Road chaos as thousands of fans flock to Chirk Castle for Wales Rally GB

But some rally-goers were left frustrated after getting caught up in traffic queues for the event.

The picturesque setting provided a stunning backdrop for two special stages of the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The popularity of the new event at the castle, including a family friendly Rallyfest which gave novices a first taste of the sport, surpassed all expectations and organisers had to reluctantly turn some fans away when the venue reached its capacity on Saturday and car parks became full before rallying got under way.

Some drivers reported delays of up to two hours as the A5 and A483 became clogged up with traffic.

But the diehard fans revelled in the atmosphere of watching the world's top drivers blasting around private roads within the grounds of the medieval castle.

Fans came from around Britain to enjoy the motoring and entertainment extravaganza. And while most came to see the rally driving, others said the highlight for them was watching a supercar parade, followed by a parade of some of rallying's most iconic racing machines.

Organised by the Supercar Driver Network, the list of dream machines on show in the supercar parade included Aston Martins, a BAC Mono, BMWs, Ferraris, a Ford GT40, a Lamborghini Aventador, Lotuses, Maseratis, Nissan GTRs, Porsches, and TVRs.

Rally bosses admitted visitor numbers were higher than expected, leading to difficulties.

Andrew Coe, chief executive for event organiser International Motor Sports, said: "Moving the event to north Wales has proved a huge success. Unfortunately this led to a number of spectators not being able to gain entry to stages at Chirk Castle. We're aware that many of these were existing ticket holders and for that we apologise."

County borough councillor Ian Roberts said: "I just think it is absolutely brilliant and is so good for Chirk and for Wrexham in terms of tourism and bringing the area to the fore."