In the season finale, victory went to 21-year-old Max McRae, who was driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. For the descendant of the famous rally family, it was his first win in the British Rally Championship.
McRae led the rally at the service break after four stages, but on the opening stage of the afternoon, he suffered a puncture that allowed Estonian driver Romet Jürgenson to slip past. Heading into the final special stage, Jürgenson, at the wheel of a Ford, held a 3.5-second lead, but McRae fought back and claimed victory by a margin of 5.6 seconds.
The McRae name returned to the list of British Rally Championship winners for the first time since 1998, when father Alister McRae took victory in Scotland behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf III Kit Car. The McRae family’s legendary Colin McRae has also won in the British Rally Championship, as has Max McRae’s grandfather, Jimmy McRae.
“That’s pretty cool, I wasn’t expecting that. I was a bit down after the last stage and I didn’t push super hard in that last one. I just tried to keep it nice and clean, and here we are. I’m lost for words; I mean, it’s good, we’ve shown our pace, I don’t know how we did that time, I don’t know what to say,” Max McRae commented.
The British Rally Championship title was clinched in Wales by Irishman William Creighton, who finished fourth and drives a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. He trailed the winner by 25.1 seconds, but fourth place was more than enough to secure the championship with a 16.5-point lead over Meirion Evans, who finished third in the season finale. Jürgenson took third place in the overall standings.
“What an amazing year. This season has been the first with the Yaris, first time with Melvyn Evans Motorsport, in this iconic Castrol livery, it’s been fantastic. It’s taken a lot of work to get here, and I have to say a huge thanks to everyone,” Creighton told.
“You know, the journey we’ve been on, Junior BRC, Junior WRC and now this, it’s very special. I’m just so happy, even with missing a round, we’ve been able to win the championship. Yeah, it feels good.”
Creighton won the Junior World Rally Championship title in 2023. Last season, he competed in the WRC2 category with Ford machinery, but his best result was fifth place in Latvia.
