Chris Ingram heads to the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally (Saturday 26 October) aiming to become the 2024 British champion, while he and team-mate Meirion Evans will be collectively looking to clinch the Probite British Rally Championship Teams’ title for Castrol MEM Rally Team on its first season of competition in a pair of Castrol Toyota GR Yaris Rally2s.
Chris goes into the final round of the BRC just one point behind series leader William Creighton, but whereas his rival must drop a score (as five scores from seven rounds count) the Suisscourtage / Michelin-backed driver can add all the points he scores in North Wales to his final tally.
Co-driven by Alex Kihurani, the 30-year old Monaco-based driver has won three rallies this year – the Legend Fires North West Stages (in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5), the Nicky Grist Stages (the first UK rally win for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) and the Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally – and led every rally he’s contested in 2024.
The 2019 FIA European rally champion has only done the Cambrian Rally once before – winning his class in a Citroën C1 in 2011 – and hasn’t rallied in the North Wales forests since Wales Rally GB in 2018.
Meirion made his four-wheel drive forest rally debut on the 2019 Cambrian (which is also the last time he contested the event), finishing seventh in a Hyundai i20 R5. Fast forward to 2024, and this will still only be the 29-year old Carmarthenshire driver’s sixth rally on the loose in a top all-wheel drive machine, as he continues to fine tune his driving skills on the unfamiliar surface.
Third on a fact-finding non-championship Nicky Grist Stages and a number of top five stage times on the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages and the Grampian (where he finished seventh and sixth respectively) proves that he’s a quick learner, as Meirion and co-driver Jonathan Jackson aim to finish the BRC on a high.
The Castrol MEM Rally Team is also in a close fight for the BRC Teams’ title. It goes into the final round just three points behind M-Sport Ford Rally Team in a winner takes all finale.
Chris Ingram said: “I am fully focused on the final round of the BRC and feeling confident and prepared. It has been an enjoyable season and a unique experience. We have had to learn two different cars on the different surfaces. All of the events have been vastly different which makes the British Championship stand out from other national championships where the events and terrain can be quite repetitive. Alex Kihurani and the whole Castrol MEM Rally Team have been excellent to work with all season, and the Yaris will suit the Welsh gravel. We’re ready for the final push.”
Meirion Evans said: “The second half of this season has been quite frustrating for us. A puncture on the Grampian followed by some technical issues on Rali Ceredigion whilst lying second to our team-mate in BRC points on the first day has all been quite annoying. Our speed in Wales probably deserved two BRC podium scores, but instead we came away with a pair of fifths. So I’m just hoping we get a clean run on the Cambrian with no issues and we can support Chris’ title bid in the best way, as well as give ourselves the best chance to secure the teams’ title. I have some knowledge of the Cambrian having competed there a few times but not since 2019. It’s nice to be on some more familiar territory than the last time we drove on gravel, so we can try to bring both titles back for the team and for Castrol.”
