Welcome to the EventSigns Woodpecker Stages Rally organised by the Sixty & Worcestershire Motor Club Limited, sponsored by EventSigns, producers of high quality commercial signage, vehicle vinyl wrap and promotional banners in addition to the rally banners and rally plates used by the Woodpecker and many other rallies.

The event will count towards number of major rally championships, including the MRF Tyres BTRDA Rally Series, the Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Stage Rally Championship, the Seacon UK Motorsport UK English Rally Championship, the Brian Dennis Motorsport & Marsh Commercial Welsh Historic Rally Championship, RACRMC Rally2 Championship and the ANWCC Forest Rally Championship.

Clearly the last 18 months have been extremely challenging for everyone and we have all faced difficulties and restrictions that we would never have imagined prior to March of last year.

The restrictions on rallying may seem a small hardship in comparison to the much bigger challenges that many have faced in their everyday lives. However as we all try and return to a more normal life, we are grateful for the opportunity to give you, the competitors, the chance to get back in the forest doing what you love.

We must however be mindful of the impact we have on the local communities where the rally runs, particularly as many of the residents have been largely isolated from the public for the duration of the pandemic. We are indebted to all the local communities as well as Natural Resources Wales, James and Ralph Owen at Badlands Farm and Powys County Council for working with us to enable the event to take place.

In order for the event to happen, several changes have had to be made to our normal format, without these changes there would be no Rally this year. The restriction on access to forests in England until October has meant all the competitive mileage is within the Radnor complex, in order to give you 44 miles of quality stages this has meant using some sections three times, we have planned the route so only the best sections of track that are least likely to cut up are used for three passes. This has also meant we have had to restrict the entry to 120 cars, anymore and the convoy would simply be too long to accommodate the event within the available time.

Even with the limit on numbers, the compact nature of the route means that you will have approximately two hours in service between each run, and while we will endeavour to keep as closely to schedule as possible, accidents or delays on stages could well extend this. In the event of unavoidable delays, we will if at all possible look to extend the time schedule rather than cancelling stages, so please be prepared to possibly finish later than published.

With regard to numbers of people at the event, we are strictly governed by the latest guidance from MSUK and the Welsh Government, so please stick to these restrictions, anyone turning up in addition to this will not be admitted. It is also an absolute requirement of the landowner and of the permission to run the event, that we do not permit spectators, we will be providing live streaming of the event to try and make up for some of the disappointment that this causes.

Given all the above, we hope you will join us for a fun, challenging and safe day of rallying and I am sure you will all play your part in doing whatever is necessary to help Rallying get going again after these difficult times.

The Organising Team