FUCHS LUBRICANTS BHRC Makes Welcome Return
The FUCHS LUBRICANTS British Historic Rally Championship will blast back into action this weekend (5 September) as the Hills Ford Three Shires Stages hosts the first of three qualifying rounds of 2021.
Once again promoted by the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club, the British Historic Rally Championship [BHRC] has been out of action since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and despite suffering a drastically reduced calendar, will see contenders kick-off their campaign at the popular closed-road event, based at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcestershire.
The BHRC was set to expand to eight rounds in 2020, offering a dynamic mix of both gravel and asphalt events across the country but like many motorsport series that year, was forced to cancel plans to run thanks to Motorsport UK, the sport’s governing body, withdrawing permits for motorsport events.
With continued restrictions and uncertainly during the first half of 2021, Britain’s most popular historic series was also required to re-evaluate its plans and despite initially announcing a positive schedule for the season ahead, once again saw its calendar decimated.
Now, running just three from its planned seven events, the BHRC finally begins on the 66-mile, 14 stage rally which takes in an exciting mix of closed public roads in both Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
A small, but perfectly formed entry of BHRC protagonists see’s series 2018 champions Nick Elliott and Dave Price lead the contenders in their Ford Escort Mk2 and Colin Heppenstall, BHRC Championship Manager is delighted to see the series finally get underway.
“Most motorsport events and championships have been affected by the restrictions over the last 18 months or so and we certainly haven’t escaped them either, so it's fantastic to finally see the FUCHS LUBRICANTS British Historic Rally Championship return to the stages,” he says
“Of course, we would have loved to run a full calendar but we knew that wasn’t going to be possible this season so we made sure we had provision for a convoluted 2021 in the regulations, meaning we can effectively run with three rounds.“
“It’s great to see how popular thee Three Shires Stages has been, but that has meant many of our series regulars were unable to get an entry. That’s a common theme across the UK at the moment sadly.”
“However, looking ahead to the remainder of the season and it’s certainly looking like we will have a bumper field of crews joining us once again and I would like to thank Fuchs Lubricants for the continued support of the Motor Club and the Championship.”
Round two of the season see crews head onto gravel and the popular forests in northeast England as Trackrod Rally Yorkshire provides the now traditional challenge of the super-fast and flowing stages, coupled with a test under the cover of darkness at the end of September.
The Carlisle Stages Rally hosts the third and final round of 2021 in October.
For more information on any of the Championships promoted by the RACMRC, please visit:
www.racrmc.org
