Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke will aim for a recording-breaking sixth Manx Rally win when they start Round 2 of the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship this weekend (11/12 April) in their Pirelli-shod North Road Garage Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
The triple Protyre Asphalt champions won the Manx for the first time in 2014 and followed that up with victory in 2015, ’16, ’18 and ’19 – each time in a Ford Focus WRC 05.
Having also won other events on the Isle of Man – like the 2021 PokerStars Rally and the 2017 Rally Isle of Man Historic – Jason will start this year’s event as favourite. But despite twice winning the Manx by over three minutes, the Builth Wells ace will face the toughest competition yet for his IOM crown.
Not least from 2022 Manx Rally winner Neil Roskell, who returns in his Michelin-shod ND Civils/Burdens/Witham Motorsport Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Co-driven by Rob Fagg, the Blackpool driver took home third-placed points on the opening East Riding Stages and another strong performance on the non-championship West Cork Rally has kept Neil closed lane match fit in the interim seven weeks.
2022 Protyre Asphalt champion Steve Wood finished second on last year’s Manx and excels on those classic stages. Co-driven by Kenny Hull, the Aberystwyth driver will also be out for victory in his Citroën C3 Rally2.
Mark Kelly will be keen to reboot his title challenge after skidding off the road in East Riding – but with the best five out of seven rounds to count, that will merely go down as one of his two dropped scores. His pace when he got his new Kelmore Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 back on the Yorkshire roads was phenomenal, and while he and co-driver Will Atkins still have a lot to learn about the car, victory is well within their capabilities.
Sam Touzel started his Protyre Asphalt campaign with a strong fifth-placed points finish in his Smart Scaffolding/Express Auto Parts Fiesta Rally2. Having won his home Jersey Rally last year, the St. Helier driver will be more confident on his return to the Isle of Man (having scored a magnificent top 10 result on his Manx debut last year) and, together with co-driver Max Freeman, is thundering towards his first Protyre Asphalt rally win.
Stephen Simpson has 20 years of Manx Rally experience under his belt and the 2007 Protyre Asphalt champion will put that to excellent use when he and Mark Glennerster tackle the event in their immaculate Tudor Glass Fiesta Rally2.
Also in a powerful Ford and aiming for a good result will be Brad Cole/Jamie Vaughan – who gave their Trick Motorsport prepared and East Budleigh Garage run Hydroline Solutions Fiesta Rally2 a very strong first finish on the East Riding – together with David Wright/Jane Nicol (GPM/DamperTek/Grove Hill Garage Fiesta R5), Roger Duckworth/Ian Windress (Technia Fiesta R5), Darrell Taylor/Cat Lund (Dom Buckley Motorsport-prepared Fiesta Rally2), Nathan Bolton/Phil Kenny (Monza Installs Fiesta Rally2), Roger and Tommi Henderson (DKMS We Delete Blood Cancer Fiesta Rally2), Mike English/Andy Robinson (Lumina Surveillance/Finer Detailers/Kwiktrak Fiesta Rally2) and Cristian Davies/Christian Brown (Fiesta Proto). And not forgetting Lee Edwards/Sam Spencer in their glorious 3-litre Escort G3.
Michael Harbour won the class B11 title in 2023 and finished runner-up in class last year in an Escort Mk2. This year the Ayr driver has switched to a Hamilton Haulage/VS Pro Pressure Washing Services-backed Fiesta R5 and will make his debut in the car, with Cameron Dunn on the pace notes, on the Isle of Man.
Hugh Brunton was flying on the East Riding and had just moved into seventh overall when he crashed his Škoda Fabia Rally2. Co-driven by Richard Crozier this time, the Arbroath man is overdue a top result, and there is nowhere more rewarding than the Isle of Man to achieve that.
Six-time Protyre Asphalt champion Damian Cole will return to the Isle of Man for the first time since 2021 as he contests the event in his Get Connected Citroën C3 Rally2. A split turbo boost pipe, caused by the windscreen wiper mechanism slicing through it, slowed him on the East Riding Stages, but the Abergavenny driver will be back up to full speed on the Manx, ably co-driven by Rhodri Evans.
The battle for the classes will be fierce, and many will also be chasing a top overall result. These include Oli Hopkins/Ian Taylor, who always fly on the island in their pocket-rocket Hopkins Motorsport Mitsubishi Mirage.
Those brave enough to unleash the top speed of a Mitsubishi Lancer can reap big rewards – and there are few more fearless than Oli’s brother Philip Hopkins, who will be out in his Hopkins Race Transporters Mitsubishi Evo 6.
Wayne Sisson finished third on the 2018 Manx – the year in which he finished runner-up in the overall Protyre Asphalt driver standings. This will be the Carnforth driver’s first rally of 2025 as he teams up with co-driver Keir Beaton in his rapid AMS Arnside Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 10.
Tony and Chris Davies, Adam Midghall/Thomas Pidden and Paul Murphy/Richard Robinson all start in Evo 9s.
The Protyre Asphalt Championship is also a happy hunting ground for well driven Subarus and showing what a hard-charging Impreza can still achieve on narrow challenging lanes will be Richard Clews/Carl Williamson, Chris Rice/Charley Sayer-Payne and Arwel Parry/Iestyn Williams.
