The RAVENOL BTRDA® Rally Series is recognised as the most popular rally championship in the UK, and for 2016 there have been some major sponsorship developments as lubricant manufacturer RAVENOL UK will take over as sole title sponsor of this prestigious series, Thomas Panels and Profiles will take over as title sponsor of the 1400 Championship, whilst Vital Equipment will continue as the sponsor of the Rally First Championship.
The RAVENOL BTRDA® Rally Series is split into four distinct championships:
• The RAVENOL BTRDA Gold Star® Championship which is open to all cars over 1400cc
• The RAVENOL BTRDA Silver Star® Championship which is for two wheel drive cars over 1400cc
• The Thomas Panels and Profiles 1400 Championship for cars up to 1400cc
• The Vital Equipment Rally First Championship for standard production cars up to 1600cc
Part of the RAVENOL support package to encourage competitor participation, will include a £60 voucher for Ravenol Motorsport products for every driver that registers for the RAVENOL BTRDA Rally Series up to and including Round 3. As the cost of BTRDA membership and driver registration is just £60, the voucher from Ravenol means that registration is effectively free. That is except for drivers under 25 who are joining BTRDA for the first time. For them the cost of membership and registration is already free, so the RAVENOL £60 voucher is a bonus.
BTRDA® Rally First has been one of the successes of the BTRDA® Rally Series and this low cost category for ‘standard’ cars has three categories: up to 1000cc, 1001cc – 1400cc and 1401cc to 1600cc. Registered competitors in the BTRDA Rally First Championship receive a discount of £50 on their entry fee for each event. In addition, the overall Rally First Champion driver will receive three free Rally First entries in 2017 and each class winner will receive 2 free Rally First entries in 2017.
New for 2016 are the SVP 205 Cup and the Fiesta ST Trophy. The BTRDA Historic Cup and MG ZR Challenge will continue in 2016.
In each Championship/Category, competitors score points on six of the first eight events entered.
All events will have a 30 minute programme dedicated to the Series on Motors TV which is now available on Freeview. This programme will be supplemented by additional coverage in the Special Stage fortnightly review programmes whenever possible. Additional support for the RAVENOL BTRDA Rally Series has been secured from Mintex, Revolution Wheels, Hyundai Genpower and Patterson’s Pacenotes.
For more information about the BTRDA® Rally Series and all the events go to: www.btrdarally.com
The 2016 Championship Calendar provides a choice of 8 Classic Nat B forest rallies.
- 13 Feb Cambrian Rally – Llandudno/North Wale
- 12 Mar Malcolm Wilson Rally – Cockermouth/Lake District
- 16 Apr Somerset Stages – Minehead/North Somerset
- 14 May Plains Rally – Welshpool/West Wales
- 11 Jun Carlisle Rally – Longtown/Kielder Forest West
- 9 July Nicky Grist Stages – Builth Wells/Mid Wales
- 3 Sept Woodpecker Stages – Ludlow/Shropshire
- 1 Oct Trackrod Rally – Pickering/Yorkshire