The 2021 British Rally Championship will take place over seven events in 2021, with a new-look calendar having been unveiled featuring two new events to the series.
This season’s championship was hit badly by the COVID-19 pandemic, with it eventually being forced to be cancelled due to the ever-changing circumstances throughout 2020, but for next season, the championship organisers are hoping to complete a seven round campaign.
2021’s action will get underway on the Circuit of Ireland at the beginning of April and will be the first time the series has began its season on tarmac in over 40 years, before the championship heads to the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring and Clacton event for the very first time three weeks later.
Round three – the Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally – is next up for Britain’s premier rallying series on the last weekend in May, before the crews move to Wales and the Nicky Grist Stages for round four after a summer break on July 10.
The revamped season then is set to welcome its second new event of the season – the Grampian Forest Stages based near Aberdeen – in August, before the season completes its year on Trackrod Rally Yorkshire and the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally.
2021’s redesigned calendar doesn’t see the crews head to Belgium for the Ypres Rally, which had become a fan favourite in recent seasons, and it also features a reserve round of the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally in early October should circumstances change regarding the pandemic.
“Taking inspiration from our 2016 British Rally Champion Elfyn Evans’ strong showing on the world stage, 2021 will be a ‘reset and restart’ for the sport, as rally competitors and fans have missed the action on the stages in Britain this year,” said British Rally Championship Manager Iain Campbell on the news.
“We have been working on a new calendar for a while and we have waited as long as possible, so that we could consider the direction government restrictions across the British Isles and the rest of Europe.
“We have also concentrated our efforts to support all home nations and to have an even mix between asphalt and gravel surfaces,” added Campbell.
“The start of the season will begin on asphalt, with crews only having to convert their cars once this season, thus reducing the time and cost for our competitors. I believe we have achieved this, with some new venues and some returning national classics from years gone by.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in the BRC for helping bring our plans together for 2021. We are looking forward to a new season, as we have all missed the red-hot action and commitment from the BRC competitors.”
The British Rally Championship was relaunched in 2016 following a one-year hiatus and is open to competitors in R5/Rally2 cars, while the supporting Junior British Rally Championship features drivers in R2/Rally4 machinery.