Category 1 and 1600 cars to the fore in BHRC 2015

Cars from Category 1 and all up to 1600cc cars will run at the head of the field in the 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship as the championship starts a new era under the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club.Following a hugely successful trial during the 2014 R.A.C. Rally Championship, the group of pre ’68 Category 1 cars and 1600cc cars from other categories will run first on the road on all gravel events. The move is designed to encourage more cars from both groups to remain active on gravel rallies.Whilst running the oldest cars in Category 1 in the first group has been an accepted part of historic rallying for many years now, the RACRMC moved the concept on this year by bringing all the up to 1600cc cars to the fore, with the group seeded on anticipated performance. Significantly, the fastest Category 1 cars and the leading 1600cc cars proved to be very even in terms of performance.Based on the success of this move on a number of gravel rallies this year, it will now be standardised across all gravel rounds of the BHRC in 2015. There has already been a resurgence of interest in 1600cc cars and more are expected out next season now that they can enjoy the best road conditions available.Championship manager Colin Heppenstall has also confirmed that the historic field will run at the head of the event on all gravel rounds of the 2015 BHRC and 2015 R.A.C. Rally Championship. Entries for the two championships will be seeded on performance.“We believe that running first on the road is absolutely essential for the on-going popularity of historic rallying,” said Heppenstall. “By putting the Category 1s and 1600s at the very front, we believe we have the best format. We had over 25 cars in this first group on some rallies in 2014 and that also makes it a more workable group for event organisers.”In summary, the first group on all gravel events will be the Category 1 and up to 1600cc cars from both the BHRC and R.A.C. Championships. After a short gap, usually 10 minutes, the second group will contain all other cars in both the BHRC and R.A.C. Championships. Both groups will be seeded on anticipated performance.


Related Motorsport Articles

84,521 articles