Preview, round two: Astra Stages Historic RallyRound two of the 2005 HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge will form part of the Astra Stages Historic Rally on Saturday (9 April). Running alongside the Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the classic category accounts for a fifth of the overall historic entry.Heading the field after a superb victory on the Robin Hood will be the Escort Mk2 of Gareth Lloyd/Ryland James. They set a searing pace in the Nottinghamshire forests and will surely continue that form on the North Wales stages in the Clocaenog and Aberhirnant forests.Leading the chase of the West Wales Rally Spares Escort will be regular Classic contenders in the form of Martin Freestone/Chris Heyes and Dick Slaughter/Geoff Jackson. Both Escort Mk2 crews will be striving to match the pace of Lloyd, as will Ian Rix/tba (Escort) and Ralph Abel/tba in the Prepfab-entered Mk2.However, dark horses in the class D5 entry include series newcomers Stuart Clarke/Cliff Simmons and David Pritchard/Emyr Hall in two more rapid Escorts. Clarke, in particular, is expected to fly on the Astra after suffering a frustrating first stage engine drama on the Robin Hood.Class D3 is also developing well with a six-strong field expected to arrive in Llangollen on Friday afternoon. Victory on the Robin Hood should have gone to the Opel Kadett GTE of Bryan Gill/Nigel Hutchinson, but fuel pump failure almost within sight of the end of the final stage robbed them of a win. Instead, Mark and Brett Clifford nipped ahead in their Escort Mk2.Gill/Hutchinson will be even more determined to score the top result on the Astra and the Opel certainly has the pace to see off the Fords. Other Escorts will contest D3 in the hands of Paul Morris/Nev Williams, Ian Arden/Phil Stone and Arwel Lloyd Jones/Iwan Williams, while welcome variety comes in the form of the Toyota Corolla of Dave Cobb/Allen Craven.The Astra Stages is organised by the Vauxhall Motoring Group and for more details about the event, please visit the website at:astrastages.co.uk  - The historic rally starts from Llangollen at 9am on Saturday.