Make a Rallyday date for September 22, 2018
Following a hugely successful Rallyday 2017, the organisers of the Castle Combe event have confirmed next year’s Rallyday will run on September 22.
In addition to firming up on the date — which falls neatly between World Rally Championship rounds in Turkey and Britain’s own Wales Rally GB — Rallyday has also decided on the themes for 2018.
Next year will focus on celebrating two key years in British rallying: 1958 and 1968.
1958 was the first year of the RAC British Rally Championship, while 1968 was the first year the Ford Escort Mk 1 competed. Standing alone — and working together — those two have created some of the biggest names in our sport.
Rallyday organiser Tom Davis said: “The British Rally Championship is, without a doubt, the national series with the biggest reputation around the world. And the last couple of years have shown the BRC is closing in on the halcyon days of the Seventies, when it came close to rivalling the world championship in terms of popularity.
“Celebrating 60 years of the BRC is a fantastic opportunity to mark the series’ incredible history, with such Rallyday favourites as Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Hannu Mikkola all having taken the title and used it as a springboard to world championship glory.
“Naturally, we will also be reveling in our home-grown BRC heroes: the McRae family, Richard Burns and many, many more.”
There was a temptation for Rallyday to focus on the BRC, but the arrival of Ford’s iconic — and in many ways game-changing Ford Escort Mk 1 — a decade down the line, it had to be a joint celebration.
“Everybody loves the Mk 1 Escort,” said Davis. “There’s so much history about this car and so much of it is relevant to Rallyday. We’re delighted to reveal we will be paying homage to the original Escort Twin Cam.
“We’ve got plenty of cars and drivers lined up for both the Escort and the BRC celebration and 10 months from today, we will look to do both proud when Rallyday 2018 kicks off at Castle Combe on Sepetmber 22.”
The good news for rally fans is that Rallyday tickets are on sale already at rallyday.com, with a discounted price for early purchase (until March 31, 2018). An adult ticket is priced at £15. Under-17s will be admitted free with one adult ticket.
