For a man accustomed to travelling across Europe alongside some of Northern Ireland’s biggest names including Kris Meeke and William Creighton, this year’s Modern Tyres Ulster Rally will mean something very different for European Rally Championship co-driver Liam Regan.

It won’t be another airport transfer, another unfamiliar service park or another entry on an increasingly impressive international résumé. Instead, it will be a homecoming for the reigning British Rally Champion.

And he’ll be making it in one of the most distinctive cars in rallying history: a Škoda Favorit.

Regan, who grew up in Belfast before forging a career that has taken him to events around the world, is preparing to tackle the famous Northern Irish stages in the front-wheel-drive Group A machine. But for the FIA ERC regular, the decision to bring the Favorit to the Ulster Rally runs far deeper than simple nostalgia.

“It’s even more than a local rally for me,” Regan explained. “When I was a kid growing up in Belfast in the mid-90s, my uncle Ian was co-driving for a driver called Steve Wedgbury.

“Steve used to come over from England to do the Ulster Rally, and he competed in a Škoda Favorit. I’ve got pictures at home of an English rally team based outside our house in Belfast. Those are some of my earliest memories of rallying.”

Now, decades later, history is repeating itself.

“I’ll hopefully be on the start line in a Škoda Favorit,” he said. “Back when I was six or seven years old there was a Favorit sitting in our driveway. To come back and do the Ulster in one myself feels like everything has come full circle.”

 

Inspired by rallying’s golden memories

The Favorit has become the latest chapter in a lifelong affection for the Czech marque.

Regan already campaigns an orange Škoda Estelle in historic events – a car that carries its own family significance.

“My dad and uncle rallied an Estelle years ago,” he said. “There’s pictures of me as a baby in and around that car, so that’s why I bought one.

“They used to take turns driving and navigating. It’s all part of our family’s rally story.”

The Favorit, meanwhile, had long been a dream.

Around six months ago, Regan purchased the car from Welshman Bob Morgan – himself well known in historic rally circles after campaigning the machine on events including the Roger Albert Clark Rally.

“I’d been following the car when it was based in Hungary,” Regan recalled. “At the time I couldn’t afford it, but I kept tabs on it.

“When Bob bought it, I sent him a message out of the blue and said, ‘If you ever decide to sell it, let me know.’ He simply replied, ‘I will.’

“A couple of days after the RAC I got back in touch. He said he’d sell it, gave me a price, and I went over to look at it.

“When they opened the shed door and I saw it sitting there in those classic white and green Škoda colours, I knew I had to have it.”

A tribute to those who shaped the journey

There is another reason why the Favorit’s Ulster Rally appearance carries such emotional weight.

Regan previously worked for the late John Mulholland at a Škoda dealership, where conversations about motorsport became part of everyday life.

“John absolutely loved Škoda rally cars,” Regan said.

“Every day we’d end up talking about Škoda Motorsport in some shape or form. I remember saying to him one day that I’d love to own one of those old Favorits.

“At the time, I never really thought it would happen.

“Sadly John passed away in 2019, and it’s a shame he’s not around to see it. But in a way, doing this rally in the Favorit is also for him.”

Returning to iconic roads

While the car itself will attract plenty of attention, the roads awaiting Regan are just as special.

This year’s Ulster Rally route is set to visit some of Northern Ireland’s most celebrated stages, roads steeped in Circuit of Ireland history and revered by competitors and fans alike.

“The rally is based in Ballymena, only about half an hour from where I live, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

After years spent competing on European events, the prospect of sleeping in his own bed and competing close to home brings a different kind of excitement.

 

 

Competing for the love of it

Regan admits his days of chasing outright pace as a driver are behind him.

With co-driving commitments occupying much of his calendar, his own appearances behind the wheel are now reserved for enjoyment.

“I go out for fun,” he said. “I try to do my local rally and maybe one or two others each year.

“I enjoy historic rallying. The atmosphere around it is brilliant and the people involved are great.

“And whenever you pull into a service park in a historic Škoda, people always come over with stories.

“Someone will say, ‘My dad drove one of those,’ or, ‘I learned to drive in one of them.’

“Everybody seems to have a connection with a Škoda.”

The Favorit has already stretched its legs at an airfield test, revealing only minor issues as the team adapted the gravel-specification car for tarmac use.

“It reminded me a lot of my old Vauxhall Nova,” Regan laughed. “A little 1300cc front-wheel-drive car with plenty of character.

“It’s proper Group A rallying.”

More than just another rally

For spectators lining the stages this August, the sight and sound of a rare Škoda Favorit attacking the lanes of County Antrim will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the event.

For Liam Regan, however, it represents much more.

It is a tribute to family memories, a nod to mentors who encouraged his passion, and a chance to reconnect with the roads that first sparked his love of rallying.

From a Belfast driveway in the 1990s to the stages of the European Rally Championship and back to the Ulster Rally, the story has come full circle.

And fittingly, it will be told from the seat of an iconic green-and-white Škoda Favorit.

Further event information, including route details, entry list reveals and spectator information, will be released in the coming months.

 

Photos kindly provided by Kevin Glendinning www.kgrallypics.com and Spacesuit