Wales Rally GB roars to Chirk Castle

The Wales Rally GB brought its RallyFest to Chirk Castle on the Shropshire border.

Thousands descended on the National Trust property to watch special spectator stages around the grounds of the castle and enjoy the fun and entertainment put on by the organisers.

There was nothing but praise from the crowds for the organisation of the event – a marked difference to last year's event when traffic chaos meant that hundreds of people were left outside the castle grounds in traffic jams for hours.

This year the event was made ticket only and Ben Taylor , managing director of Wales Rally GB was at Chirk to see how changes this year have improved the RallyFest.

"Last year we had no idea how many people would want to buy tickets on the gate. When 4,000 people turn up without tickets then obviously the car parking and the road system is not going to cope," he said.

"We have ensured that there is more parking and that the exit and entrance routes are capable of carrying the traffic.

"There is a real sense that this is a world class sporting event in the region. It's a great day out for all the family, with opportunities to get involved throughout mid and North Wales."

Spectators travelled from across Britain and beyond to see the parade of super cars and the historic rally cars before the rally stage got under way.

Car enthusiast, Lyndon Williams from Oswestry said the event was remarkable well organised.

"Everything seems to have run very smoothly," he said.

"We had no trouble getting into the grounds and the organisation within the grounds is also very good. I am very impressed. It seems that Wales Rally GB wants to encourage a return to rallies being family events and by doing this they will certainly draw the families."

He was at the event with his sister, Anne Austin, her son Ian and Ian's girlfriend, Georgina.

"We used to go to the rallies as a family many years ago so it is great to be back," Anne said.

Dave Jones from Oswestry was at the event with his three sons, Ben, 26, Josh 22 and Jake 19.

"It really is a wonderful family event," he said.

"I am loving the old rally cars. It is really good to see the VWs and of course the Escorts."

There was another family outing for the Holts, also from Oswestry.

Joe and Caroline Holt said it was the perfect day out for their four children, Ash, 17, Lee 14, Rebecca, 13 and five year old Hannah.

"It was such good value for the whole family," Mrs Holt said.

"There is such a lot to do here for the children and we are all enjoying seeing the rally cars. We will certainly come here again."

Mr Rodney Slee from Shrewsbury has been involved in rallying for the last 40 years.

He was a member of the Severn Valley Motor Club and past chairman and is now involved in the Long Mynd Motor Club.

"I am a novice driver - rallying has been in my blood all my life."

He was at the RallyFest with friends, Terry Jones and John Thacker also from Shrewsbury.

Mr Jones said: "We have been friends for so many years so it is good to go and have a day out together."

For Mark Booth and his wife, Katy, taking their two-year-old son, Seb to the rally was repeating what their own families did.

Katy, who went to school in Whitchurch and now lives in Cheshire, said: "I used to go to rallies with my family and Mark used to go with his Dad so we thought it would be great to bring Seb along."

Mr Booth said: "I spent a lot of time as a child watching the rallies in the Welsh Forests."

Volunteer Rally Maker, Deanna Roberts, her husband John and their 17-year-old daughter, Grace, spent the week volunteers at the rally stages.

"We are all rally enthusiasts and so when we were asked to get involved, we thought 'whynot'. It has been great fun and we have met people from all over the world. Yesterday one couple took along their nine week old baby to one of the stages and they were having a great time."

Since its inception in 1932, the rally has been run 68 times. Enforced stoppages have included World War 2, the Suez Crisis in 1957 and Foot and Mouth in 1967. Wales Rally GB is the British and 13th and final round of this year's FIA World Rally Championship. To date, it is one of only two events along with Finland to have retained its status as both a qualifying and scoring round of the World RallyChampionship since the championship was established in 1973.

After the stage at Chirk the competitors moved into the forest stages at Dyfant , Aberhirnant and Clocaenog forests.

Sunday saw further rally stages and a RallyFest at Kinmel part onthe North Wales coast before the finishing ceremony in Llandudno.