World Rally Championship and Intercontinental Rally Challenge – famous names ‘on the loose’
With no WRC or IRC date clash this year, many of the top rally teams from both championships are planned to be on hand to provide a thrilling demonstration of sideways driving, both on the Forest Rally Stage and on the hillclimb. Citroen, Peugeot and Skoda have all expected to be in attendance, with Peugeot having British IRC champ Kris Meeke in action.
They will share the Forest Rally Stage with around 50 historic rally cars and legendary drivers from the history of the sport, including Rauno Aaltonen, Markku Alen, Petter Solberg, Jimmy McRae and Russell Brookes.
Stars of International circuit racing
There will also be a number of current Le Mans cars on the hill, still covered in the remains of unfortunate French insects whose last memory was a 600bhp monster charging towards them at 200mph. Heading the list will be the diesel-powered prototypes from Peugeot and Audi, which have dominated the race in recent years. The Peugeot 908 HDI FAP and Audi R15TDI will be joined in a three-way fight for overall honours in this year’s race by Aston Martin’s stunning Gulf-liveried LMP1, and all three marques are expected to be in attendance at this year’s Festival of Speed.