MOTORSPORT: Swedish rally star set for International Circuit Challenge

That’s according to Event Director, Bobby Willis who gave details of the plans when speaking from the British Rally Championship stand at the Autosport International Motor Racing Show in Birmingham last week. Fredrik Ahlin

The event, which will take place in Northern Ireland, will be based in Ballymena Showgrounds on April 7 and 8 and will feature 30 invited drivers in internationally recognised R5 cars.

They will tackle eight stages in the Mid and East Antrim areas with the whole event being streamed globally on the internet.

Willis, the man who built the Circuit of Ireland into a top European event, reluctantly had to withdraw the rally from the 2017 European Rally Championship series when guarantees of funding could not be secured before the championship deadline.

But rather than allow the momentum built up over the past eight years to diminish, Willis has stepped in with an innovative event until the Circuit of Ireland can return in 2018.

“It is regrettable that due to circumstances beyond our control we could not run a European Championship Circuit of Ireland this year however the intention is to be back in 2018,” said Willis.

“It is important to keep the team together; to maintain the momentum and it’s always good to try something new. It was also imperative for us to retain the road closing order which enables the Circuit to take place.

“The International Circuit Challenge will consist of two separate stages. Stage one will be tackled twice in the morning and twice again in the afternoon but in the reverse direction. The format will be the same for day two using a different stage, making a total of eight stages and some 80 miles of competitive driving.

“It promises to be a spectacular event and I’ve already had positive feedback from a number of our leading drivers including the likes of Marty McCormack, Desi Henry, Joe McGonigle and Jonny Greer who all figured strongly on last year’s Circuit of Ireland. The five-time winner of the Circuit, Derek McGarrity, is also looking forward to the competition.

“In addition, reaction from the British Rally Championship teams has been equally encouraging with Martin Wilkinson of the CA1 Sport team, which ran both the Swedish star Fredrik Ahlin and the former British Champion, David Bogie in the BRC last season, enthusiastically confirming both his star drivers will be entering.

“With drivers from England, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales all showing a keen interest I think we can expect a very competitive international field. Having the British Rally Championship within our entry list in 2016, was a major bonus for the event and we are looking forward to welcoming their drivers back, for this ‘head to head’ competition in 2017.”

The rally will be based at Ballymena Showgrounds and the live TV streaming coverage will be hosted by former World production championship-winning co-driver Trevor Agnew who guided the ground-breaking internet coverage of last year’s Circuit of Ireland.

It was watched in 130 countries from Australia to Azerbaijan, from Brazil to Bahrain, and viewed for just short of an incredible TWO MILLION minutes – that’s more than 33,000 hours.