Drivers from the FIA European Rally Championship will be taking on an all-new challenge this week when they contest JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion.
The penultimate event of the all-action ERC season from 30 August - 1 September, JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion marks the championship’s return to the UK for the first time since 2016 and the first visit to Wales since 1996.
While Hayden Paddon, the defending champion and current points leader, is a former Rali Ceredigion winner, the asphalt-only contest represents unchartered territory for his main title rivals, Mathieu Franceschi and Miko Marczyk, plus Simone Tempestini, who is set to complete a late deal to tackle the Aberystwyth-based round.
“The stages are different to anything else we have in the championship,” said New Zealander Paddon, who pilots a Pirelli-equipped Hyundai i20 N Rally2 for BRC Racing Team. “A lot of narrow lanes, very undulating, smooth but you’re always moving and jumping, it’s almost a bit like a Finland rally on Tarmac, apart from being narrower. And the weather will always play a part in Wales, there will be a lot of challenges.”
Paddon heads to Wales 14 points ahead of Franceschi. But with 70 points still on offer across the remaining two rounds, the chase for the coveted ERC crown remains wide open.
“I’m not thinking about the championship,” Paddon insisted. “Mathieu stopping [in Zlin] doesn’t change a lot. I’m obviously gutted for him because he was doing a good job but we were not getting many points from the weekend anyway so we can both delete this rally and go to Wales like it was.”
As well as Franceschi, Marczyk, Paddon and the soon-to-be-announced Tempestini*, several other ERC Rally2 regulars will be taking on the challenge of JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion. They include Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy’s Jon Armstrong, Team MRF Tyres’ Andrea Mabellini (Italy), Philip Allen (Northern Ireland) and Albert von Thurn und Taxis (Germany).
Mabellini, who is co-driven by his partner Virginia Lenzi, has turned to YouTube to prepare for his JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion debut.
“I saw some video in YouTube and it seems crazy different to what we are used to, especially because we will do the recce with right-hand-drive cars and then we will drive rally cars in the opposite way so it’s quite strange,” Mabellini said. “But it’s one of the things we will appreciate more about the rally. It’s something different and for sure we will enjoy it because we always like to do new rallies and it’s a new adventure. That’s why we love it.”
Up against the seasoned ERC campaigners are several leading runners from the Probite British Rally Championship. FIA Junior WRC champion William Creighton leads the standings with Chris Ingram, the 2019 ERC title winner, one point behind followed by Keith Cronin and ERC points-scorer Osian Pryce, the Rali Ceredigion winner in 2019 and 2023.
Ingram, who is embarking on his first Tarmac outing in his new-for-2024 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, said: “My priority this year is the BRC title but, having said that, the top BRC drivers will be able to challenge for the overall win. Winning would mean a lot to me personally but there’s still time in the future to win some ERC rallies. We’ve just got to focus on giving our best performance, I need to be sensible.”
Rally3-powered contenders ready for Welsh Tarmac action
Having clinched the inaugural ERC Fiesta Rally3 Trophy crown on Barum Czech Rally Zlín earlier this month, Czech Filip Kohn will bid for more FIA ERC3 points in Wales in the Ford Fiesta Rally3 he shares with British co-driver Tom Woodburn, who tackled Rali Ceredigion in 2022. Poland’s Igor Widłak, the 2022 ERC3 champion, is also set for action along with Renault Clio Rally3-driving Bulgarian Aleksandar Tomov. Junior WRC contenders Eamonn Kelly and Jakub Matulka are also entered.
Junior ERC stars back on the title trail
JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion marks the resumption of the Hankook-equipped FIA Junior ERC Championship season. Swedes Mille Johansson and Calle Carlberg are first and second in the provisional standings after four rounds with Scotland’s Max McRae and Germany’s Timo Schulz hoping to return to winning form in Wales. Jack Brennan is back on Junior ERC duty for the first time since Rally Islas Canarias in May. He joins Aoife Raftery in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy line-up. Meanwhile, ACI Team Italia’s Davide Pesavento and Daniel Polášek, the ERC4 runner-up on Barum Czech Rally Zlín, will also challenge for Junior ERC points. Welsh promise and Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK frontrunner Ioan Lloyd joins Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy’s Kyle McBride in registering for ERC4.
JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion route in short
The first Rali Ceredigion to count for the ERC begins on Friday 30 August with the Green4Wales Cwmerfyn Free Practice and Qualifying Stage followed by two runs of the lengthened super special through the streets of host town Aberystwyth and sponsored by LAS Recycling & Cambrian Training that evening. ETT Trailers Brechfa and Signature Systems Llyn Brianne – tipped as being a favourite for drivers due to its “demanding nature and spectacular landscape” according to the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion organisers – are two all-new stages included on the Saturday itinerary in addition to Caws Cenarth Nant y Moch and a return to Aberystwyth for two runs of the LAS Recycling and Get Jerky-backed super special. The Nant y Moch stage is rated as an event “classic” due to its use of “high-commitment, reservoir roads”. The deciding leg on Sunday 1 September features the all-new DC Autos Bethania test complete with its mix of single and double-width roads, while Spencer Quantum Hafod forms the event-closing Power Stage from 14:05 local time.
How to watch?
Fans across the globe can experience the excitement and drama of the ERC with every stage of every rally broadcast Rally.tv platform. In addition, the ERC is broadcast in a number of countries around the world and fans are advised to check local listings for details.
