessly stepped as much as ERC level, showcasing British rallying on the international stage with a well-organised and professionally run event. Fans flocked back to the stages across the Welsh town of Aberystwyth and there was a buzz across the region, bringing back memories of the last World Rally Championship rally in Wales in 2019. The sight of rally cars flying through the bumpy narrow streets of the attractive Welsh countryside and racing around Aberystwyth Castle was great publicity for the Welsh Tourist Board.
This begs the massive query. Is a closed tarmac rally, as a substitute of the historic forest gravel stages of the past, the longer term of Rally GB?
Toyota WRC factory driver Elfyn Evans took part within the event before flying out to arrange for this week’s Rally Greece. The Welshman believes Rally Ceredigion has the potential to progress to WRC status, but admits that while a tarmac rally would suffice, the last word goal can be to race Rally GB on gravel.
“I think it gives us hope,” Evans told Motorsport.com. “There’s no reason why this event can’t achieve World Rally Championship status. Perhaps the accommodation can be the largest challenge here in Aberystwyth, but actually the roads and the organisation are able to doing it. It’s a credit to the organisers who’ve put in the hassle since this rally began in 2019.
Ceredigion gave British rally talent the possibility to compete against Europe's biggest names on home soil
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
“I think it would add something really special to [world] championship, but deep down I think everyone wants the classic Welsh forest to come back. That would be the last resort, but I think it would be a viable option for the future.”
The view espoused by Evans is almost all. However, Rally Ceredigion is conveniently positioned near the sacred gravel roads of Hafren Forest or Sweet Lamb, so is possible for a “best of both worlds” split-surface rally – an idea the FIA is open to reviving if crucial. It is an option that needs to be seriously considered.
Nicky Grist, Colin McRae’s former co-driver, was amongst the celebrities who turned up to look at the event unfold. He was amongst those that felt Rally Ceredigion represented a positive “milestone” for the longer term and further strengthened the case for Rally GB.
“We imagine there are interesting business models which were adopted by other WRC events around the globe that would narrow this down [funding] gap”
Hugh Chambers
“With Rally GB going down I have to pay tribute to the organisers who did it,” Grist tells Motorsport.com. “It’s not supported, possibly somewhat bit by the Welsh government, however it’s not low-cost to get the ERC after which you might have to run the rally to the standards which were set. It took loads of commitment, labor and energy to draw sponsors.
“Rally GB is a special matter, it’s something that the governing body within the UK has to be sure that happens. It seems to me that to some extent they haven’t necessarily supported it.
“Now greater than ever the WRC is more about money than the event itself and I feel if someone has the eagerness and the budget to do it then it’s taken seriously. Gone are the times when it was at all times the championship, and it should at all times be and can remain that way.
Since the Wales Rally GB was last on the calendar in 2019, the WRC has modified quite a bit
Photo: McKlein/Motorsports images
“You have to pay the money, do what's required as far as the promoters go, and then you have a chance at a championship round. Now that I've gotten rid of that, I think [Rally GB] will be a much more expensive event to organize than in the past. There are always options, but it has to be led from the top and they have to have the passion to do it.”
Grist is true that if Rally GB does return, it’ll need leadership from Motorsport UK. But what the organisers of Rally Ceredigion have achieved has not escaped the eye of Motorsport UK. Its CEO Hugh Chambers and chairman David Richards witnessed the events first-hand once they toured the event on Sunday.
Motorsport UK has said for several years that it wants the WRC to return to those shores, but securing third-party funding has proven and continues to be a hurdle. The WRC’s funding budget is larger than the ERC’s, at around £4.2m (€5m). But Chambers says there’s hope.
“We are looking at a number of different options to bring the WRC back to the UK, not just in Wales but in other home countries,” Chambers told Motorsport.com. “We are in a a lot better position to do this now than we now have been for a few years.
“The typical budget for WRC events worldwide is currently around €5 million. There are some exceptions, however it's around €5 million. If you return to Wales Rally GB, it was probably around €3-3.5 million [million when it was on the calendar] and since 2019 there was a major increase [in costs that would make it more expensive today].
“At the identical time, we imagine there are interesting business models which were adopted by other WRC events around the globe that would narrow this down [funding] gap. At some point we are going to need significant third-party funding to make this feasible.
“This [Rali Ceredigion] organizers have done an amazing job of taking it to the next level. There is potential for this to happen [event] to be able to grow, but there are some challenges with infrastructure and not least with accommodation. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. I'd rather celebrate the fact that we're in the ERC and really build on that success and have this fantastic event on a multi-year basis.”
Chambers wants UK back in WRC but admits funding hurdles are larger than ERC
Photo: JEP
Asked if Motorsport UK could help secure additional funding for Rally Ceredigion in the longer term, Chambers added: “We are already supporting the event, we work closely with the organisers and we recognise that it is incredibly important to us to have an ERC round in the UK. We will continue to work with them in any way we can.”
While Chambers hasn’t ruled out a future for the closed-road, tarmac-based Rally GB, he admits that Rally GB’s DNA is “probably” gravel and if it will probably be brought back, the event will gain “this unique, historic place in the calendar”.
There’s little question that the one thing holding back Rali Ceredigion from the WRC is maybe the infrastructure and accommodation around Aberystwyth, which Chambers notes shouldn’t be insurmountable. But the event actually showed the strength of a united community. Will Motorsport UK not learn from what the volunteer group has achieved?
“The most important element of all this is the way the local community got behind this gathering; whether it was businesses, the council, other stakeholders, the university. Everyone really understood the importance of this event.” Hugh Chambers
“Without a doubt,” Chambers replies. “But that was also the case for Wales Rally GB in 2019. A lot of the elements we see here, like the STEM exhibition, are elements we had as part of that.
“The most important element of all this is the way the local community got behind it; whether it was businesses, the council, other stakeholders, the university. Everyone really understood what it meant to the local economy, the local community, and it really worked incredibly well.”
Rally Ceredigion often is the way forward for Rally GB, however it has actually played an element within the return of the WRC.
Will Ceredigion's success be the impetus for the return of a British rally to the WRC calendar?
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
