The 2011 Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship will start in spectacular style on Sunday (6 March) with the Rally Marketing Mid Wales Historic Stages.With the Newtown-based rally moving to the start of the calendar, a superb field of over 70 cars will tackle the classic stages of Hafren and Myherin as used on Wales Rally GB in November. The entry is crammed with quality as well as quantity and this popular event should prove the perfect start to another season of historic rallying.Category 1Running first on the road will be the older cars in category one (pre '68) and four Porsche 911s head the pack. Top seed is the Porsche of Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride, back for another assault on the overall BHRC title.

With the Sunbeam Tiger of Jonathan Gale not due out until later in the season, Nutt still has plenty of opposition and running behind the familiar Porsche will be the flying Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton, which will run Nutt close over these fabulous gravel stages. Two more Porsches will also feature with stable mates Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes and Derek and Roisin Boyd aiming to chase Nutt, with Edmund Peel and Janet Craine completing the Porsche quartet.Two Lotus Cortinas should also be in the reckoning with Paul Mankin teaming up with seasoned co-driver Peter Scott and Simon Wallis/Graham Wride fielding their Alan Mann Racing-liveried car.Category 2Category two, for the post-historic cars, has three Escort Mk1s at the head of the pack as defending champions David Stokes and Guy Weaver lead the category two cars away. They will surely be the category benchmark, but right behind them will be Stefaan Stouf and Joris Erard for only their second foray into Wales. The Belgian crew are on a roll right now, having won the Roger Albert Clark Rally and Boucles de Spa in the last four months! Third of the big three in category two will be Rupert Lomax and David Alcock and any one of this trio could be on top when the crews return to Newtown on Sunday afternoon.Class C3 promises to be just as hard fought as local aces Tim Jones and Don James head the runners in their Pinto-powered Escort Mk1. However, defending class champions Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson will be right on the pace as will James and David Young on an all too rare outing in their Escort Mk1. Class dark horses could be Dick Slaughter and Geoff Dearing in the Escort Mk1 previously rallied by Dick’s son James.Meanwhile, C2 should also feature a great contest as the new pairing of Matt Fowle and Jane Edgington head the entry in Matt’s 1600cc Escort Mk1, but they will be challenged by the similar cars of Rex Ireland/Adrian Scadding, Nick Danks/Martin Corbett and David Kirby/Ben Friend.Category 3The contest for category three and top overall honours will be the highlight of the rally as a stunning line-up of cars and drivers prepare to do battle. Running at the head of the field, having won the corresponding rally last June, will be Nick Elliott in his Escort Mk2. With regular co-driver Dave Price tied up with work commitments, Nick has enlisted the co-driving services of Chris Brooks and just how well they settle in together over the opening stages could have a big impact on the final result, as a 12-mile stage in Hafren gets the event off to a demanding start.

Second on the road, and sure to trade times with Elliott, will be Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey, while a gaggle of quick Escorts will head the chase of Elliott and Reynolds. Ryan Barrett/Paul McCann, Paul Griffiths/Paul Williams, Will Onions/Dave Williams and Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks are all major contenders and their relative pace will be the big talking point of the day. Lining up to stop this being an Escort benefit is the Vauxhall Chevette of Rob Smith and Shaun O’Gorman and their pace at the end of last season marks them as a real threat to the Ford brigade.

However, category three is not just about the battle in class D5 at the top of the field. In D4, the Opel Asconas of Steve Magson/Geoff Atkinson and Paul Kynaston/Gary Bulley will add welcome variety, while a superb class D3 entry should also deliver an absorbing contest. Top seeds in D3 are Guy Woodcock and Hu Kent in the first of the Pinto-powered Escort Mk2s, but they will be chased by the similar cars of Stuart Clarke/Andy Ballantyne, Polly Patti/Chris Dewsnap, Chris White/Tim Sturla and David Lloyd-Roberts/Dei Jones. Ranged against the Escorts will be the Opel Kadett of Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne, who will arrive in Newtown on Sunday morning fresh from contesting the Malcolm Wilson Rally the day before in their Escort Mk1.The Rally Marketing Mid Wales Historic Stages is organised by Newtown and District Automobile Club Ltd. For more details about the event, please visit the website at: MidWalesStages.co.uk