Off Road Motorsport is set for a very exciting year following the launch of the Goodyear British Off Road Championship at the Autosport International Show on Thursday 11th January 2001. The championship, now under the control of the irrepressible Selwyn Kendrick and with the welcome support of Goodyear, could dramatically change the face of off road motorsport in the UK over the next three years.

New for this year is the use of a control tyre for the Goodyear British Off Road Championship. This is the first time that off road motorsport has seen the use of a control tyre. Tread pattern is critical in the sport and tyre choice has become of a very important factor in achieving good results.

The British Championship is thrilled to be using Goodyear's aggressive and extremely tough Wrangler MTR as the control tyre for the 2001 championship. Spokesman for the championship Henry Webster said: "This is exactly the sort of tyre we were looking for. It is immensely strong and its aggressive tread pattern should cope with anything that we throw at it.

"The use of the control tyres helps put the teams on a level playing field which can only intensify the competition."

The management team of the Goodyear British Off Road Championship have put a great deal of emphasis on the importance of good value for money. At the time of writing prices were still under discussion, but championship director Selwyn Kendrick said: "We are looking at an entry cost of below £500 for the whole season, which will include the first set of tyres"

Entry costs such as these make the Goodyear British Off Road Championship appealing to serious competitor and enthusiastic clubman alike, it may also encourage some of those in other areas of motorsport who are fed up with high prices and low value for money.

For 2001 the championship has returned to being purely based around "Competitive Safaris" (off roading's nearest equivalent to single venue stage rallying). The championship will consist of four, two-day events. The courses are intended to be fast and furious, but at the same time are designed not to deteriorate over the weekend into needlessly damaging terrain.

The first event is in the Shrewsbury area in April, before the circus moves to Scotland in July, a week after the established Scottish Hillrally (creating an off roading holiday week in Scotland!). In September the championship ventures into Southern England before moving onto a dramatic final round in Wales at the popular Seven Sisters site in October.

Running each event over two days allows not only more racing for the money, but also the opportunity to make the most of the social side of motorsport, and by all accounts off roaders are a social bunch!

Organisers of the championship are hoping to encourage more entries using production or modified production vehicles.

At the Autosport International Show (January 10-13) the championship exhibited a Mitsubishi Pinin 1.8 GDI van that has been prepared by Ralliart UK in order to compete on the Goodyear British Off Road Championship and the Goodyear National Hillrally Championship. A similar vehicle could be purchased and equipped by your local Mitsubishi dealer for the same sort of price as a group N single-make rally contender.

Alongside the Mitsubishi on the exhibition stand was the latest example from the other end of the off road racing spectrum. Highly respected off road race vehicle constructor Drew Bowler brought along his latest Bowler Wildcat 200 off road racing special. Last year a similar vehicle finished the notorious Paris-Dakar Rally and another example won the prestigious National Hillrally Championship outright. The 2001 Goodyear British Off Road Championship is very pleased to announce that it will also play host to Drew Bowler's own one-make series the Bowler Off-Road Championship. This series caters for all Bowler built vehicles from the entry level Range Rover based specials up to the current range topper the Wildcat 200.