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Former World Rally Champion Bjorn Waldegård will be reunited with the Lancia Stratos on the opening round of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Alternative Sign Centre Robin Hood Historic Stages (8/9 March) where he will drive the VK car of Steve Perez (above).

Bjorn Waldegård will re-new an association that scored World Rally Championship success in the mid-70s, including wins on the Swedish Rally in 1975, and the Sanremo Rally in 1975 and 1976 (above) at the wheel of the fearsome Italian machine.

In an incredible development for both the BHRC and the Robin Hood Historic Stages, the 1979 World Rally Champion (which was the first ever drivers' championship) has accepted an invitation to drive the VK-backed Lancia Stratos of Steve Perez.

Perez continues to make good progress after suffering a neck injury on the East African Safari Classic Rally last November, but is not yet fit to return to rallying. Instead, he has invited Waldegård to drive the Stratos, and re-new an association that scored World Rally Championship success in the mid-70s, including wins on the Swedish Rally (1975) and the Sanremo Rally (1975 and 1976) at the wheel of the Italian machine.

Waldegård will go head to head with Stig Blomqvist, the 1984 World Champion, who will also contest the opening round of the championship in a Ford Escort Mk1 from David Sutton's Historic Motorsport team.

The MSA British Historic Rally Championship is one of the fastest growing championships in British rallying. It is organised by the HRCR and caters for cars spanning two decades of rallying. Cars from the early 1960's through to 1981 are eligible and entries are regularly in excess of 60 cars on each of the qualifying rounds.

The BHRC has been managed and organised by the Historic Rally Car Register since the start of the millennium and under the wing of the HRCR it has grown and grown in both competitor support and spectator appeal. From early March to late October, the distinctive engine notes of Minis, Saab 96s, Escort BDAs and Porsches can be heard in the British forests and on the asphalt stages of the Isle of Man, Flanders and Epynt. Among the rally fans, the sight and sound of the historic cars are a big hit, offering a glorious trip down memory lane for the older fans and an insight into how rallying developed for the younger fans.

The competitor appeal is constantly on the rise. Up to 100 crews now compete on the BHRC each season, and the sporting atmosphere and camaraderie is a key factor in the appeal of the championship. Regularly, competitors will lend parts and spares to help rivals stay in events. Recently, a leading class competitor suffered a blown engine and his two leading class rivals both offered the loan of their spare engines for the following event.

In 2007, the HRCR welcomed Dunlop and Gambia as Championship Title Sponsors. Dunlop, through Mr Tyre (Motorsport) Ltd, have supported the Championship for many years and provide bespoke products and tyre support at the events. The Gambia logos have appeared on several leading competitors'; cars recently and Kololi Ltd (a Beach Club / Leisure Complex in the all year round holiday destination) came forward to co-sponsor the series for 2007

Last year the BHRC grew to a three-category championship, as the cars from the HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge become a full part of the BHRC. From the start of 2007, the classic cars from category 3 (1976-1981)were eligible to win the overall BHRC title, just as the existing cars from category 1 (pre-68) and category 2 (1968-1975). The development of the Classic series over the previous four seasons has brought a new group of cars into the historic rallying movement. By creating and growing the new category, the HRCR has brought Mk2 Escorts, Lotus Sunbeams, Opel Asconas, Triumph TR7 V8s and Vauxhall Chevettes into the limelight, and it has been a hugely popular move with the crews and the fans with the D5 (twin cam multi-valve) class being the strongest supported of all in 2007. The introduction of the Classic category has also encouraged a growing number of existing competitors to switch to historic rallying from contemporary series. Increasingly, Mk2 Escorts are being rebuilt into historic specification as crews realise that the switch will give them headline status, better quality gravel stages and a real chance of overall victory, rather than struggling along on stages damaged by gaggle of four-wheel drive cars.</p><p>But the development of the Classic category should not detract from the other two categories.

In category 1, Mini Coopers, Porsche 911s, Sunbeam Tigers, Lotus Cortinas and Saab 96s do battle. These cars run first on the road on all the gravel events to ensure they get the stages in prime condition, before the stages are cut up by more powerful cars; In 2007, six of the top 10 overall positions in the Dunlop / Gambia - MSA BHRC were taken by crews in Category 1 vehicles. The Mk1 Escort in 1600cc Mexico, 2-litre Pinto and 2-litre BDA engine specifications tops category 2, the post-historic class. But the field also includes more than a dozen Porsche 911s, and with regular drivers like Jimmy McRae, David Stokes, Jeremy Easson and Steven Smith in the field, is one of the most competitive of the three categories.

Of course, this is all-out special stage rallying, and the competition is fierce throughout all the classes, with just about all of the events running on pace notes. From the classic gravel stages of Mid-Wales to the closed public roads of the Isle of Man, the BHRC is a fantastic championship, widely enjoyed and still growing ever stronger. The HRCR has recently won a new multi-year contract from the MSA to run the MSA British Historic Rally Championship, and is working to ensure that the series continues to go from strength to strength.