Chris Ingram ends the opening day of the JSD Machinery Rali Ceredigion with a slender 1.8s second lead in the Probite British Rally Championship, after two short, sharp blasts around the harbourside of Aberystwyth.
The seaside town provided a sell-out audience for the highly anticipated start to the rally, its natural amphitheatre near the promenade offering the perfect viewing platform for fans to witness some of the best drivers in Europe sample the Welsh roads for the first time.
Ingram and Alex Kihurani set the fastest BRC time on both of the tricky street stage tests in his Toyota Yaris GR Rally2, to head into day two in the box seat. They lead BRC returnees Jon Armstrong and Eoin Treacy with championship leaders William Creighton and Liam Regan third.
The arrival of the FIA European Rally Championship in the UK brought a new concept for the BRC chargers on Friday morning, as Qualifying would set the tone for the weekend ahead; the fastest time over the test securing road position for Saturday’s leg.
Creighton set the benchmark, with third fastest overall time against the ERC regulars and will start third on the road tomorrow, although it was seeded order into Friday night’s stage. Ingram showed no sign of needing to bed into the Yaris on asphalt with two scratch times, but behind him, it was a fascinating battle for the overnight honours.
Armstrong recovered from a slow start on the opening test to end the day second, but just a 0.1s behind would be Creighton, giving M-Sport a two-three. James Williams set an impressive pace to finish the day fourth in his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 as Keith Cronin escaped a first-stage clash with the stage furniture to round out the top five.
Remarkably, Osian Pryce, Matt Edwards and Garry Pearson ended the day tied in 6th, whilst Eamonn Kelly made a solid start in the Rally3 category. The Junior BRC fight sees Keelan Grogan hold a 0.7s advantage over Kyle McBride with local hero Ioan Lloyd third.
Neil Roskell switches to the Open category for the weekend and heads the category, as Darren Atkinson continues his asphalt dominance with an early lead.
Whilst the opening day was brief, Saturday is a stark contrast with over 124km of special stages to test the crews and with BRC points on offer at the end of the leg, it will be all to play for as the battle for the crown intensifies.
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