WRGB will expand into England this year.
Cholmondeley Castle across the Welsh border is adding to its motorsport calendar with the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB RallyFest for the first time on Saturday 29 October.
The event will be a key area for fans during the penultimate WRC round, which will be based at the Deeside Rally Village from 27– 30 October.
The extended three-day competitive schedule for this year’s Wales Rally GB covers 208 competitive miles and includes many of the established classic tests, in addition to some exciting new additions and revisions.
One such revision is the RallyFest location, which will be held in Cholmondeley Castle for the first time since the fan area was launched in 2013 but where WRGB has been promoted for a few years during its own power festival.
A Welsh Government spokesperson, said, “Wales Rally GB has had success in recent years attracting new audiences to family-friendly venues like Chirk Castle and this has been an important part of the event’s growth strategy. Unfortunately, this year Chirk Castle is unavailable for the weekend of the rally, other alternative venues in Wales were looked at.
“However, WRGB require specific facilities at specific location that enables not only a special stage to be created, but one that allows thousands of visitors to see the action and which also fits with the event’s tight timing schedule.
The Welsh Government funding is used to deliver all the aspects of Wales Rally GB inside Wales. The Cholmondeley Castle stage is being treated as a stand-alone element of the rally by the organisers and will be self-financing.
“However, Wales will still continue to enjoy the full branding benefits around Cholmondeley Castle and will of course be marketing itself to a wider audience through its association with the rally.”
