Callum Black and Jack Morton will begin their defence of the Motorsport UK Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship titles next weekend when they contest the opening round of the 2024 series – the Legend Fires North West Stages (22/23 March) – in their 586 Sports-prepared and Pallas Connections-backed Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Callum has never contested the event before, but that’s unlikely to slow him – after all, last year was his first appearance on asphalt for 10 years and he not only won the title but was the only driver to score maximum Protyre Asphalt points on more than one round, with his four victories on the Manx National (Day 2), Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally and both days of the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion helping him to an 11-point title win.
A record 159 registrations (93 drivers and 66 co-drivers) have been received for this year’s premier sealed-surface series – including twice runner-up Neil Roskell, who will be partnered by the 2022 winning co-driver Dai Roberts in their Michelin-shod ND Civils/Lomand Plant Hire/Hauraton Drainage Products/Witham Motorsport Fiesta Rally2.
The Blackpool driver will be hoping to make a better start to the season this time, with nothing but maximum points in his sights.
The 2022 Protyre Asphalt driver’s champion Steve Wood returns in his Citroën C3 Rally2, and his Irish closed road rally experience will come in handy as he and co-driver Kenny Hull hit the Lancashire lanes.
James Ford/Neil Shanks have also had some great runs on both sides of the Irish Sea and will be quick in their Citroën C3 Rally2, as will David Wright/Paula Swinscoe in their Fix Auto/Grove Hill Garage/Dampertek Ford Fiesta R5.
His rivals consider him one of the title favourites, but Mark Kelly is playing down his chances in this year’s Protyre Asphalt Championship.
The Bolton ace has an extremely good rally win to rallies contested ratio, and finished runner-up in the 2021 Protyre Asphalt series – but he still lacks the experience of his opponents, is still getting to know his Kelmore-supported Škoda Fabia R5 and is making his first full-time return to the series since a big accident in Argyll two years ago. Mark had a relatively quiet year in 2023 – although it did include victory on the Tour of Epynt, Hills Ford 3 Shires and five other single venue events – and 2024 started extremely well with victory on the East Riding Stages. This year Mark will be co-driven by Will Atkins.
North West Stages event sponsor John Stone has been an Asphalt Championship frontrunner for 20 years and, together with co-driver Laura Marshall, will be pushing hard in his immaculate Legend Fires Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
Predicting an opening round Protyre Asphalt winner is impossible, as you cannot discount the likes of Hugh Hunter/Rob Fagg (Robert Hunter & Son Tarmac/Lewis & Hunter Contracting Fiesta Rally2), Kevin Davies/Owain Davies (Cobra Hydraulics Volkswagen Polo GTI R5), Hugh Brunton/Drew Sturrock (Škoda Fabia Rally2), Stephen Simpson/Mark Glennerster (Tudor Glass Fiesta Rally2), Wayne Sisson/Michael Hendry (AMS Arnside Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 10) – to name but a few.
There will also be a tremendous battle among the classes.
Defending class B13 and Escort Challenge champion Darren Atkinson is back, this time co-driven by Simon Walling, in his rapid Haldane Fisher Escort Mk2 – and will resume his battle with the likes of Brad Cole/Jamie Vaughan (Hydroline Solutions Escort Mk2).
Aled Wyn Morgans will make his Protyre Asphalt debut in his KGP-powered 2.5-litre Ford Escort Mk2. The Aberystwyth driver won the AWMMC Heart of England Championship in the car in 2022 and will be co-driven by Ian Taylor.
Also out in Escorts are Huw James/Lewis Sim, Gordon Montana Morrison/Ian Parker, Dave Willett/John Davies, Oliver Davies/Jack Bowen, Matt Turner/Fiona Crump, Richard Cookson/Jonathan Cragg, Peter Jackson/Sam Spencer, Geoff Roberts/Steve Hallmark, Mathew Dance/Jason Davies and Paul Evans/Callum Young.
Reigning class B11 champion Michael Harbour, co-driven by Cameron Dunn, also returns in his two-litre Vauxhall engined VS Pro Pressure Washing Services/Miller Waste Water Escort Mk2. He’ll be battling for the title with the likes of Geoff Glover/Keith Barker (Vauxhall Astra RWD), Mal Boyd/Chris Sanderson (Winsford MOT Centre Escort Mk2) and Nick Heard/Oliver Mathison (Ginetta G40).
