Jonny Greer relishing return to Ulster Rally after wrapping up sixth Northern Ireland championship crown

The thirty-seven-year-old will tackle the closed-road classic in his Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Rally2, arriving in Ballymena with championship pressure lifted and renewed confidence after a season spent developing the car into a title-winning package.

For Greer, the Ulster Rally is more than another start-line. It is an event woven into his earliest memories of the sport, from watching the spectacle in the late 1990s during the transition from Group A machinery into the F2 kit car era, to later becoming one of the event’s leading competitors.

“The Ulster Rally is a great event — arguably a pinnacle event in Northern Ireland — with a lot of history behind it,” Greer said.

“Being there at the very start with the guys and seeing all the work that went into it was a really early memory that has always stayed with me.”

Greer’s own record on the Ulster includes a series of strong results and podium finishes, with two memories standing out in particular. In 2016, he finished on the podium alongside Elfyn Evans and Alastair Fisher in conditions he described as “very, very challenging”.

“One of my standout memories was in 2016 when I finished on the podium alongside Elfyn Evans and Alastair Fisher – that was something I was really proud of,” he said.

“The conditions were incredibly difficult, with a lot of mud – it was just a very, very challenging rally. To be able to compete with those guys and be close to them on time on quite a few stages was great.”

More recently, in 2023, he took third overall in a Citroen C3, sharing the podium with Adrian Fourmaux and Callum Devine.

Now, after missing the event for a couple of years, Greer says the 50th running offers the perfect reason to return.

The landmark edition begins with an opening ceremony at Ballymena Showgrounds on Thursday evening before crews face two demanding days of competition across north and mid-Antrim.

The route has been a major draw for Greer, with stages such as Glendun, Torr Head and Cairncastle proving too tempting to ignore.

“The route is the very reason why I have entered,” he said. “I think it is good that we are going up to north Antrim, because the Ulster Rally is renowned for offering a fresh challenge every couple of years.”

Those stages will also provide a new test in Rally2 machinery. Greer has yet to drive some of the roads in his current car and expects conditions to play a decisive role, especially if rain brings mud and slippery surfaces into the equation.

“The Toyota has been fantastic, and we have done a lot of work with it,” he said. “The stages can be very demanding; when it gets wet there’s a lot of mud dragged onto the roads from farm traffic, making the conditions extremely slippery.”

After securing his sixth Northern Ireland Rally title, Greer admitted he was “relieved” to see all the hard work pay off.

“This season has been a bit of a relief after last year,” he said.

“We put a huge amount of effort into developing the Toyota Yaris and getting it to work the way I wanted. It's been a lot of work, but it's satisfying to see it paying off. Winning the championship earlier this year was a really special moment.”

Northern Ireland road racer Michael Dunlop is also among the entries this weekend in his Ford Escot MkII.