IN a week that has seen the cancellation of Britain's top gravel rally, the Roger Albert Clark, due to lack of entries, this weekend's Grizedale Stages has bucked the trend.

Organisers Furness Motor Club have a full-house entry of 75 cars and crews for Saturday's event, and Durham driver Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson will head the field away from Coniston car park at 9.30.

Ahead of them lie 41 miles in the Grizedale Forest complex, spread over six special stages.

But the pair face competition from a host of top gravel crews, led by Bentham's Stephen Wright in his Ford Focus WRC.

Seeded at car two with Steve Pugh, from Aberystwyth, it is Wright's local event and after winning the event in 2011, he'll be eager to be back in the winner's circle.

Any one of the top ten are potential winners, with Ollie Mellors (Proton Satria) Peter Taylor (Ford Focus WRC), Stephen Simpson (Ford Fiesta WRC) andTom Preston (Ford Focus WRC) all contenders for victory.

"We have always believed that forest rallying is the pinnacle of our sport, and our forests don't come any better than Grizedale," said a spokesman for Furness Motor Club.

"There is much change in the world of rallying at the moment, with new safety requirements, but as we run in the National Park we've been putting these things into practice for years. And spectators are very well-catered for, so long as they adhere to instructions and stand in the designated areas."

There are also special car parks, at £10 per car, for spectators at Moor Top, High Cross, The Heald, Machells Coppice and Bowkerstead Farm which allow for easy access into the stages.

The event website, www.grizedalestages.co.uk, has downloadable spectator information.

Top entries:

1;Stephen Petch/Michael Wilkinson (Ford Fiesta)

2: David Wright/Steve Pugh (Ford Focus WRC)

3: Ollie Mellors/Ian Windress (Proton Satria Neo)

4: Peter Taylor/Andrew Roughead (Ford Focus WRC)

5: Andrew Gallacher/Jane Nicol (Ford Fiesta)

Others:

6: Gary Tomlinson/Stephen Thompson (Subaru Impreza)

7: Tom Preston/Jack Morton (Ford Focus WRC)

23: Kevin Robertson/Murray Strachan (Mitsubishi Evo9)

32; David Wallbank/TBA (Mitsubishi Evo)

37; Steve Head/Chris Dodds (Ford Escort)

68: Jonathan Atkinson/Andrew Storey (Talbot Sunbeam)

73: Dave Head/Andy Darlington (Suzuki Swift)