“We can shut out the world and just enjoy rallying”

It’s back! After two years of global upheaval, the rally of the year is back. The 14th edition of the Roger Albert Clark Rally will be the biggest and best yet and I cannot wait. It seems a long time ago that a select group of us stood on the stop line of the final Bewshaugh stage on a typically damp and murky Monday afternoon in Kielder to cheer the arrival of 2019 winners, Marty McCormack and Barney Mitchell.

At the time, we could never have appreciated that our sport was soon to be shutdown by Covid and only in the last couple of months have we been back in the forests. Events like the Woodpecker, Trackrod, Carlisle and Cambrian have been great days out but now comes the one that many competitors, fans and marshals have been waiting for: the Roger Albert.

This one event has given me more top memories than any other and I’m sure we are going to add more memories this time around. Next week, for five days we can shut the strife and aggravation of the real world out and concentrate on the sight and sound of rally cars on classic forest stages. It is a pure form of escapism.

This rally is a test of endurance for everyone and it is a physical challenge, with early starts, late finishes, changeable weather and more: all of the elements that make it such a special rally. For five days, we will all be transported back to our younger selves and memories of the old RAC Rally will be rekindled.

If you’ve yet to experience the

Roger Albert Clark Rally, I commend it to you. The sound of a high-revving

BDG working its way through a dark forest still sends a tingle down my spine.

Though Covid has cost the event 10 to 15 European entries, the 147 cars on the start list is a record and clearly shows that competitors are looking for a rallying adventure. But this is not just an adventure for the crews, it is a very special event for the teams, the marshals, the fans and even the media.