The Lombard Rally 2008, UK’s Largest Rally for Motor Enthusiasts Starts This Week
November 2008 – The UK’s largest motor rally for standard cars, The Lombard Rally 2008 begins on Thursday 6th November.
Organised by The Wales Endurance Rally Association, The Lombard Rally is a competition for the true rally enthusiast. The 2008 race will last four days and will follow the route of the original Lombard RAC Rally from 1971.
The event formally kicks off at the Royal Hall in Harrogate on Thursday evening and after some testing driving through the North Yorkshire Moors, contestants will then head north towards Scotland. There will be day and night stages including stages through Dunoon, Lochgilphead and Glasgow with some breath taking scenery along the way. Drivers will head back South in the final leg, via Greystoke and Stang, before finishing at the historic Rudding Park in Harrogate.
The official charity for the Lombard Rally this year is TreeHouse. TreeHouse is the national charity for autism education. Their vision is to transform through education the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families.
Ken Owen, from The Wales Endurance Rally Association and Race Director for The Lombard Rally 2008 commented:
"The Lombard Rally is the ultimate enthusiasts’ rally with four long days and nights combining to produce the toughest rally in Britain. This year entrants can race over some of the famous sections from the golden-era of the original Lombard RAC Rally. I think the highlight will be the 'Colin McRae' ‘Selectif’ at the Forrest Estate near Castle Douglas, Scotland on Saturday morning. Here Jimmy McRae will drive one of Colin's cars along a seven-mile designated section of the ‘Selectif’. This will honour the memory of one of Britain's all-time rallying icons - Colin McRae, a real ambassador for the sport and recognised around the world. We wish all the entrants good luck in the race and we look forward to hearing of their experiences when they finish at Rudding Park in Harrogate after four gruelling days of rallying."
-ENDS-
further information please contact
Claire Meeghan, Media Manager
Tel: 07770 828899
Email: claire.meeghan@rbs.co.uk
Notes to Editors
The route for the 2008 Lombard Rally is:
Thursday 6th November
Start: Crescent Gardens opp. Royal Hall, Harrogate 10:00hrs
Check point 1: Yorkshire Event Centre 10:20hrs
Check point 2: Stang Forest 13:15hrs
Check Point 3: Kielder 16:57hrs
Finish: Glasgow 22:30hrs
Friday 7th November
Start: 06:00hrs Glasgow
Check point 1: Rest & Be Thankful 07:45hrs
Check point 2: Innellan 11:00
Check Point 3: Eredine 1 & 2 16:30hrs
Finish: Glasgow 23:45hrs
Saturday 8th November
Start: 06:00hrs
Check point 1: Colin McRae 'Selectif' 09:00
Check point 2: Castle Douglas 13:30hrs
Check point 3: Heathall 16:00hrs
Finish: Carlisle 22:30hrs
Sunday 9th November
Start: 08:00hrs
Check point 1: Stang 11:30hrs
Check point 2: Yorkshire Event Centre 13:30hrs
Finish: Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate 13:40hrs
Finish: Rudding Park, Harrogate
Lombard is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, one of the world's leading financial services companies providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, and wealth management services. RBS Group operates in over 50 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East serving more than 40 million customers and employing more than 170,000 people. The Group’s brands include RBS, NatWest, Ulster Bank, Coutts, Citizens and many other “household name” financial services companies.
TreeHouse (www.treehouse.org.uk) was founded in 1997 by a group of ordinary families whose children were affected by autism. Today, one in 100 school-age children are affected by some form of autism and half a million families are affected in the UK. Yet many do not have access to the right learning opportunities and only a fifth of teachers currently working with children with autism have had any autism training.
Funds raised through the 2008 Lombard Rally will support TreeHouse’s new National Centre for Autism Education in North London. This new building will enable TreeHouse to expand its exemplar school, as well as its national services, which include supporting parents and professionals, consultancy and engaging with policymakers to promote best practice in autism education nationally.
