The traditional rallying season start was upon Richard Weatherley and Shaun Layland....the Brands Hatch Winter Stages was here! For this event they would head to Brands Hatch Race Circuit which is not too far from Richard's home town for the Winter Stages. This seems to be the staple event every year for the pairing and marks the beginning of their 4th season as a pairing.
Due to various reasons for both Richard and Shaun the lead up to the event was not how they would've liked but through showing true grit and resilience they pressed o regardless and were ready for the 2026 season to get underway as car they pulled up to the first event seeded car 8. As ever, Shaun would make the pilgrimage from down south up to Richards the night before the event, which allowed them some crucial time together to go over some "notes" for the event. This style of rallying doesn't use notes and instead uses stage diagrams/ maps. Luckily though this plays right into Shaun's hands with the huge wealth of experience he has from many years of rallying on OS Maps. Naturally the stages weren't identical to last years rendition of the event though so they studied and pieced together what they could from previous onboard footage. A good study session and it was time for bed before the first day of the 2026 season on Saturday!
Rally day came and it was an early start to head to the circuit ready for the rally season to begin. All was under control and with the team having scrutineered on the Friday it was a semi relaxing start to the day with just map collection to do. A relatively chilled out morning, with just the obligatory checks to do and it was time for SS1. The weather was mild and damp under the tyres, but no rain in the air so as the stages are notoriously slippy here for the start of the day the safe tyre choice was chosen. A good push in the first stage saw the team laying 3rd overall, just 7s away from the lead. With the car feeling good and the team happy with their opening performance it was time for a brief bit of analyse between Richard and Shaun to see where they feel they may be able to make up some time. SS2 was a repeat of the previous and with no "dry line" formed yet it was a case of another safe tyre choice to build the confidence. That's exactly what they did by setting another joint 3rd fastest time to maintain their overall position.
SS 3 was where it began to mix up a bit with the rally leaders being disqualified for taking a wrong split and cutting back through the stage furniture, so it meant the fight was on! With nothing to report for the car and just fuel needed it was a case of simply pushing on again and giving the car some revs around the crowd favourites "paddock hill bend" and "druids". Neat, tidy and committed was the plan and this resulted in another 3rd fastest time, which in theory put the team up to 2nd overall and just 2s away from the overall spot. SS 4 being a repeat of the previous stage showed familiarity and with a dry line formed it was now time to swap the tyres and try that little bit harder. Another sterling performance saw a joint 2nd fastest time and the illusive stage win still escaping their grasp. The pace was fierce though and their time in Belgium throughout the 2025 FIRC season has pushed them on and is now proving to have developed some incredible pace!
Half way through the day and 4 more stages lay ahead. More fuel needed and a brief inspection of the car was completed, with no issues arising. Car and team fuelled so it was now time to try and eat away at the top spot. SS 5 started in a different place and some stage furniture had moved around to spice things up and also give us a new stage to try. This stage proved to set up an intense battle with the team claiming a joint fastest time overall with the leaders and with the grip levels now the highest they'd been all day long it was time to keep the pressure on. No changes needed in service before SS 6, so it was a case of enjoying the social aspect of this event with the thousands of spectators that turned out, but also with the family and friends of Richard. SS 6 was once again a repeat of the previous due to running in pairs and this one saw another fastest time overall, however this time they won it by 1s over the leaders thus bringing the time to the leaders down to a mere 5s. 2 more stages and a clear game plan was set.......push hard and try to claim that top spot!
The final pairing of stages were upon us and the first of the pairing proved to be something of a challenge. Dropping a further 2s to the leaders on SS 7 meant that a huge push was needed on the final stage of the event which would also be in the dark. To try and claim the win now would be no easy task that's for sure! Although the team did come to the event with no expectations and to be fighting for the win truly does show the insane progress made by Richard in the C3 Rally2 over the past 12 months. With one stage to go and one last push needed, the lights were bolted onto the bonnet and they were off to the start line. All day long the boys have shown true grit and maturity so they were able to hold their heads high no matter the outcome on the final stage. Anyway.....stage start and 3, 2, 1, GO! A clear push was taking place and Richard showed a natural form in the diminishing light, however after one lap disaster struck! A misfire appeared and both Richard and Shaun tried to nurse the car to the finish with minimal time loss, but the engine oil had different ideas...... A catastrophic failure saw oil squirting out of its designated area and onto the extremely hot turbo and exhaust thus causing a fire. Luckily only a small fire, but the boys were now stranded out on stage with just over a mile to go to the end. Gutting doesn't even cover it, but the positives to take are that the extinguishers did their job and the fire was out extremely quickly and the crew were okay. The car is salvageable which is good and the pace shown has been simply astounding.
Brands Hatch Winter Stages 2026 didn't go to plan, but the positives to take are that they have certainly got the pace now, the team work is phenomenal between crew and mechanics both in and out of the car and finally that the car is truly dialled in! Okay this may not seem like the best start to the 2026 season, however the team spirit is still high and they look forward to getting their 2026 FIRC championship campaign started later in the year. For now though it is time to rebuild, recuperate and prep for the events to come.
Shaun has a couple events between now and the first FIRC event in April so watch his socials and here for further updates!
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