Rally drivers from Burnham-On-Sea will be among the 200 teams taking part in the 2006 Somerset Stages Rally this weekend.
Saturday’s event will include a number of local competitors, including Watchet’s Steve Winter and co-driver Neil Dashfield from Burnham in their Subaru Imprezza WRC (pictured right).
Burnham driver Alex Jones will also be taking the steering wheel in a Mk1 Ford Escort along with Burnham co-driver Tim Walters.
Jointly organised by Burnham-On-Sea and Minehead Motor Clubs, the Carbase Somerset Stages Rally is the fourth round of the Silverstone Tyres Gold Star Rally Championship. It will be held near Minehead, with spectator details here.
The event gets underway on Saturday April 22nd with the first car due at 8:45am and again at 2pm, finishing at approximately 5.15pm.
As the crews arrive, the series is led by Damian Cole. His Hyundai Accent WRC took maximum points last time out on the North York Moors and he will be relishing the challenge presented by the special stages in the Exmoor National Park.
The battle for honours in the two-wheel drive category will also be livened up considerably by the presence of Julian Wilkes (Taunton) in his 1400cc Vauxhall Nova. Wilkes and co-driver Shane Bowen contested the 2005 MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship in the car, achieving some blistering results on their way to a clean sweep in their class and outright victory in the front-wheel drive section.
RELATED LINKS:
Somerset Stages Rally
Car Base
Online Grafix
