The opportunity to passenger in Will Nicholls’ R5 Ford Fiesta on the Race Retro Rally Stage was too good to miss for an Auto Addict like me. Will has a long rally career including winning the  BTRDA Gold Star in 2007 and will contest the series in the Fiesta this year with Nick Broom as co-driver. Race Retro was a shake-down for crew and car with the Fiesta being the first left-hand drive car Will has campaigned.

If you love speed, then R5 rally cars are for you. Will is really impressed by the brakes on his new toy but I am amazed by the sensation when the car is ‘launched’. The combination of 4wd traction  on tarmac and power delivery from the 1600cc turbo-charged engine not only pushes you back in the seat but also compresses your body! Direction change is instant and the car feels really obedient to Will’s precise inputs of throttle, steering and brakes – which do literally stand the car on its nose. Three laps of the stage feels like only two and I leave the car with a huge grin and big thank you to Will for getting my 2023 rally season off to a flying start!

The Fiesta was probably the fastest car on the stage but the age and variety of cars that appear on the stage makes it one of the places to see and hear legendary rally cars. Historic (and GpN) Minis, Ford, Talbot and even Ferrari Group4 legends and Metro and Manta Group B monsters as well as rare cars you may have forgotten. Cars that caught my eye were the 1970 London to Mexico Austin Maxi ‘Puff Wagon’, 1997 ex-Richard Burns GpA Mitsubishi ‘Carisma’, 2004 S1600 Suzuki Ignis S1600, South African 70s Chevrolet Firenza CanAm and kitcars Hawk Stratos replica and Darrien. It was also good to see young, up and coming competitors out on the stage in their Junior Rally/F1000 cars. Even though many of the historic and classic cars have had fastidious and expensive restorations, most were being driven to entertain the spectators.

Photographs: Keith Mainland – Words: Angelica Fuentes Garcia.