Wales Rally GB Latest News

We've selected news to add to this section gleaned from the press - we'll try and keep it short! If you want to wade through the official site there's plenty to read. The latest rally news is best found on a great Irish site called - rallynews.net - what else! Check our rally pictures.

Loeb or Gronhom or Solberg - take your pick!

Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb has increased his lead in the WRC to 32 points after a dominant victory in Germany – his eighth win from 11 rounds.

If Loeb wins in Wales and Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg both fail to score any points the World title will go, for a second year, to the 31 year old Frenchman.

However the Cardiff-based event - which features the World’s first indoor stage in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday 17th September – could mark a return to good fortune for Solberg and his Welsh co-driver Phil Mills, who are aiming for their fourth consecutive victory.

And the home fans are clearly preparing to cheer on Colin McRae and Nicky Grist with 90% of World Rally Passes and Saturday Day Passes already sold.

Amongst the 80 cars which will line up outside Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on the evening of Thursday 15th September, the highest-seeded British entries are Mark Higgins and Matthew Wilson both in Eddie Stobart Motorsport Ford Focus World Rally Cars and Kris Meeke, Colin McRae’s protégé, who will no doubt relish the opportunity of driving a Subaru Impreza WRC.

Rally Fans are urged not to leave it too late if they have not already bought their ticket. Tickets are available on line from www.walesrallygb.com, by telephone; 0870 060 1764 or by personal visit to the box office at the Cardiff International Arena.

Subject to availability, tickets will also be available at the following car parks on the day:

Swansea Rally Centre at Felindre – Thursday Day Pass giving access to Shakedown and Felindre - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Swansea Rally Centre at Felindre – Service Park Access only – £5 adult / £2.5 child per day
Brechfa A - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Trawscoed B - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Rheola C - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Rheola Walters Arena D - £20 adult / £10 child
Crychan E and F - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Epynt G - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Halfway Dixies I - £20 adult / £10 child
Resolfen J and K - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Margam L - £15 adult / £7.50 child
Margam Park M - £20 adult / £10 child

Millennium Stadium Stage This year there will be a stage inside the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Apparently it is a solo race against the clock. I don't know whether it replaces the head to head stages in Cardiff Bay. I keep campaigning for an urban forest stage in Swansea starting from the new stadium and taking in parts of the Enterprise Zone forest before a dash up Kilvey Hill for one of the most spectacular views in Wales.

Photo Search - can you help? Rally co-driver Geert Grooten from Belgium has asked us to help him find photographs of his car in action at this year's rally. Together with Patrick van Empel he was in car number 126 - a yellow Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 which retired with mechanical failure on Stage 6 Rheola on Friday. If anyone has any photos that we can pass on to them please contact us. We'll keep you informed of what happens. If anyone has photos of the rally that you would like publishing in our photo gallery please let us know

Want to be a Marshall? There's an nationwide appeal under way for more marshals . In 2002 there were 3,500 and currently there are just 2,000 signed up. Sounds like a good way to see the event at close quarters and get free entry! Check the official website for further information

Swansea Service Centre This is to be the focal point of the rally and is in an ideal location close to junction 46 on the M4 you can get to most of the stages within 45 minutes but keep within the speed limits - the police will be out in force again this year. It definitely brings you close to the action as you can gawp at poor mechanics wrestling with major rebuilds just the other side of a rope fence. Walters Arena is making rallying a definite spectator sport - after two fine November weekends surely the weather changed on the switch to September to nasty drizzle - you can't trust the weather these days!