Kielder Forest Rally to take on new ‘compact’ look

The rally, which will be held on Saturday, April 25, is being staged by the Cumberland Sporting Car Club.

It will take on a new look for 2020 which promises to be an all action super sprint with six stages totalling some 45 miles and a minimal road mileage all packed into just six hours.

It replaces the club’s long established Pirelli International Rally, which for many years was a mainstay of the British Rally Championship.

Starting from in front of the imposing façade of \Kielder Castle, an 18th. Century hunting lodge for the Dukes of Northumberland, it is a very short hop of under a mile to the start of the first stage and this format continues throughout the event with the service area, the well known Greenside venue, located just yards from the stages.

The rally will break new ground by venturing to the north of Kielder Water to use parts of the giant Kielder Forest complex that the event has not used for a good number of years, these stages tend to be more complex than some further south and the organisers hope that this move will vastly reduce the number of chicanes which have been necessary on stages using the faster roads in Wark Forest.

The Kielder Forest Rally is a round of several national championships including the Fuchs Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship, the Motorsport UK English rally Championship with Seacon UK, the Motoscope Northern Historic Stage Championship, the SG.Petch/ ANECCC Stage Championship, the Race and Rally2 Series and the newly announced Crew25 Series which gives younger drivers an opportunity to drive the legendary Kielder stages.

Scrutineering and documentation will also be located at Kielder Castle with a choice of Friday evening or Saturday morning scrutineering sessions meaning competitors can cut down on hotel expenses if running on a budget.

The same venue will host the rally finish giving crews the opportunity to head for home without a time consuming run in from the final stages.

Clerk of the Course Steve Waggett said: “We have planned a route that has variation from fast flowing to technical and demanding stages, but one which is above all compact.”