Tom Cave, Keith Cronin, and Matt Wilson will provide some extra competition on the British Rally Championship’s second round of 2021, the Nicky Grist Stages.
All three missed BRC’s circuit-based opener around Oulton Park but appear in the top ten seeded entries for this weekend’s Nicky Grist Stages. Each of them will also drive M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta Rally2 which features heavily among the front runners.
Matt Edwards and Osian Pryce continue their campaigns in two Volkswagen Polos while Ollie Mellors and Josh Moffett represent Proton and Hyundai respectively.
Ireland’s four-time British Champion, Cronin, returns to the championship four years after his last crown. The 2018 Ypres Rally is Cronin’s most recent BRC appearance.
Cronin’s brief campaign three years ago was in a Hyundai i20 R5 but he has reverted to M-Sport machinery for his return. The highly-rated rally driver, who has enjoyed success at world championship level, will run Hankook tyres this year.
Third overall, behind Josh Moffett and Rhys Yates, on last weekend’s M-Sport Stages will give Cronin a boost of confidence before heading into Wales’ notorious forests.
Cave is another post-lockdown returnee and will be looking to renew his rivalry with reigning champion Edwards, although this year’s series is poised to be far more competitive than 2019’s two-horse race.
The three-time BRC runner-up will have to familiarise himself with a new car after swapping from his usual PCRS prepared Hyundai.
Hot off his rapid Rally3 performance in Greystoke, Wilson is a surprise addition to the Nicky Grist entry list. The M-Sport director steps back into BRC competition after a five-year break.
He’ll enjoy the extra power that comes with his midweek upgrade to Rally2 and is certainly a dark horse after setting a string of impressive times last weekend. Wilson finished sixth overall on the M-Sport Stages, less than two minutes behind Moffett’s winning Fiesta WRC.
Sam Moffett currently leads the British Rally Championship after his one-second opening-round victory over Rhys Yates. Yates was on-form again last weekend but had to settle for runner-up again behind a Moffett.
The Nicky Grist Stages will run over eight gravel stages totalling just over 70 kilometers.
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Photos courtesy of British Rally Championship