HUSBAND and wife team Chris and Jo Tooze will be the first crew away from the start of the 2001 Wyedean Forest Rally in Coleford at 8.30am on Saturday.

Their Peugeot 106 XSI is contesting the new raceandrally.com 1400 Championship which forms an integral part of this year's BTRDA Rally Series.

Forty crews have entered this category and will run at the front of the field on the Wyedean, which is the opening round of no less than seven different championships. As has become the norm, the organisers of the rally have been deluged with entries and are running at their capacity of 165 cars.

The rally takes Chepstow Racecourse as its base and 10 special stages, totalling 45 miles, are contained in a compact route through the Forest of Dean.

Following the passage of the 1400cc cars, spectators will then be treated to the sights and sounds of the four-wheel drive turbo-charged machinery in the CLEAR System Solutions Gold Star Championship hurtling through the Forest.

In the absence of last year's winner, Andy Burton, the first of these will be the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5 of 2000 runners-up Vince Wetton and Joff Haigh.

Right behind them, in a similar car, is Coleford driver Nik Elsmore who, on this occasion, will have Motoring News' rallies editor Jim Holder alongside him for what will be, without doubt, the fastest trip he has ever had through the Forest of Dean!

The top ten starters in the Gold Star category are: 1: Vince Wetton/Joff Haigh, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5; 2: Nik Elsmore/Jim Holder, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5; 3: Jonny Milner/ Nicky Beech, Toyota Celica GT4; 4: Ian Joel/ Graeme Wood, Ford Escort Cosworth; 5: Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield, Subaru Impreza; 6: David Mann/Alun Cook, Subaru Impreza; 7: Mark Perrot/Paul Morris, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO6; 8: Gary Midwinter/Martin Saunders, Ford Escort WRC; 9: Brian Bell/Paul Spooner, Ford Escort WRC; 10: Theo Bengry/Les Forsbrook, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO4.

This year's Dunlop Silver Star Championship caters for those with two-wheel drive vehicles and one of the leading lights is bound to be Phil Collins.

Partnered by Forest of Dean resident Cliff Simmons, Phil's flamboyant driving style in his Ford Escort RS has produced some excellent results over the past couple of seasons. However, he will be up against the likes of fellow Escort driver Robin Bradbury and the Manta of BTRDA stalwart Jon Ballinger.

Over the past few years the BTRDA Rally Series has earned itself a reputation as one of the most competitive championships in the UK and, with the Wyedean acting as the opening salvo in the ten-round calendar, all the signs are that we are in for another cracking season.