Meirion Evans will embark on his third season in the BRC1 top-flight in 2026, rejoining the Castrol MEM Rally Team for an assault on the title in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Having started rallying in 2009, the 30-year old from Lampeter was in with a shot of the BRC crown in 2025, heading into the final round in a three-way battle for the coveted championship honour, eventually taking third place with team mate William Creighton taking top spot.
Now, Evans and re-joining co-driver Dale Furniss will spearhead the Castrol MEM Rally Team with the returning Osian Pryce and James Morgan, as the squad will be aiming to add to its BRC Teams’ title that it won in 2024 and score a straight hat-trick of BRC Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ titles – having won with Chris Ingram/Alex Kihurani in 2024 and William Creighton/Liam Regan last year.
Evans said: “I’m looking forward to my third season competing in the Castrol Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. The first year we did quite a lot of development work, dialling it in to not only my driving style but the nature of the British roads, because nobody else had taken on the car apart from us at that time. The last two years have been very good for the team, and I hope this year will be no different.
“We started 2025 knowing that we could win on asphalt, and we proved that. But by the end of the year we were on the pace on gravel too – especially on the Cambrian Rally, when we were fighting for the win all day. To go into the last round of the British Rally Championship last year with a chance of winning the title really showed what we are capable of and how far we have come.
“Last year was my first time with Dale [Furness] in the car and things clicked well. With a strong year behind us it will hopefully put us in good shape to get off on the right foot this year.
“With Osian as team-mate, it’s another very strong Castrol MEM Rally Team driver line-up. In the last two years it’s been my team-mate who has become British champion, so I like to make it hard for myself to win the title!
“First and foremost, though, it’s important for us as a team to make sure the car is winning rallies and championships. Last year both cars were on the podium on most events, which shows that the package we have is very strong, and we both went into the final round with a chance of winning the title. Hopefully it will be the same again this year.
“The last time Osian was with us he became British champion – but it’s also a title that I’d like to add to my career CV. It’s never an easy championship to win, but the important thing for us is that the best drivers are in our cars and we can go out and compete for wins.”
