Twelve years after contesting his last British Rally Championship season, Citroen driver James Ford will return to the series in 2025, piloting his C3 Rally2.
The 34-year-old from Lancashire spent much of his early career with the French marque, firstly in a C2 R2 Max before switching to the DS3 R3T, which was at the forefront of the championship in 2013 and 2014 during a two-wheel-drive era.
He would then move into four-wheel drive machinery before a spell in a Ford Escort MK2 which also brought him success on the other side of the world, winning the Silver Fern Rally outright in 2022 with regular co-driver Neil Shanks alongside – repeating that accolade in 2024.
The acquisition of a C3 Rally2 in 2022 brought impressive results in a season on both sides of the Irish Sea. After a busy asphalt campaign last year, Ford and Shanks will now step into the hotly contested BRC1 category.
“It’s been a long time since we were in the BRC and after several years of doing other championships and enjoying some far-away events and the ITRC, we decided it was time to give it another try” said Ford.
“We showed at the Jim Clark Rally last year that we had a strong pace against the regular BRC contenders, and we have done well against the Irish Tarmac Championship contingent too. We hope to challenge towards the front for the asphalt events. But I have never been on gravel in a Rally2 car before so that will be a real baptism but we have to try it sometime and it seemed like a good opportunity to try. I’m looking forward to it.”
Image credit: Lindsay Photo Sport
