Rhys Yates will make a return to the Probite British Rally Championship, almost three years after last contesting the series.
Last seen in Britain’s premier rally champions in 2021, Yates has thrown his hat into the ring once again, driving a Volkswagen Polo GTi with 2019 American Rally Champion Craig Drew in the co-driver’s seat.
The Chesterfield driver took a sabbatical from the sport at the back end of 2021, after securing third place in the BRC that season with the M-Sport squad. In a glitzy career which saw him contest the FIA European and World Rally Championship, Yates enjoyed success at all levels.
Yates is no stranger to the BRC tour, having impressed on the return of the series in 2016 before progressing onto the world tour and WRC2 category in 2019. That experience changed his outlook on the sport and elected to head back to the domestic series in 2021.
Since then, work commitments and family life have taken precedence but the fresh look to the BRC saw Yates take more of a passing interest, culminating in an entry to the forthcoming Severn Valley Stages. It’s been a long time coming he says.
“I always knew I’d be back” muses Yates.
“When you invest so much energy in trying to establish a career, it stays in your veins, and I’ve been just looking for the right time and the right reason to have another go.
“Rallying has been all-consuming for many years for me, and it gets to the point where it stops becoming enjoyable. It was heading that way in 2021 and the fact that the business was expanding at the time meant that it was the right time to take a break, life takes over sometimes”.
“Work commitments are still quite intense, but with the new championship look and event package, plus the crews that have signed up, it made me sit up and take notice again.
“However, this is all about the fun factor for me this time around. There is no pressure, no expectation and I’ll be looking for maximum enjoyment although there are no expectations for how many rounds I`ll compete on. I need to see what commitments I have moving forward and try my best to get to a few. It will be good to be back in the series and this time it will be for me, so I want to relax back into it and have a few skids with no expectations. What could be better?”
