The organisers of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship have confirmed that they have received a bumper crop of entries for this year's 50th anniversary.
Indeed by mid-March 36 drivers and 35 co-drivers had registered, exceeding the total amount received last year by one and with over a month still to go to the first round - the Pirelli International Rally, which runs from April 18-19 - more could yet join the field.
Thus far 19 have entered in the main R4 class, including the likes of reigning champion Guy Wilks,
Crash.net columnist David Higgins and his brother Mark, as well as ex-PWRC regular Juho Hanninen, Pirelli Star driver winner, Darren Gass, Rob Swann, Wyn Humphries and many, many more.
Three drivers meanwhile are listed in the R3 class, while eight have entered in the R2 and six in the R1 categories. Of those six in the R1 all will be battling it out for the inaugural Suzuki Swift Sport Cup, amongst them Nick Rowland, who is also writing exclusively this year for
Crash.net.
Registrations have come from England, Scotland, Wales and both sides of the Irish border as well as Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
"We are delighted with the increased interest and entries for the 2008 season, the competition is shaping up to be the hottest yet and there are still so very good calibre drivers yet to sign up." said BRC manager Mark Taylor. "I think it shows that there is a demand for high quality, well organised events, providing great camaraderie amongst the crews and teams, a real 'rally' experience with recce and plenty of stage mileage to go at.
"We offer an opportunity to win money in every class and the Pirelli Star Driver competition will be hotly contested in 2008, providing the eventual winner with a fully funded top flight drive in 2009."
The complete list of registered drivers and cars received so far - up to March 14 - is as follows:
Guy Wilks Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Juho Hanninen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Mark Higgins MG ZR Super 2000
R4
David Higgins Subaru Impreza N14
R4
Phillip Morrow Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Darren Gass Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Stuart Jones MG ZR Super 2000
R4
Rob Swann Subaru Impreza N14
R4
Andreas Sjolander Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Wyn Humphreys Subaru Impreza N14
R4
Jonny Greer Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Daniel Barry Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
David Meredith Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Hugh Evans Subaru Impreza N14
R4
Karl Simmons Subaru Impreza N12
R4
Melis Charambous Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
R4
Dale Robertson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6
R4
James Wozencroft TBC
R4
Simon Hughes TBC
R4
Stephen Graham Vauxhall Astra D
R3
Fin McCaul BMW 120D
R3
Brian O'Mahony Renault Clio Super 1600
R3
