Rally hailed a roaring success

Jonny Milner roared to victory in his Toyota

The International Rally of Wales, which took place in Wrexham and Denbighshire, has been hailed a roaring success by event organisers.

The rally which formed the forest stage of the second round of the Pirelli British Rally Championship (PBRC) attracted thousands of spectators.

Final results

Jonny Milner - Toyota Corolla 1.49.50.7

David Higgins - Subaru Impreza 1.50.34.5

Tapio Laukkanen - Subaru Impreza 1.50.42.0

Event organiser Jamie Edwards said: "It went really well, we didn't have any problems and judging by the amount of people at the event it was extremely successful."

The winner of the competition which took place on Saturday and Sunday was Toyota Corolla driver Jonny Milner.

"This has been a real team effort from start to finish after a difficult start to the rally," he said.

The win was especially poignant for Jonny Milner's co-driver Nicky Beech who is from Wrexham.

Top rally drivers from across Europe accelerated into the town to take part in last weekend's prestigious race.

Thousands of spectators converged on Queen's Square to spot the cars and their drivers.

The north Wales forest stages are popular

Around 90 drivers and their crews battled for supremacy through forests in Clocaenog, Sweet Lamb, Hafren and Myherin.

It was not all plain sailing for the winning team - they lost a lot of time on their first two stages when a hydraulic pump failed.

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

Championship contender

Mr Milner agrees: "That final stage was the most nerve wracking of my life but the team Dynamics Toyota ran faultlessly."

He now heads to Scotland with a three point advantage over the Rally of Wales 1600 winner Justin Dale.

"It's roll on Scotland for the next round where we will be looking to make the most of the pace we've shown on the first two rounds of the series.

"We want to show everyone that Team Dynamics Pro Rally Toyota team is a serious championship contender for the PBRC this year."