William Hill put in some giant-killing performances last year in his Hills Ford Fiesta Rally3 to finish fourth in the overall drivers’ standings. He’s back in his four-wheel drive 1.5 litre EcoBoost engined M-Sport built car, this time co-driven by Peredur Wyn Davies.
After a three-year sabbatical from rallying, Chris West returns in his rapid Peugeot 306 Maxi. Co-driven by Keith Hounslow, the Buckinghamshire driver will be out for two-wheel drive honours and hopes to take the fight to the top four-wheel drive cars when conditions suit.
Other Protyre Asphalt crews to look out for include Roger Moran/Daniel Petrie (Moran Motorhomes Fabia R5), Mark Holmes/Mark Perryman (Mark Holmes Auto Engineering Fiesta R5), Roger Duckworth/Alun Cook (Fiesta R5), Chris Ford/Neil Colman (Citroën C3 Rally2), Roger and Tommi Henderson (DKMS We Delete Blood Cancer Fiesta Rally2), Adrian Spencer/Ashley Trimble (RED Industries/Adgespeed Subaru Impreza), John Forrest/Ashleigh Will (Literal Ink Fiesta Rally2), Jonathan Mounsey/Richard Wardle (JD Mounsey/3 Peaks Cycles/JDM Models Fiesta R5), Chris Butcher/Jonathan Hawkins (Severnside Defibs Nissan Sunny GTI F2), Mike English/Andy Robinson (Proact/Simmex/Kwiktrak/Telematic Solutions Fiesta Rally2), Richard Slinger/Mark Twiname (Mitsubishi Evo 6), Rob Hughes/Sion Cunniff (CSG Motorsport Fiesta R5), James Labey/Robbie Hannah (Weaver Motorsport Fiesta Rally2), Darrell Taylor/Dylan Thomas (Dom Buckley Motorsport Fiesta Rally2), Wayne Jones/Dafydd Evans (A Jones & Sons Tarmac Contractor/E&M Motor Factors/Nantycaws Filling Station Darrian T90 GTR), Ant Eaton/Ian Jackson (Autotest Fiesta R5), Nathan Bolton/Phil Kenny (Mitsubishi Evo 9), Sam Touzel/Aaron Nicolle (Fiesta Rally2), Lee and Cole Hastings (John Gibson & Sons Subaru Impreza), Sean and Colin Quigley (Ashley Group/RallyWorld Fiesta R5), Kalum Graffin/Richard Crozier (KG Motorsport/Kilmac Group/Lyons Road Transport/Woodland NI Peugeot 208 Rally4), Rory McCann/Paul McCann (Metalways Honda Civic), Kyle Casement/Liam McCann (Citroën C2), Max Murray/Matty Owen (Citroën C2), Tim Cole/David Sutcliffe (BMW E36 Compact), Bobby MacDonald/Martin MacCabe (Subaru Impreza) and Nikki Addison/Iain Thorburn (Honda Civic).
Class B9 champions Mark and Andrew Constantine (CBS Vauxhall Corsa) will resume their battle with Nicky Cowperthwaite/Helen Hall (Cowperthwaite’s Garage/H&K Travel Opel Corsa) and the rapid Simon Hunter/Howard Pridmore (Kwiktrak Vauxhall Corsa S1400).
Former Scottish Ladies’ rally champion Ashleigh Morris (co-driven by Emma Morrison) returns in her Fiesta R200. Having finished runner-up in the R2 class last year, she is aiming to beat the reigning class champions Archie Swinscoe/Jane Nicol (Rallytech Vauxhall Adam) this time.
The 2024 Legend Fires North West Stages begins with a ceremonial start in Garstang High Street on the evening of Friday 22 March – followed by 11 challenging closed road stages totalling 65 miles the following day.
Live coverage from all the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship rounds can be found on the Special Stage TV Facebook and YouTube channels. New for 2024 is that to complement the spectacular action from within selected stages, Paul Woodford will be doing stage end driver interviews as well.
Spectator information is available on northweststages.co.uk.
For more information on the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship, please go to asphaltrallying.com.
Wishing all present a safe and exciting event