A record crowd of nearly 10,000 attended Saturday's fourth Rally Supercar Day at Castle Combe.

Star of the show was Colin McRae, who arrived at the WiltshireCircuit by air to drive a Dakar-prepared Nissan Pickup and theincredible 150mph Nissan Micra R.

The 1995 World Rally Champion clearly enjoyed himself, andhad this to say about Rally Supercar Day: "It's nice, nopressure and a lot of fun. Alister (McRae) had been here beforeand said that it was fun and well organised, so that encouragedme to come and see for myself. I was really surprised to seeso many people here. It's absolutely full of enthusiasts and it'sa nice, relaxed atmosphere."

Colin also took part in the innovative "RAID ON CASTLE COMBE",where his Nissan Pickup led a cavalcade of desert racers overthe normally tranquil circuit infield; McRae was pursued by avariety of machinery on two and four wheels, plus a pair ofthe unique multi-wheeled giant Rally Raid racing trucks.

Asked about driving the Dakar Nissan at Castle Combe, Colinremarked that it had been "a lot easier than it was across theSahara!"

The crowds also thrilled to the driving talents of Alister McRae,Daniel Sola, Pentti Airikkala, Kris Meeke, Andy Gwynne, PhilCollins and John Taylor, to name but a few, while Russ and PaulSwift provided excellent entertainment with their very popularprecision driving displays. The event was also attended by otherrallying celebrities, including Nicky Grist, David Sutton and JonDesborough. Tony Mason provided commentary and conductedinterviews throughout the day.

For many visitors, however, the day offered a rare chance tosee at close quarters a vast collection of the cars which maderallying history in action. These included Audi quattro S1, A2and GpA; Lancia Stratos, Integrale and 037; a large collectionof MG Metro 6R4s; Renault Alpine A110 and 5 Maxi Turbo; andnumerous ex-works Ford Escorts. Modern machinery took theform of World Rally Cars from Subaru, Mitsubishi and Ford.The Junior World Championship was represented by the TeamPalmer Opel Corsa sponsored by McRae Motorsport.

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