Guernsey is 'set for biggest car rally ever'

The race has seven stages - totalling 58 miles - and organisers expect it to attract a record number of drivers

Guernsey is set for its biggest and longest car rally race later this month, according to its organisers.

Guernsey Rally returns to the island with seven stages totalling 58 miles (93km), with organisers saying they expected to attract a record number of competitors.

The rally, between 28 February and 1 March, was originally cancelled by the States because of concerns about costs before the decision was reversed earlier this year.

Organiser Karl Marshall said he expected an "exciting" mixture of stages and hoped to "deliver the best rally ever".

Viewing areas

Mr Marshall said many of the stages were in rural parts of the island, as well as the north end, adding that the "tightest turn" was a nearly 180 degree bend near the former Manor Hotel at Petit Bot.

The race - which has been running since 2018 - would also have safe spectator areas on each stage, allowing people to see each car for up to a minute, Mr Marshall said.

The viewing areas would mean people did not need to "climb over people's private properties or stand on hedges they could slip from", he said.

Some residents and environmental groups previously raised concerns about the rally because of noise, pollution and road closures.

Anti-rally campaigner and resident Tim Langlois said: "The noise, the pollution - we shouldn't be running rally or turning Guernsey roads into racing car tracks."

Mr Marshall said he hoped to help people "understand more about" the race, but understood "fully" that it would be an inconvenience to some residents, despite them still having access to their properties.