10:42am Friday 21st August 2009
RALLY legend Jim McRae is the guest of honour at this month's Pendragon Stages.
The five-times British champion, and father of the late Colin McRae, will be making a special appearance at the 'Pendragon Show' which takes place in Lowther Park.
Jim, who is still regularly competes on rallies, is promoting the Colin McRae Vision charity, which supports designated children's charitable causes and also helps foster and educate young motorsport talent in the UK.
"We're delighted that Jim is coming down for the event," said clerk-of-the-course Tim Foster, who lives in Oswaldwistle.
"He's also bringing down Colin's Rothmans Subaru Legacy to put on display at the Vision's show unit."
A full-house entry of 120 cars are expected to start the rally, on Sunday, August 30, with the organisers promising a full day's entertainment for spectators.
Scrutineering takes place at Penrith Leisure Centre on the Saturday, from 1pm-6pm, with fans able to check out the cars close-up. The ceremonial start and champagne finish is in Penrith town centre, and all the spectator action is nearby at Lowther Park.
The cars will tackle the stage twice in the morning and then twice in the afternoon.
"The cars will be running at 30-second intervals, so the action promises to be fast and furious!" said Tim.
"Because there field is so big there's probably only just over an hour between the two batches of stages. But in case anyone gets bored, we've lined up a lot of extra entertainment.
"The RS Owners Club are putting on a display, there's a giant Stobart TV screen which has a live link to the entire stage, so that specators won't miss any of the action, and we'll be putting on a demonstration run of special rally cars.
"Gary Gee has promised to bring his ex-Guy Frequelin Opel Manta for a run, and Steve Davies will be putting his Rothmans Porsche 911 through its paces. We've kept the admission down to £10 per car, which makes it a real value-for-money day out."
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/trade_directory/