Sixty & Worcestershire Rally Entries OpenThe organising team of the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay National Rally and officers of Port Talbot Motor Club have with great regret and disappointment concluded that the rally, the fourth round of the 2010 MSA Gravel Rally Championship organised by ANCRO cannot be successfully re-scheduled for 2010.

The event was called off at short notice in mid-July following news of a tree disease in the Vale of Neath that threatened large areas of Forestry Commission plantations and a request from the Forestry Commission to minimise the potential of spreading the disease.

Organisers were faced with a difficult decision over rescheduling the rally and a need to establish suitable dates that would fit in to the numerous championships that the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally was included in whilst also ensuring that other qualifying rounds were not affected by any new date that could be agreed.

Added to those concerns were availability of accommodation, the scope of new routes in the forests to avoid affected areas, and the extensive work necessary to completely re-issue event documentation.

With all these considerations in mind, along with the proximity of Rally Great Britain to the dates that might conceivably have been possible, had all the many permutations successfully combined, Port Talbot MC has been left with little choice but to abandon the event for 2010, after so many years of success, in both the City & County of Swansea and the ANCRO Championship from its very beginning.

Clerk of the Course Alan Stoneman said: "We are all very sad to lose the rally for 2010, but the combinations of circumstances are too great to resolve. All the elements had to slot into place and regrettably that could not be done and the threat that this infection was still spreading was not helping. We at PTMC thank our sponsors, the City & County of Swansea and Pro-Art Signs, and the many championships, officials and competitors who made the rally a success, and although luck has not smiled on us this year, we hope to see you all again in the future, as better times return."

Meanwhile, better news is in the offing for competitors in the 2010 MSA Gravel Rally Championship with the news that the Sixty & Worcestershire National Rally will take place on Saturday 4th September and entries are now available for prospective competitors who intend to contest the penultimate round of the series.

Running alongside the Woodpecker Stages, the event will be using the usual fantastic stages in and around the Welsh Marches area, including the ever popular Hopton stage which makes a return after three years. The usual stage at Haye Park will be used twice together with the smaller but exciting stages of Wigmore and Bringewood.

To test the drivers even further, the National rally will also make two visits to Radnor, the morning visit taking in 12.5 miles of very fast and demanding roads whilst in the afternoon a further two stages totalling 15.5 miles will be run before returning for the final stages around Ludlow.

With Rally GB using Radnor this year the Sixty & Worcestershire National rally will be ideal practice for those wishing to experience Radnor before Rally GB. The start, finish and service halts will all take place at Ludlow Racecourse. The first car is due to start at 08:30 and finish around 17:45 having totalled 60 stage miles.

2010 Events

Round 1 - 26/27th February - Rallye Sunseeker, BournemouthRound 2 - 23/24th April - Pirelli Tour of Cumbria, Carlisle Round 3 - 5th June - Severn Valley National Rally, Builth WellsRound 4 - 17th July - Pro Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally, Swansea Round 5 - 4th September - 60 & Worcestershire Rally, LudlowRound 6 - 25th September - Trackrod National Rally, Pickering