International rally roars into town

Thousands of spectators are expected at the event

Top rally drivers from across Europe are under starters orders for the International Rally of Wales in Wrexham.

Thousands of spectators are expected to converge on Queen's Square in the town centre for the second round of the Pirelli British Rally Championship which starts at 1700 BST on Saturday.

The forests in Wales are still widely regarded as the place to rally in the UK

Jamie Edwards, Rally spokesman

Around 90 drivers and their crews will battle for supremacy through forests in Clocaenog, Sweet Lamb, Hafren and Myherin on Saturday and Sunday.

One famous face who will be testing out his new found rallying skills is Neil Primrose - better known as the drummer from top music band Travis.

He recently took up the sport and will be competing in the one make championship.

Main contenders

Marcus Dodd - Subaru Impreza

Jonny Milner - Toyota Corolla

David Higgins - Subaru Impreza

Gwyndaf Evans - MG Rover

Rally spokesman Jamie Edwards said that the popstar was holding his own against the other contenders.

"Neil is doing okay," he said. "Obviously he is really new he has only done one or two rallies.

"He is on a big learning curve and will be looking to improve his times."

The classic Welsh forest stages of the competition are seen as a stern test for the cream of the UK's rallying talent.

Mr Edwards said: "The forests in Wales are still widely regarded as the place to rally in the UK.

The north Wales forest stages are popular

"The route of stages this year uses some of the best known forests, which has helped attract some very high quality entries."

Ford, Peugeot and MG Rover will all be vying for poll position to be crowned the ultimate winner.

Rally organiser Jim Jones said the regions wildlife had been a major consideration when planning the route.

"Running the rally in May has caused us some problems this year particularly with the lambing taking place on the farms near to the route and there are numerous sites where rare birds are nesting."

He added: "As a result we have to be careful where we channel our spectator traffic around the stages."

The North East Wales Institute (Newi) will be used as a welcome pitstop on Saturday evening with facilities for the teams to service their cars.

And it is a crack of dawn start on Sunday for the final laps before a champagne reception back in Wrexham.