Old stagers to tackle RAC

Roger Albert Clark Rally I Nov 20-23

Two legendary names of rallying will return to the British forests in November for a new event designed to recreate the RACs of the 1970s and ’80s. Its field will be led away by Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist, both driving Ford Escort Mk2s.

Mikkola will be competing in the UK for the first time for more than a decade, in a car prepared by the Historic Rallysport operation.

“It’s an event that I really used to enjoy, and which was very good to me. I look forward to getting back into the British forests,” said the four-time RAC Rally winner.

World rally champion in 1984, and the RAC winner in ’71 and ’83, Blomqvist will drive an Escort prepared by David Sutton’s Historic Motorsport firm.

“I like this idea because the old rally went all over the country and you never knew what the conditions were like ahead,” said the veteran Swede. “I also preferred events with no practice or pace notes.”

Joining the famous Scandinavians will be leading contenders from the Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, while entries for crowd favourite Russell Brookes and the teenage sensation Matthew Wilson (son of Ford WRC team boss Malcolm) are also expected. De Lacy MC is aiming at an entry of around 100 pre-1981 cars.

Competitive motoring starts on Saturday with a short special stage at Rother Valley, and the field will be reseeded based on those results before the restart next morning.

Sunday offers a loop of spectator stages, while Monday is dominated by some testing forest stages and a visit to Croft circuit.

An early Tuesday start will produce stages in the dark in Kielder.

Apart from the Sunday sections, a number of forest stages will be open to spectators. More details will be on the event website (below).