The 2001 Formula Rally Championship was a one off series for rally cars running to Super 1600 regulations. The championship was run as a replacement for the cancelled 2001 British Rally Championship. Technical regulations stated that cars must not cost more than $100,000 and only 4 mechanics were allowed to work on a single car in services to control costs. Rallies in the series also counted as point scoring rounds for the one make Ford Puma, Ford Ka, Volkswagen Polo and Peugeot 106 championships. The series was won by 1998 British Rally Champion Martin Rowe after Justin Dale and the Peugeot Works Team were excluded from the championship due to a homologation issue at the final round. The same homologation issues also led to the exclusion of the Works Proton team and its driver Mats Andersson. Ford were the manufacturers champions.
Calendar edit
| Round | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rapid Fit Rally of Wirral | 12 May |
| 2 | Silverstone Rally | 9 June |
| 3 | R&M Williams Welsh Rally | 12 August |
| 4 | Kumho Tyres Scottish Rally | 15 September |
| 5 | Barretts Rally of Kent | 13 October |
| 6 | Jim Clark Memorial Rally | 2–3 November |
| 7 | Prodrive Banbury Rally | 10 November |
Entry List edit
| Entrant | Manufacturer | Car | No | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satria Rally Team (Harry Hockly Motorsport) | Proton | Satria Kit Car | 1 | Mats Andersson | All |
| Satria Rally Team (Harry Hockly Motorsport) | Proton | Satria Kit Car | 2 | Neil Collins | 1-2 |
| Volkswagen Motorsport (SBG Sport) | Volkswagen | Polo GTI | 3 | Neil Simpson | 1-2 |
| Volkswagen Motorsport (SBG Sport) | Volkswagen | Polo GTI | 3 | David Higgins | 4-7 |
| Peugeot Sport UK | Peugeot | 106 Maxi | 5 | Justin Dale | All |
| Rapid Fit Ford Racing | Ford | Puma S1600 | 7 | Martin Rowe | All |
| Rapid Fit Ford Racing | Ford | Puma S1600 | 8 | Patrick Magaud | All |
| Rapid Fit Ford Racing | Ford | Puma S1600 | 9 | Francois Duval | 2, 5 |
| Martin Meadows | Proton | Satria Kit Car | 11 | Martin Meadows | All |
| Christer Steén | Skoda | Felicia Kit Car | 12 | Christer Steén | 1 |
| Robert Woodside | Ford | Puma S1600 | 14 | Robert Woodside | All |
| Sanspeed | Peugeot | 106 Maxi | 15 | Martin Sansom | All |
| Faintree Motorsport | Citroen | Saxo Kit Car | 17 | Paul Wedgbury | All |
| Major Motorsport | Ford | Puma S1600 | 18 | Simon Mauger | 1-3 |
| Major Motorsport | Proton | Satria Kit Car | 18 | Simon Mauger | 5-7 |
| Asquith Autosport | Citroen | Saxo Kit Car | 19 | Max McKillen | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 |
| Ian Barrett | Proton | Satria Kit Car | 21 | Ian Barrett | All |
| Gethin Jones | Vauxhall | Corsa Kit Car | 26 | Gethin Jones | 1 |
| David Henderson | Ford | Puma 1400 | 34 | David Henderson | All |
| Rory Galligan | Peugeot | 106 GTI | 29 | Rory Galligan | All |
| Ryan Champion | Peugeot | 106 GTI | 32 | Ryan Champion | All |
| Shaun Woffinden | Ford | Puma 1400 | 33 | Shaun Woffinden | All |
| Guy Wilks | Ford | Puma 1400 | 35 | Guy Wilks | All |
| Kris Meeke | Peugeot | 106 GTI | 50 | Kris Meeke | All |
| Garry Jennings | Peugeot | 106 GTI | 76 | Garry Jennings | All |
| Michael Brew | Peugeot | 106 GTI | 30 | Michael Brew | All |
| Darren Snape | Ford | Ka | 55 | Darren Snape | All |
| Ian Forgan | Ford | Ka | 56 | Ian Forgan | All |
| Jack Ingleby | Ford | Ka | 57 | Jack Ingleby | All |
| David Bateson | Volkswagen | Polo 16v | 44 | David Bateson | All |
| Clive Wheeler | Volkswagen | Polo 16v | 45 | Clive Wheeler | All |
| Adrian Kermode | Volkswagen | Polo 16v | 47 | Adrian Kermode | All |
| James Smith | Volkswagen | Polo 16v | 62 | James Smith | All |
| Simon Selby | Ford | Puma 1400 | 51 | Simon Selby | All |
| Mark Wheeler | Ford | Puma 1400 | 38 | Mark Wheeler | All |
Drivers Championship edit
| Pos | Entrant | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EX | Justin Dale | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | (6) | 0 | 10 | 42 |
| 1 | Martin Rowe | 10 | 10 | 6 | 0 | (4) | 10 | 6 | 42 |
| 2 | Patrick Magaud | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| 3 | François Duval | - | 4 | - | - | 10 | - | - | 14 |
| 4 | David Higgins | - | - | - | 1 | - | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| = | Martin Sansom | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Simon Mauger | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| EX | Mats Andersson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 7 | David Henderson | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Max McKillen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| = | Michael Brew | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Garry Jennings | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| = | Paul Wedgbury | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Rory Galligan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Neil Simpson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = | Neil Collins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Manufacturers Championship edit
| Pos | Entrant | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford | 20 | 20 | 15 | (12) | 20 | 20 | (15) | 95 |
| EX | Peugeot | 15 | 15 | 20 | 20 | (15) | 0 | 20 | 90 |
| 2 | Volkswagen | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 15 | 48 |
| EX | Proton | 12 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 45 |