Rally Isle of Man gears up for September spectacular
This year’s Rally Isle of Man (13-15 September) is gearing up to be a truly spectacular event, with an 18 stage, 140 stage mile route over some of the island’s classic asphalt stages.
The full three day International Rally Isle of Man will host the fifth and penultimate round of the 2018 Prestone MSA British Rally Championship, as well as the FIA Celtic Rally Trophy.
The National Rally Isle of Man is also a three day event, following the route of the International, and is a round of the BRC National Rally Cup. The event incorporates the Rallee Classicagh, which is a round of the Mintex British Historic and RAC Historic Asphalt Championships, as well as the HRCR Historic Stage Masters Rally Challenge. The National event also counts towards Motor-Mall (IoM) Manx Rally Championship points.
The Rally Isle of Man Trophy is a one and a half day event, starting on the Friday night and run over nine stages (SS10-18). This event is also valid for Motor-Mall (IoM) Manx Rally Championship points.
The International, National, Rallee Classicagh and Trophy sections of the event are open to non-championship competitors.
To allow visiting teams to reach the Isle of Man easily, the Steam Packet Company operates 27 sailings a week from Heysham, Liverpool two sailings a week from Belfast and one sailing a week from Dublin to Douglas, so it’s never been easier to transport rally cars to and from the Isle of Man. Indeed, the ferry timetable from Belfast has been adjusted to make it even more convenient for Irish crews to come and contest the event, with service personnel and rally cars spending the minimum amount of time on the island.
The event also has a very attractive travel and accommodation package deal for marshals – with four people in one car, ferry crossing and accommodation for three nights costing just £65 per person. All the marshals who help run the event will be entered into a marshals’ prize draw with a chance to win some fantastic prizes.
The event will split into four legs, with Leg 1 containing three stages, Leg 2 (six stages), Leg 3 (four stages) and Leg 4 (five stages). There will also be a Shakedown Stage and two dedicated Town Centre Spectator Stages.
There has been a number of new appointments within the event organising team, with Robert Graham (a highly respected rally organiser and Isle of Man-based Chartered Quantity Surveyor) taking over as the International Rally Isle of Man Clerk of the Course, and Neil Cross (the BTRDA Rallies Committee Chairman and Clerk of the Course for the Nicky Grist Stages) becoming the National Rally Isle of Man Clerk of the Course. Cross and Kris Killip are also Deputy CoCs for the main event. Jayne Gaylor is the Secretary of the Meeting, while Paul Farley comes in as the Event Safety Officer.
The new Rally Isle of Man Organising Committee is John Gill (Chairman), Rob Graham, Paul Farley, Neil Cross, Adam Warburton, Jayne Gaylor, Ali Graham, Sally Helwich, Mark Wrigley, Kris Killip, Caroline Lyon, David Thompson and Peter Young.
John Gill, Rally Isle of Man Chairman, said: “We are delighted to have opened entries for this year’s Rally Isle of Man and look forward to welcoming all old and new crews to the island, which is the home of closed road motorsport.”
The Entries are now open and Regulations, as well as other event information such as the Marshals’ travel package, is available at: rally.im.
