BAJA GB 2007, August 17-19th, 2007
Britain’s new round of the 2007 FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas
For immediate release
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
BAJA GB ORGANISERS CONFIRM FINISHING TOUCHES TO PHASE
TWO OF ROUTE IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEARING COMPLETION
Official event start switches to Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells;
Defending FIA Baja champion Marc Blasquez confirms Baja GB interest
NEWTOWN (Wales): Officials at Baja Wales Limited have confirmed that the finishing touches are now in progress for the second phase of route improvements in Myherin forest for August’s Baja GB 2007, Britain’s first ever international Baja-type motorsport event. The event will be the third round of the 2007 FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and takes place on August 17th-19th.
Around ?100,000 has been invested to upgrade and improve tracks in the Hafren, Tarenig and Myherin forest areas of mid-Wales and event organisers are delighted with the improvements. All three forests will form the route for the August event, which organisers hope will attract a capacity entry of international T1 and T2 cars, quads, bikes and non-homologated cars running in a separate national rally.
~Forestry Commission Wales staff have been working very hard to upgrade the tracks and ensure that we have a challenging route,~ said Chris Tomley, chairman of the organising committee. ~There are just a few hundred metres still to complete. Each of the forests feature some A-grade forestry roads, off-road sections with inclines and steep descents and some virgin territory that was sourced from aerial surveillance of the area and should add variety to the route.
~We are also working on finalising special spectator points to allow people to access specific places with excellent car parking and on-event catering facilities. For example, there should be two points in Hafren forest, spectator access to the Arch in Myherin and the Bowl in Sweet Lamb.~
Event regulations are currently with FIA officials for final approval, but Baja GB organisers have confirmed that the event will start from 15.45 hrs at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells on Friday, August 17th. Cars will then tackle a 10.00km timed super special stage in nearby Radnor forest from 16.38hrs. Bike and quad competitors will not tackle the Radnor section.
Entrants will be held in an overnight parc ferme in Builth Wells, before the action switches to the forests of mid-Wales on Saturday and Sunday. Two runs through a 60.97km Sweet Lamb and 54.64 Tarenig special are planned for cars on Saturday, with bike and quad entrants tackling their own similar event schedule. Servicing will be centralised over the weekend at Sweet Lamb.
Sunday, August 19th features two runs through the Sweet Lamb section for cars and one pass through the Tarenig stage. Bikes and quads will again tackle their own event schedule. After a final regrouping in Builth Wells, the podium finish for cars will take place from 15.56hrs.
In a compact route of 625.82km, Baja GB officials have laid on 413.02 competitive kilometres for the international car field. This year’s Baja GB has the full backing of the Welsh Assembly Motorsport Initiative, the Forestry Commission Wales and the Motor Sports Association (MSA).
It has already attracted keen interest from a two-car team from Nissan Spain, with the defending FIA International Cup for Bajas champion, Marc Blasquez, confirming his intention to participate in Britain’s first ever event of this status. Blasquez won the championship in both 2005 and 2006 and is planning to tackle Baja GB at the wheel of a T1 Nissan Navara, alongside Spanish team mate Alexandre Re in a T1 Nissan Pathfinder.
Entries should officially open at the start of July, although event officials admit that they have been inundated with enquiries from as far afield as Poland, Russia, Portugal, the UAE, Qatar, France, Norway, Hungary, Belgium and the Isle of Man.
Foreign competitors wanting to obtain discounted rates on logistics, ferries and travel should contact Abergavenny’s David Higgs, Allsports Logistics, Tel: +44 (0) 1873 850 025, Fax: + 44 (0) 1873 858 513, E-mail: daihiggs@aol.com
Entry forms and regulations will be available from www.BajaWales.com in the coming days. Further entry information is available from Wendy Tomley (e-mail wt@BajaWales.com).
Ends
For further media information:
Neil Perkins, Baja GB Press Officer, NDP Publicity Services, NCH Building, Upper Bar, Newport, Shropshire, Tel: +44 (0)1952 825078, Fax: + 44 (0) 1952 825001, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@compuserve.com. www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
www.BajaWales.com