Wales Rally GB chiefs have expanded their successful 'Road to Wales' initiative this year – offering FREE entries offered to all national rally champions, giving a great opportunity for Britain’s best to shine on the WRC stage, 13-16 November.
Introduced 12 months ago, the "innovative and far-reaching" Road to Wales scheme included a number of different programmes all of which combined to revitalise Britain’s concluding round of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2013.
Building on that success, which resulted in crowds returning to the legendary Welsh forest stages in record numbers, the top three finishers in the country’s premier 2014 MSA British Rally Championship (BRC) will again be rewarded with invitation entries into Wales Rally GB, as will the two crews that win the British Junior and RallyTwo categories within the BRC.
Adding to the incentive, both the 2014 BRC Challenge Trophy champion and winner of the BRC ‘Stars of the Future’ also will be offered free entries – this time into the three-day National Rally that runs alongside the star-studded international event and shares many of the same challenging special stages.
No cost entries into the National event will also be provided to the winner of each of the MSA English Rally Championship, the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship, the ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally Championship and McGrady Insurance MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship as well as the BTRDA Rally Series. This swells the number of prize entries to an impressive dozen.
“Wales Rally GB is the pinnacle of rallying in the UK and we are determined to maximise its preeminence to the full benefit of all those involved in the sport,” said Andrew Coe, Chief Executive of rally organiser International Motor Sports. “Whether it’s encouraging and rewarding those competing in our top national championships or providing those aspiring to be future world champions with vital WRC experience, the provision of these prize entries was extremely well received last year. That’s why we are delighted to be expanding the scheme to 12 by including both Scottish and Northern Irish Championships for the first time in 2014.”
Underlining the success of the scheme, the top three finishers in last year’s BRC all accepted their prize drives in 2013 and took full advantage of the opportunity to shine on the world stage. The newly crowned 2013 BRC Champion, Jukka Korhonen, underlined his talent by winning the competitive WRC3 class on Wales Rally GB while BRC runners-up Osian Pryce and Tom Cave further enhanced their reputations with outstanding achievements in the challenging Welsh forests. Another beneficiary, Euan Thorburn, won the three-day National event.
Four-day World Rally Passes for the 2014 Wales Rally GB – with prices held at £99 as in 2013 – are already on sale via the official www.walesrallygb.com website. Other passes will be available later in the Spring following final confirmation of this year’s Wales Rally GB route and a full review of spectator facilities to accommodate the event’s spiraling popularity.
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