Paul Lawrence
7 Apr 2025
One of the strongest entries ever seen for a rally on the Isle of Man
NEWS FROM MANX AUTO SPORT
Monday 7 April 2025
Monster entry lines up for Proflex Manx Rally
One of the strongest entries ever seen for a rally on the Isle of Man will gather in Douglas this week for the Proflex Manx Rally, which runs on the island's closed roads on Friday and Saturday April 11 and 12.
A mammoth 150-car field has been assembled for the Manx Autosport event as competitors travel from across England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and even as far as Japan to tackle the classic special stages offered by the island roads. With a proud heritage dating back more than 60 years, the Manx Rally has an incredible list of former winners which includes Colin McRae, Richard Burns, Elfyn Evans and Roger Clark. Now contenders in the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship will head the field when the action begins late morning on Friday.
The opening leg will run through Friday before an afternoon break and then special stages continue into the darkness of Friday evening. On Saturday, the action resumes to give competitors around 120 competitive miles on some of the most famous and challenging asphalt special stages in the UK.
The number of competitors and support crews, officials and spectators travelling to the island will give the island’s tourist economy a significant boost ahead of the Easter holidays. In addition, the new £78 million Manxman ferry from the Isle of Man Steam Packet has made access to the island even easier than before.
Proudly running as car one will be the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Lancashire's Neil Roskell, co-driven by Manxman Rob Fagg. Though Roskell is centring much of his competition plans this year on Ireland, he was eager to contest an event he has won before and give his local co-driver a chance of a famous victory.
The quality in the entry is immense with drivers like Mark Kelly, David Wright and multiple former Manx winner Jason Pritchard packing out the top four. Irishman Ryan Loughran, Jerseyman Sam Touzel and Scotsman Hugh Brunton are next up, while several more crews from Ireland are in the top 12 places.
As well as the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship, the event is also a round of the Manx Rally Championship and top seeds from the local crews are Steve Colley and Joseph Dooley in their Mitsubishi Lancer E9.
All the way down the order are competitors eager to take on these famous special stages and the depth of quality in the entry is outstanding. Towards the back of the field will be welcome visitors from Japan, Shinobu Kitani and Osamu Sumida in their immaculate Mini Coopers, who have become regular Manx visitors over the years.
The first car will start from the TT Grandstand in Douglas at 1100 on Friday and the event will finish from around 1530 on Saturday afternoon back at the TT Grandstand, when the winners will be celebrated and the champagne will be sprayed. For everyone who takes part and indeed finishes this year's Proflex Manx Rally, it will be an unforgettable experience at the UK home of closed-road special stage rallying.
Issued by Paul Lawrence (07778 547918) on behalf of Manx Auto Sport.
For more details, please visit the website at: manxautosport.org or e-mail: manxautosport@gmail.com