Last included on the BRC roster in 2022, the popular Scottish event’s addition to the calendar is the fourth round of the season, and the last gravel event for contenders until the season finale’ in Wales in October.
New for 2024, is a shift to a two-day format with stages on Friday evening before the remaining mileage on Saturday. Based just 15 miles west of Aberdeen near the town of Banchory, the Grampian will provide crews with blisteringly fast and flowing loose surface tests in the Durris, Drumtochty and Fetteresso forests in an action-packed blast through the breath-taking landscape.
With only a handful of the BRC front-runners sampling the Kincardineshire forests previously, the event is likely to throw even more unpredictability into the mix, as the BRC1 top-flight, Junior BRC, National Rally Title and Open Rally Title protagonists battle for top honours and maximum championship points to boot.
BRC1
With three rounds complete, it’s 2021 Junior BRC champion and 2023 Junior World Rally champion William Creighton who is in the pound seat.
Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan have enjoyed an impressive BRC form in their debut season in Rally2 machinery, taking three second-place results so far this season. The M-Sport Ford Rally Team crew are dovetailing a WRC2 campaign and head to Scotland in their Pirelli shod machinery fresh from a string of super-fast WRC gravel events.
A fifth place in Latvia was Creighton’s best WRC2 result and with Rally Finland a few days before the Grampian, the Irishman will have enjoyed bolstered seat time of late and may well be looking at a maiden BRC win.
A further sign of the BRC’s competitive nature this year is that 2019 European champion Chris Ingram lies second, starting his season off in fine style with a North West Stages win. A shift to a Michelin rubbered Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 at the Grampian may need some getting used to but don’t underestimate the pace of Ingram and Alex Kihurani in the forests. A recent non-championship win on the Nicky Grist Stages is a sign of their intent.
A dismal start to the year for four-time BRC champion Keith Cronin was put well and truly behind him at the Jim Clark Rally with a win in his Fiesta Rally2 and Mikie Galvin alongside. Lying third, the Irishman has a busy year behind the wheel and seat time can only be a good thing heading to Banchory. He is also a former winner of the Grampian, beating Osian Pryce in a ding-dong battle in 2022.
Speaking of Pryce; Osian made a surprise return to the BRC after securing the title in 2022. A win at the Severn Valley Stages shows he’s lost none of his prowess, and the Welshman has been on the pace of the front-runners all season so far, just missing a little luck. This year, he has long-time friend Rhodri Evans in the co-driver’s seat but previous experience here could well come in handy.
Scotsman Garry Pearson is one of the most experienced on the event in the BRC1 top flight having contested the event four times previously. Last year’s runner-up to Adrien Fourmaux, Pearson and co-driver Daniel Barritt lie fourth in the standings in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 and are hoping for a repeat of the Jim Clark podium they secured in May.
Continuing to thump in impressive stage times is Hyundai i20 N Rally2 driver James Williams and despite a non-finish last time out, has been super consistent this season. He and Ross Whittock are surely not far away from a top result. As is Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson who take their GR Yaris Rally2 to the Grampian for the first time, another crew to enjoy a strong result on the non-championship Nicky Grist last month.
Max McRae [Fiesta Rally2] returns to the championship in the M-Sport squad, whilst Kyle White [Hyundai i20] hopes to continue his progression in four-wheel drive machinery. JKS Rally Team Northern Ireland teammate Alan Carmichael brings the second i20 in the squad, whilst Neil Roskell [Fiesta Rally2] aims for further gravel development as he heads to the event for the first time.
Jonny Greer will make his first appearance in the championship since 2019 as the five-time Northern Ireland Rally champion takes his Citroen C3 Rally2 onto his third gravel event in the car. The asphalt ace has spent much of the past five years concentrating on sealed surface events at home, with campaigns in Northern Ireland and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
Junior British Rally Championship, BRC3 and BRC4
The Junior BRC crews will also have their sights set high in Banchory. Many of the rapid youngsters are also chasing the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup honours, and home-grown hero Robert Proudlock enjoyed victory on gravel in April so is likely to feel well at home this time around.
Proudlock [Peugeot 208 Rally4] also heads the Junior BRC standings but it was Kyle McBride [Peugeot 208 Rally4] who took the top spot last time out after a spectacular battle in the Scottish Borders lanes with newcomer Ryan McHugh [Fiesta Rally4]. McHugh’s BRC pace was instant, and whilst gravel may not be his preferred surface, the Irishman will certainly be a threat to the field on only his second outing away from home.
Welshman Ioan Lloyd [Peugeot 208 Rally4] has been a frontrunner all season but hasn’t quite had the results to match an unlucky BRC campaign so far. If all goes his way, he’ll be right in the mix come Saturday evening. Keelan Grogan [Peugeot 208 Rally4] makes his second appearance of the season and Kalum Graffin [Peugeot 208 Rally4] could make his way up the leaderboard with another strong result after taking the opening round win at the North West Stages.
In BRC4, Michael Fitzgibbon [Peugeot 208 Rally4] aims to pick up where he left off at the Severn Valley Stages and take the glory but will have one eye on the Stellantis Cup crews as they are also contesting the series.
The battle for BRC3 honours will once again come down to a duo of Fiesta Rally3 crews. This time, series leader Steve Waugh goes up against BRC returnee Brendan Cumisky who has enjoyed an impressive gravel pace in the car of late.
Open Rally Title & National Rally Title
Heading the Open charge is John Rintoul who also leads the championship standings and after an outing in the Citroen C3, revert to the Fiesta R5 he used on the Severn Valley Stages. Another Fiesta contender, John Morrison could well put himself into contention with a solid score in Banchory.
The National Rally Title welcomes back Ernie Graham in his Mitsubishi Evo X and there is likely to be a showdown between William Mains in his Opel Corsa and Nick Heard in the unique Ginetta G40. As previously announced, five-time British Rally champion Jimmy McRae celebrates his 50th anniversary in the sport, with a BRC entry in a Ford Escort MK1 and will run with the number 50 on the doors.
The Grampian Forest Rally gets underway on Friday [9 August] with a ceremonial start and Rally Zone in Banchory town centre before two stages during the early evening. The remainder of the event is packed into Saturday, with a seven-stage blast deciding the rally before a champagne spray finish back in Banchory.
You can catch up with all the BRC action, broadcast on ITV4, ITV4+1 and ITVX shortly after the event. Check out our social media feeds for exact timings.
Keep tabs on all the latest BRC developments by visiting www.britishrallychampionship.co.uk or by following us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter using #BRCRally.
