Sixty and Worcestershire Motor Club, organisers of the Phil Price Memorial Woodpecker Rally are making final preparations for their move to a new home of Newtown on 7 September, as the popular rally moves from its traditional Ludlow rally base.
Due to the unavailability of several forests which have traditionally formed the route for the event, organisers elected to ensure the event could still go ahead and opted to reinvigorate the format for the 2024 running.
With a route centring around former Wales Rally GB classic stages such as Hafren, Sweet Lamb and a competitor favourite of Ceri, a new home was sought and thanks to leading independent Land Rover parts wholesaler Britpart, Newtown was secured as its new hub for the September rally.
The brand-new format will see cars gather at the impressive Britpart facility on the outskirts of Newtown on Friday 6 September for pre-event checks before crews are flagged away from the venue the following day to head out into the stages.
Around 45 miles of competitive action is planned, with the popular Sweet Lamb venue providing the event service area mid-way through the day before crews head out of a repeat loop of the stages. The Britpart facility back in Newtown will host the ceremonial finish and champagne spray.
And take up for the new-look Woodpecker Rally has been positive, with almost 100 crews entering after the first week of opening and with many more expected in the coming days. The rally has also been selected to run under the 2025 Motorsport UK National Competition Rules, one of only a handful of events that will trial the new regulations planned to come into force next season.
Rally Manager Alan Corns is pleased to see uptake has been strong, with competitors embracing the relocation of the event.
“It’s great to see entries are coming in from the championships and competitors who just want to sample some world-class stages,” he says.
“We have been working very hard behind the scenes to put together a superb route for everyone and we are excited by the move to Newtown this year. It has opened up some new possibilities and we would like to extend our thanks to our continuing title sponsors in Presteigne Tyre Services and Phil Price Rally School, as well as Britpart for providing an excellent venue and to our supporters who include Xlerate.net, the popular online motorsport magazine.”
More information on the event can be found on the event website www.woodpecker-rally.co.uk