Chris Simmons/Frazer Moss will be aiming for the top 2WD spot in their Darrian T90 GTR, while also aiming for a great result will be Richard Poole/James Clarke (BMW M3 E36), Neil Matthews/Daniel Petrie (Proton Satria) and Chris Ford/Neil Colman (Citroën C3 Rally2). Cal McCarthy (co-driven by Eric Calnan) comes over from Clonakilty in his Citroën C3 Rally2, while John Stone has entered in his Legend Fires/Legend Performance Engineering Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
The battle for top Escort honours, and the prestigious Escort Challenge award, will be keenly fought and led by class leaders Huw James/Lewis Sim in their A&D Tyres Escort Mk2 – while Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt will once again be hot on their heels in their Jaspers Bakeries Escort Mk2.
John Morgan/Llinos Jones-Edwards return in their Aberystwyth Motorsport Escort RS1800, as do Gordon Montana Morrison/Ashleigh Will in their Lochwinnoch Motors Heavy Haulage Escort Mk2, while Antony Allery/Richard Bonner, Jake Smith/Dave Tortoishell, David Mills/Harvey Roberts, Bradley Carroll/Gareth Short, Paul Robins/Jordan Wilkinson, Ian Holt/Phil Boyle, Neil Jones/Alan Thomas, Adam Holt/Tony Vart, Philip Jones/Andrew Richards, Alyn Welsby/Dan Parsons, Bryn Jones/Brian Jones, Mal Boyd/Dannii Matthews, Ben Hardy/Daniel Long, and John and Rachael McCullough and all appear in Escorts.
The classes have attracted an enormous assortment of cars, including George Merrills/Colin Blunt (Honda Civic Type R), Alex Kirk-Willey/Sasha Heriot (Vauxhall Corsa S1600), Anthony Jevons/Margaret Kelly (Ford Fiesta Rally2), Max Murray/Matty Owen (BVS Vehicles Citroën DS3 R3T), Kyle Casement/Liam McCann (BVS Vehicles/FRM Rally Management Citroën C2), George Heighway/Tim Currie (Heighway Ltd/ASM Developments Toyota Corolla AE86), Jack Edwards/Adam Burkill (Mold Tyres/Porthmadog Holiday Let Vauxhall Nova), Dan Davies/James Hood (BSB Motorsport Opel Corsa), Roger Holder/Yvonne Walton (Honda Civic), Toney Webb/Sophie Buckland (Suzuki Swift), Gareth Mimnagh/Barry McCarney (CM Trust Fiesta Rally2) and Luke Constantine/Ifan Devine (Constantine Motorsport Opel Adam R2).
Mark Holmes (co-driven on this occasion by Mark Perryman) will be aiming to take the lead in the BTRDA Historic Asphalt Cup in his ND Civils/Mark Holmes Auto Engineering Escort Mk1, as the growing Historic classes arrive on the island. These include Graham Muter/Russell Josep (AES Motorsport Escort RS2000), Mike Simpson/Sam Weller (Self Storage Worcester/Physio Joint Escort RS1800), Will Onions/Dave Williams (BMW M3 E30), Richard Hill/Patrick Cooper (RH Motors Escort RS1800), Ian Robertson/Andy Scott (Connaught Competition Engines/PACE IOM Hillman Avenger), Shane Gamble/Julie Perry (Mini Cooper S) and Ian Clare/Chris Chapman (J&S handling/DT Training/Fluid Power Supplies/Melia Accounting Wolseley Hornet).
Having retired from the East Riding Stages, Gareth Humphreys/Aaron Mallin will be keen to get some Protyre Asphalt Mini Challenge points on the board in their Stratos Motorsport Cooper S. They’ll be up against the likes of Jack Birch/Mike Jode (Mini Cooper S).
Action from the Manx Rally will be streamed live and free-to-view on the Special Stage TV Facebook and YouTube channels.
Organised by Manx Auto Sport, this year’s Proflex Manx Rally contains three legs, 18 stages and 118.98 stage miles, spread over two days. Legs 1 and 2 take place on Friday 11 April, with the opening section (five stages/22.71 miles) running from 11:00-13:30 and the second (five stages/36.05 miles) from 18:35-21:30. Leg 3 on Saturday 12 April is the longest, as it runs from 09:15-15:30 and contains eight stages totalling 60.22 miles. The start, finish and service are all located at TT Grandstand in Douglas.
2025 Proflex Manx Rally – top 10 seeds
1. Neil Roskell/Rob Fagg (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
2. Mark Kelly/Will Atkins (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)
3. David Wright/Jane Nicol (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
4. Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)
5. Ryan Loughran/Gareth Doherty (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
6. Sam Touzel/Max Freeman (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
7. Hugh Brunton/Richard Crozier (Škoda Fabia Rally2)
8. Aaron McLaughlin/Darren Curran (Volkswagon Polo GTI R5)
9. Marty Toner/Aodhan Gallagher (Proton Satria)
10. Steve Wood/Kenny Hull (Citroën C3 Rally2)
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