Poole driver MARCUS DODD has won RALLYE SUNSEEKER on six previous occasions, most recently last year in his Hyundai Accent WRC. Starting the 2009 Bournemouth-based event at No.1, he and co-driver ANDREW BARGERY will, obviously, be intent on increasing their record-breaking run still further. However, while the entry list contains any number of crews who could disrupt their current dominance on the south coast, the two drivers whose progress will require the closest monitoring are both in Ford Focus WRCs – step forward, STEVE PEREZ and PAUL BIRD… 

As the opening round of the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship, Rallye Sunseeker’s Top 10 is littered with former winners whose speed and commitment at this level of competition is without question. Perez, who is next to leave the start after Dodd, was National Champion in 2004, while Bird’s turn came twelve months later. Sunseeker winners in 2004, ROGER DUCKWORTH/ MARK BROOMFIELD (Subaru Impreza WRC) have already ‘been there and done that’ but, several years down the line, are still a force to be reckoned with and it would be unwise to discount them in terms of outright victory.

Also campaigning an Impreza WRC, 2007 BTRDA Gold Star Champions WILL NICHOLLS/NICK BROOM are no strangers to the forests in the area, while the Top Six is completed by Yorkshire crew CHARLIE PAYNE/CRAIG THORLEY in their Mitsubishi Lancer WRC. Ferndown resident STEVE HENDY always competes on his local event and, as a director of one of the largest Ford main dealers in the south of England, he joins Perez and Bird at the wheel of a Focus WRC!

As has been the case for a number of years, Rallye Sunseeker also welcomes contenders for the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge as they set out on the long road to success. Driving almost identical Lancer EVOIXs, the first two drivers in the entry list are NIK ELSMORE and DANIEL BARRY. These two went head-to-head on the Wyedean Forest Rally at the beginning of the month and, after some electrifying performances on the snow and ice in the Forest of Dean in their ‘production’ Group N specification cars, they ended the day in 1st & 2nd places overall. Their pace in far-from-ideal conditions was breath-taking and is, once again, set to ‘wow’ the hordes of spectators lining Sunseeker’s special stages!   

TOM WALSTER is the highest-placed starter in a two-wheel drive car – his Renault Clio R3 is just inside the Top 30 while the Ladies are led by SHELLY TAUNT/JULIE MURPHY in their Subaru Impreza.

Motorsport PR guru – and Sunseeker regular – TONY JARDINE is back in his Ford Fiesta and also returning are the team of spectacular Land Rover Wolf XDs led by ALAN PARAMORE/JONATHAN KNIGHTON.

Over the years – the first fledgling event took place in 1973 and Sunseeker International have been at the helm since 1999 – Rallye Sunseeker has grown into the biggest event of its type in the south of England and it has also gained the enviable reputation as one of the best-promoted rallies in the UK. Moving to Bournemouth 25 years ago, the rally has become a major feature in the town’s calendar at a time of year when visitor numbers are not at the levels expected in high summer.