Rali Ceredigion attracts global champions in ground-breaking European battle

Organisers of JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion from August 30 to September 1 have revealed a stellar entry list for the 2024 event, which features championship-winning drivers from around the world.

A round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) for the first time, Rali Ceredigion has attracted international interest with competitors from 14 different countries registering for the three-day, 183km event.

Included in the star-studded field are two former European Rally champions and competitors that have won 13 British Rally Championship (BRC) titles.

Topping the list is reigning European Rally champion and 2022 Rali Ceredigion winner, Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard from New Zealand. Hayden’s fight for the 2024 ERC title with France’s Mathieu Fransceschi/Andy Malfoy will resume in Wales as the Škoda driver has also signed up for the event.

Other ERC regulars include Poland’s Miko Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk, Italy’s Andrea Mabellini/Virginia Lenzi, Germany’s Albert von Thurn und Taxis/Franck Christian and Ireland’s Jon Armstrong/Eoin Treacy. They will all take on the best of the Probite British Rally Championship, many of whom have also registered for ERC championship points.

Those crews include 2023 Junior WRC champion and BRC championship leader William Creighton/Liam Regan, 2019 European Rally champion Chris Ingram/Alex Kihurani, four-time BRC champion Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin, three-time BRC champion Matt Edwards/David Moynihan.

Other crews are 2022 British champion and two-time Rali Ceredigion winner Osian Pryce/Rhodri Evans and Rali Ceredigion podium finishers Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson and James Williams/Ross Whittock.

Rali Ceredigion is likely to play a pivotal role in the outcome of the 2024 British Rally Championship too, as the event’s two legs have been categorised into two separate points-scoring rounds for the BRC title fight.

Behind the crowd-pleasing Rally2 cars, a swarm of Rally4 crews will line up from both Junior ERC and the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK. Eight drivers have entered Junior ERC, including  from Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany and Italy and there’s a high chance the Junior ERC title could be settled in Aberystwyth.

Welsh star Ioan Lloyd and Ireland’s Kyle McBride will both tackle the ERC4 category alongside their battle for points in the Stellantis Cup. 

The National Rally entry is similarly strong, with Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship title contenders Callum Black/Jack Morton and Neil Roskell/Rob Fagg both entering in their Ford Fiesta Rally2s.

Taking them on is a gaggle of local Welsh crews, including Kevin Davies/Owain Davies (Volkswagen) who were a superb seventh overall in 2023, Dylan Davies/Llion Williams (Škoda) and Andy Davies/Lee Taylor (Ford).

Former British Rally champions Mark Higgins (Subaru Impreza) and Gwyndaf Evans (Ford Escort Mk2) will also be mixing it with the state-of-the-art Rally2 machines.

Andrea Mabellini, ERC driver, said: “I don’t know much about the event but I’ve watched some videos on YouTube and it seems very different to what we are used to, especially because we will do the recce with right-hand-drive cars! 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.”

Meirion Evans, BRC driver, said: “It’s the one we’ve looked forward to all year, especially as a Welsh driver. It’s great to have the ERC guys come over to bring some more quality to the entry and give us all a real yardstick.

“We haven’t had that in the UK for a long time and probably never had it on Tarmac, so that’ll be quite interesting. 

“We need to monitor where we are in the British championship, especially as part of the Castrol MEM Rally Team with Chris Ingram, but it’s my home rally and to get a chance to do it in the European Championship is a complete dream, so I’d be lying if I said I won’t be looking at the overall picture as well.”

Callum Black, top-seeded National entrant, said: “This is probably the most technical rally in the country, the stages have got everything. I’d say they’re up there as some of the most rewarding stages you can drive that’s for sure, so I’m looking forward to it as I really enjoyed the rally last year.

“We have the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship to think about, so the target is to win the National which would be massive for our title defence, but I’d love to post some competitive stage times overall as well.”