Racing fans turn out for thrills and spills with stars at Castle Combe circuit (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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Racing fans turn out for thrills and spills with stars at Castle Combe circuit
2:00pm Thursday 23rd August 2012 in News
2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg with the Rallyday organising team
Rally star Petter Solberg helped entertain thousands of fans during a day of stunts, skids and skills at Castle Combe Circuit on Saturday.
The Norwegian 2003 World Rally Champion, who was making his Rallyday debut, performed crowd-pleasing donuts in his Ford World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC car. He was mobbed wherever he went and stayed right to the very end to bring the curtain down on another successful edition of the annual show.
“This is a fantastic event and there are a lot of people here and a lot of nice cars,” said the 37-year-old and veteran of more than 150 WRC events.
“I must say I fit in very well because I love cars and there are some very, very special ones here.”
Among other stars at the track was Jonny Milner, MSA British Rally champion in 2002 and 2003.
He drove the Toyota Corolla WRC that took him to those two titles and the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship title in 2010. He was joined by fellow British Rally champions Jimmy McRae and Russell Brookes, the former reunited with the DTV Chevette he campaigned back in 1978.
Other stars at the event included rally veterans Phil Collins, Terry Kaby and Phil Mills, WRC Academy pilot John MacCrone plus regular Rallyday hosts Tony Mason and Howard Davies.
The event spans many different rally disciplines: The Clubmans Rally Stage, which uses the perimeter road, was active all day, while Rallycross teams put on a head-to-head demonstration . The All Wheel Drive Club put on two driving displays on a newly designed infield course complete with jumps.
Former Dakar champion Jean-Louis Schlesser also made a special appearance at the Cooper Tires 4x4 Rally Raid Zone; the Race2Recovery team – that will become the first team of predominantly injured servicemen to contest the gruelling Dakar Rally in 2013 – offered charity rides to the public.
Action filmed by Motors TV will air on September 12 at 8pm. Rallyday has also produced a podcast, visit www.rallyday.com
