NEWCASTLE Emlyn driver James Williams switches focus this weekend, as he puts his ambitions in the British Rally Championship on pause and goes in search of asphalt experience on the Isle of Man, the iconic motorsport destination – home to the second and third round of the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship.
Williams, along with co-driver Ross Whittock currently lead the competitive sealed-surface standings after taking victory on the opening round on the North West Stages. The next challenge is the Manx Rally – a two day affair on the closed public roads of the island – which are also renowned the world over for hosting the famous Isle of Man TT.
The 26-year-old last visited the island in the Irish Sea in 2017, in his Junior BRC days. A lot has changed since then, with the Newcastle Emlyn-based driver now equipped with the latest four-wheel-drive, turbocharged Hyundai i20 Rally2 from Hyundai Motorsport.
The visit to the island will serve several opportunities for the Orange Amps – supported driver this weekend. Firstly, the Welsh wizard will be gunning for maximum points in the championship to cement his position at the top of the standings. Williams is also keen to use it as an important test before the next round of the British Rally Championship which returns to Tarmac at the end of month. Finally, James will be hungry to secure his first ever outright rally win – a feat he would love to do on the fast and flowing Manx roads this weekend.
“This is a big rally,” enthused Williams. "The Isle of Man is famous for motorsport, not just on two wheels but four as well – with many British rally champions crowned here. I was last here in 2017, and I can remember it well – it is a special place – with very special roads.
“You have to be very committed here, very fast flowing roads, wide in places and then narrow, width of the car stuff in other places, bumps and jumps - it has the lot!
“The rally is a long one – lots of mileage under the belt for the British Championship, but I‘m not just here for testing – I want to win this rally – it’s a real bucket list thing for me and I want to come away with my lead in the National Asphalt Championship too. I am under no illusion, I haven’t been here recently – so it will be a challenge and I relish it. There are some good drivers here – with four or five potential winners – so it’s going to be a real ding, dong fight from the word go.”
The rally gets underway on Friday morning (10 May) with nine stages leading competitors into the darkness with a further six stages on Saturday (11 May) providing a total of 127 miles over the two days.
2024 Probite British Rally Championship Calendar
Round 1 – Legend Fires North West Stages – 22 March
Round 2 – Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages – 13 April
Round 3 – Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally – 24 May
Round 4 – Voyonic Grampian Forest Rally – 9 August
Round 5 – JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion – 31 August
Round 6 – Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally – 26 October