Just one of the officials working on the Sunseeker Rally this weekend is Rob Arthur, who co-drove David Llewellin to victory on the event, in a Nissan 240 RS, 21 years ago. That’s a bit the way rally is – the current Clerk of the Course Rick Smith was involved in those days as well, and in fact many of the enthusiastic organising team have been working on the event for many years. One of the great benefits of this is that the rally has a sky-high level of professionalism.This makes it a very fitting opener to the MSA Gravel Championship, as well as being a counter in several ‘one-make’ type championships, for example for ‘clubman’ GpN Subarus, Lancers and Peugeots.

Four times Sunseeker winner Marcus Dodd, in his Hyundai Accent WRC, heads a very competitive entry this weekend, with a string of ultra quick men behind, driving a variety of world rally cars. Marcus commented before the start, “Our main aim is to score points in the Championship. We’ve won the rally often enough, and don’t have anything to prove on that score, and I don’t want to do anything to the detriment of my Championship chances. We have developed a new paddle gear change for the car, so hopefully that will hold together.” Marcus is also running Accent WRC cars for his father Harry who is at No.59 and forPete Eggerton (No29). In addition, he is running a Dorset and Hampshire police team, Shaun Cronin & Colin Bell, in a GpN Subaru Impreza.

Behind Marcus is Scottish Champion Barry Johnson. He should be really match fit this weekend, having just competed in Norway and also won the Snowman Rally last weekend. Barry’s weekend got off to a slightly shaky start when his Subaru’s gearbox oil pump had to be replaced before the start, but his mechanics soon had the job sorted, so hopefully it will get better for Barry from there. At 3 is Northern Irish driver Kenny McKinstry, fresh from a forestry rally win last weekend in Tipperary. Kenny is a previous winner here, and indeed has had massive rally success over the years. All that success hasn’t blunted his competitive edge one little bit, and he will be a hard man to beat here. As well as running his own and Ollie O’Donovan’s Subaru, Kenny will be keeping a close eye on his daughter Emma who is at No.55 in her GpN Lancer.

At No.4 this weekend is current MSA Gravel Champion Paul Bird. He drives a Circuit of Ireland winning Impreza WRC from the Derek McGarrity stable. Paul has driven a Focus WRC for the past couple of years, and said about the Subaru, “The car really feels good. If I can’t do the business in that then I should pack it in. It feels fantastic over the jumps, with great balance. The only thing that worries me is that there are so many buttons and switches. Hope I don’t get anything wrong!” Close behind Paul Bird is Steve Perez in the Vodka Kick Focus WRC. Former Champion Steve Perez is an ultra competitive driver who will be trying very hard to win here. Roger Duckworth, another previous winner of the rally, is at 6 in his Subaru, and said before the start, “I have a little trepidation, this is the first rally of the year for me, and I had a bad time here last year, so hopefully we’ll get back to the previous form.”

Craig Middleton is at 7 in his Hyundai. The young man has shown great turns of speed, so he could be another going for a top result this weekend.  Will Nichols at 8, winner of the Tempest Rally, is having his first run in a P2000 Impreza WRC and reckons it is going to take time getting used to the sequential box. Steve Fleck is at 9 in his Subaru. While outside that there are lots more competitive drivers, just some of whom include Steve Hendy, Richard Gower, Ollie O’Donovan, John Lloyd, Paul Wedgbury, Stephen Petch and Alistair Tough. The latter 2 run in the group N category in their respective Subarus.  Paul Wedgbury at 17 is having his first outing in a new to him Impreza, a Subaru brought in from the USA rally scene and is somewhere between GpA and GpN specification.

Ollie O’Donovan had a problem with his Subaru in testing yesterday when it broke a flange on a driveshaft, but all is now well with the London based Limerick construction man. Just a few further points of interest – Geoff Jones is slotted in at No.31 in a Subaru Production Cup car. Formula 1 pundit Tony Jardine drives a full house Impreza with Motorsport News Editor Jim Holder co-driving. 77 cars are due to start the rally, running in reverse seeding for tonight’s darkness stages along the promenade, reverting to normal seeding for the Saturday stages through the forests.

More news after stage 2. `BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net