Next Rally Forum is the last

A Welshpool event that has been a mainstay on the local sporting and social calendar for 13 years will call it a day after one final time.

The Mid Wales Rally Forum was first held in 2004 and has since welcomed some of the biggest names from the world of rallying and raised almost £100,000 for local causes in the process.

But the next edition will be the last, with organisers moving it to the bigger venue of The Hafren to go out with a bang.

“All good things come to an end so the next Forum January 6, 2018 will be the last,” said a spokesperson, who announced that tickets will be £15 and only available from The Hafren’s box office. Special guests will announced in the next few weeks.

The Forum has been running since 2004 and was originally the idea of former World Rally Champion co-driver, Phil Mills, fellow top Welsh co-driver, Howard Davies and local garage owner John Whittall Williams.

The idea was to raise some money for local charities to take advantage of Phil’s world championship profile. They brought on board Howard Watkins from Rally Marketing and Nigel Williams to help put the idea into action.

Over the years it has attracted the likes of Petter Solberg, Ari Vatanen, Mikko Hirvonen, Malcolm Wilson and Kris Meeke plus many local stars including Mark Higgins and the father and son driving champions of Gwyndaf and Elfyn Evans.

But there is still one last milestone to cross before the event calls it quits.

“It has been decided that as the Forum has so far raised £99,000, it would be a pity if we couldn’t raise the last £1,000 to make it £100,000 donated to charities, before ending the Forum,” the spokesperson added.

Following the recent tragic passing of James Corfield, one of the charities to benefit from the night will be Brecon Mountain Rescue, who were very much at the forefront of the search for the Montgomery youngster.