This classic rally will have a real impact on the results of the season-long battle, as it carries a hefty bonus, the event having two points-scoring opportunities. 20 points are available from the first eleven stages, with 30 points on offer from the remaining thirteen stages.
Coupled with a season total calculated from the best five of six available scores, it is impossible to speculate on a winner ahead of the 166 mile rally and any one of five crews could mathematically still take the title.
2013 Pirelli Star Driver Daniel McKenna does have a 12 point buffer and the Irishman, with countryman co-driver Arthur Kierans alongside, also has the psychological advantage with three wins to rival Osian Pryce’s one.
But Welsh duo Pryce and Dale Furniss can still win the BRC and parallel Citroën Racing Trophy on merit, victory from both rounds at the weekend sufficient to eke a single point advantage over McKenna even if the latter took two second places.
It is nail-biting action in prospect for the 2014 MSA British Rally Championship title, both crews hoping to add new names to the magnificent solid silver trophy, a further three needing them to fail to be in with a shout.
However, after its last inclusion in the BRC in 2010, the return of Rally Isle of Man to the calendar brings with it its own challenges, many crews unfamiliar with the nature of the stages, some fast and flowing, others bumpy and narrow with notoriously unforgiving solid banks to catch out the unwary.
Results in the BRC’s RallyTwo championship, Class BRC2 and FordFiesta SportTrophy also need to be decided, Dean Raftery/Aileen Kelly and Calvin Beattie/Emmet Sherry likely to be the front-runners in all three title fights. But currently ahead in the Fiesta series and an astonishing third overall in the MSA British Rally Championship is former kart racer Gus Greensmith, although the youngster still needs to drop a score en-route to the end of the season.
Greensmith merely needs to start the event to be assured of the MSA British Junior Rally Championship and BRC3 titles, his rival Chris Wheeler unable to overhaul him on points. But the young Devonian and his Welsh co-driver Yan Griffiths could still snatch the Fiesta title if Greensmith falters.
In the NGK Spark Plugs BRC Challenge Trophy any one of three could still win the title, former champ Richard Sykes keen to have his name alongside now regular co-driver Emma Morrison on the trophy.
Ross Hunter and Josh Davison have other ideas though, the Scottish driver eager to repeat the win on his home gravel event back in June. Also fast on asphalt, his Peugeot has an age disadvantage to Sykes’ Citroën, but overall they are well matched machines.
Making it an all French affair are fellow Scots Graeme Sherry and Cameron Fair in a Renault Clio, a difficult season meaning they will have to hope for misfortune ahead to stand any chance of the series win.
The Wales Rally GB and MSA British Rally Championship Road to Wales partnership means that there are more than titles to fight for on the Island. The top three in the main series, winning BRC RallyTwo, MSA British Junior and NGK Spark Plugs BRC Challenge Trophy Champions and Star of the Future all take a free entry to the World Rally Championship finale in November.
At the end of a truly sad season, the death of BRC driver Timothy Cathcart is still at the forefront of the minds of the entire motorsport community, a sport that the young Northern Irishman loved, but that also claimed the lives of three spectators this year.
Despite the tragedies, the main protagonists in the series will make the trip to this Mecca of motorsport this weekend, vowing to honour the memories of lost friends and supporters during their fight for the title.
The event begins on Thursday 11th September on Douglas promenade, with a ceremonial start and side-by-side spectator special stage, the first of four tests on the opening night.
The following day crews will tackle 13 closed roads special stages across the island between 9am and 11pm, headlined by the double run through Castletown in the evening, always popular with large numbers of spectators.
The action continues on Saturday, a further seven stages building up to the traditional finale, the Classic stage that takes crews across the island, starting near Ballaugh and ending with the dash through the streets of Douglas to the finish at the TT Grandstand, where the champagne will await the victors.
