ORGANISERS of the 2020 North Wales Rally Services Rally North Wales have scheduled a new provisional date of Saturday 21 November 2020 for the event.

Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club confirmed last week that the event, planned for 28 March, would be postponed following the latest directive from the sport’s governing body, Motorsport UK, who suspended all organising permits with immediate effect due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

The event organising committee has been monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic and the implications of running the popular event over recent weeks, and was well advanced in the planning of the Dolgellau-based forest rally, which had attracted a top entry, totalling over 100.

Motorsport UK has temporarily suspended all motorsport permits due to the potential increased risk to competitors, officials, spectators and communities.

Guy Weaver, Chairman of WSSCC and organiser said: “Following the announcements made by Motorsport UK today, the organising committee regret to announce that the 2020 North Wales Rally Services – Rally North Wales is to be postponed.

“We fully support Motorsport UK’s position and our organisers had been working tirelessly to offer another fantastic event in the Dyfi and Pantperthog forests.

“We have decided to provisionally announce a new date for the event of Saturday, 21 November, which has been agreed in principle by our stakeholders, championships and key officials. This, of course, will be monitored closely as the situation develops throughout the year.

“Of course, the health and wellbeing of everyone at this time is paramount. A huge amount of time, effort and investment has already gone into the planning of the event, which was all set to be another superb rally. I would like to thank all the hard-working officials and organising team for everything that they have done for the rally, and we will look forward to seeing everyone in November.”

Rally North Wales’ organisers will issue a full refund to paid up entries and competitors are requested to contact the Event Secretary with the name of whom the cheque should be made payable to.

The North Wales event is a round of the Fuchs Lubricants Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship, Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship, The Fuchs Lubricants RACRMC Mixed Surface/Rally 2 Championship and The ANWCC Forest Rally Championship

It was due to run six stages, totalling 45 miles from its rally base in Dolgellau.

David Richards, chairman of Motorsport UK, said: “Clearly we live in challenging times and exceptional measures are required. The decision to suspend Motorsport UK permits on a temporary basis is not one that was taken lightly as the industry employs many thousands.

“However we have an over-riding responsibility to our members and the friends and families of our community. Furthermore, our social responsibilities extend to the broader population and the potential drain on valuable public health resources on which we are all reliant.”

He added: “The situation is very fluid and we will continue to monitor developments over the coming weeks and hope that we can resume the annual motorsport calendar at the opportune moment.

“In the immediate short term period, our efforts need to be focused on ensuring that the industry that backs up the sport has got the financial support that it requires from the Government in order that it can be sustained beyond this extraordinary scenario.”