The second round of the 2005 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship moves the action to North Wales for the Astra Stages Historic Rally on Saturday 9 April.Following a great start to the season on the Robin Hood Stages last month, an entry of almost 70 historic cars will take to the gravel stages of the Clocaenog and Aberhirnant forest complexes.Historic (category 1)The action in the historic category was intense from the very start of the season as three crews enacted a fine battle for Robin Hood victory. Ultimately, the Sunbeam Tiger of Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies saw off the Porsche 911s of Steve Smith/John Nichols and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride. Watts is missing the Astra to attend a friend's 40th birthday celebration, so it will be a battle of the Porsches in North Wales.However, Smith and Nutt have two more 911s to keep a very close eye on. Geoff Crabtree/Liz Jordan will mount a strong challenge, but the real crew to watch could be Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret. Rolt has only driven a 911 of this vintage once before and that was on the 2004 Bulldog Rally when he scored a surprise victory over Nutt. The new chairman of the British Racing Drivers' Club is now back in the Welsh forests with the class B5 911 from the Tuthill stable for what is set to be an intriguing Porsche contest.The leading B4 cars will be chasing the Porsches, with the Lotus Cortinas of Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson and Philip Atkinson/Gary Wood facing a particularly Scandinavian challenge. Grahame Waite/Mike Reynolds be throwing their Volvo Amazon around in style as usual and are joined by the Volvo PV544S of Swedish crew Nils Berquist/Karl-Eric Magnusson on an event that they have travelled to several times before.Making their 2005 debut in class B3 are son and father combo Jonathan and Graham Gale in their Ford Cortina GT, while B2 features the MG Midget of James Stait/tba. Whether driving or co-driving, James has had a disastrous run of first stage retirements recently, so he will be keen to see the finish back in Llangollen on Saturday afternoon! The most recent of those retirements was co-driving in Mike Barratt's Mini Cooper, and Barratt will now have Michelle Calvert back on the notes as he bids to beat the Midget. Matthew and Dood Pearce claimed B2 on the Robin Hood, so a fine class battle is in prospect on the Astra.Finally, the smallest-engined historic cars contest class B1, which will be contested by the Saab 96s of John Parker/Robert Harrison and Nick Pinkett/tba.

Post-historic (category 2)Another fantastic battle is likely in the post-historic category, with Ford going up against Datsun and Porsche for category victory. Class C5 is for the BDA-powered Escorts and it was David Stokes/Ian Oakey who took maximum class points on the Robin Hood. A year ago, however, Stokes slid off the road in Penllyn on the opening stage of the Astra!Ray Bellm/Mark Solloway clearly have the pace to win the post-historic category in their Mk1 Escort, while Dave Dyer/Graham Wride step up to class C5 this season. Rikki Proffitt and Phil Harrison bring local knowledge for their C5 bid and Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips will be in contention in their immaculate Mk1. But the times that Stokes and Bellm will be watching with the most interest will be those of Jeremy Easson/Den Golding in their Mk1. After a disastrous early shunt on the Robin Hood, Easson will be eager to get a strong score on the Astra.However, two cars from class C4 are more than capable of beating the Escorts and Dominic Frattaroli/Wyn Thomas are eager to repeat their Robin Hood victory in Frattaroli's Datsun 240Z. Meanwhile, Nick Whale and Sally Wood also have the speed to win in their Porsche Carrera RS. Due to make its debut in C4 is the newly prepared Porsche 911 of Andrew Street/Jez Mason, while Peter Lythell/Gill Cotton have another rapid Porsche in the class.Out for the first time in 2005 will be brothers James and David Young and they will start as favourites for class C3 in their Escort RS2000. The Renault Alpine of Nigel Hollier was entered for its BHRC debut, but now seems unlikely to be ready in time for the Astra. The long-awaited return for Hollier after 30 years out of the sport will now be on the Welsh Rally on 30 April.John Worthing and Bill Robertson were the stars of class C2 on the Robin Hood in their 1600cc Escort Mk1 and head to the Astra aiming to win again. Opposition comes from the similar cars Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes and Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley, while Richard and Les Simpson will be hoping to get their Skoda 120S home as the sole runner in class C1.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.