Ifan Devine begins his 2026 campaign this weekend when he partners Luke Constantine on the East Riding Stages.
The new John Easson Award winner is in for a busy season, contesting both the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt and British Rally Championships.
The closed-road event, based in Beverley, forms the opening round of the Protyre series, and although the BRC is the prime aim this year, Devine and Constantine are fully focused on getting off to a flying start.
“We are not treating it as test session for the BRC, we are going all-out for a good result,” he explained.
“It’s going to be an intense weekend, with a Friday evening recce of the night stages, a daylight recce from 9-5 on Saturday, then four stages from 6pm. The remaining nine stages take place on Sunday.
“Although we contested the 2025 event, it wasn’t a very happy experience as we broke a driveshaft on the opening stage. Hopefully, we will have a change of luck this year.
“We will be in uncharted territory as Luke and I are making our own pacenotes for the first time. I am slightly apprehensive as there’s a lot at stake, but we have to do this to progress in the sport. It might be a case of ‘one step forward and two steps back’ initially, but it is the way to unlock some more pace.”
The pair are seeded at car 29 in their Opel Adam R2.