Belgium is the next destination for contenders in the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the penultimate event of the season, the Historic Tour of Flanders (11-13 September). The third and final asphalt event of the season runs on the roads around the host town of Roeselare, which provide a unique challenge for the crews.
 
Category 1
Heading the small category one field of pre '68 cars will be the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride and this is a very important event for the Irish crew. They are the only remaining BHRC contenders with the potential to take a maximum championship score, providing they win category one in Belgium and in Yorkshire at the end of September. So, Nutt will be setting a quick but safe pace in Belgium as they bid to repeat their 2004 overall title.

Ranged against Nutt/McBride, and capable of giving them a real challenge, is the similar car of Rikki Proffitt/Phill Harrison, which will be having only its second BHRC outing.
Among the smaller capacity cars, it is the Singer Chamois of Gary and Jane Edgington that is likely to shine on the slippery asphalt. Aiming to chase the Edgingtons will be Mike Barratt and Jody Watson in their Sunbeam Stiletto. Initially Barratt had planned to run his Mini Cooper, but that car is not ready following it's Isle of Man accident and so he is reverting to the Sunbeam for the Belgian trip.
 
Category 2
Category two is for the cars from 1968 to 1974, and it is David Stokes and Guy Weaver who are chasing the overall title in their Ford Escort Mk1. They are now the major challengers to Nutt/McBride in overall terms and need a maximum score in Belgium to maintain their title bid. Their 2008 visit to Flanders ended with a major accident after a steering failure, so they will be keen to have a clear run this time around.

However, the car that could set the ultimate pace in category two is the Porsche 911RS of Steven Smith and Phil Spurge, on only Smith's second rally of the year.
Stokes has plenty of other opposition, too, including the Escorts of Rupert Lomax/David Alcock and Ernie Graham/tba. Meanwhile, a tremendous Porsche entry also includes Derek Boyd/Maurice Beckett, Peter Lythell/Gill Cotton and Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne.

Class C3 for the Pinto-powered Escorts will feature another mighty contest as Drew Wylie and Howard Pridmore take on Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes and Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson. Meanwhile, Vince Bristow/Keith Fellowes and Matt Fowle/Robert Cook will battle for class C2 in their 1600cc Escorts.
 
Category 3
Category three is for the most recent cars up to 1981 and this one is very open heading for Belgium as a gaggle of Escorts and Porsches top the field. Among the quickest Escorts will be Darren Moon/Chris Parsons, Will Onions/Tim Hobbs and brothers Phil and Mick Squires. However, none of them are Belgian experts, so it could be a Porsche at the top of the category.

In the Porsche camp are category three 911s for Adrian Kermode/Liz Jordan and Mike Anderson/Alan Brown, while an entry for Richard Tuthill/Calvin Cooledge could really shake up the order.

An excellent entry of Escort Mk2s in class D3 promises a fine battle, with Guy Woodcock/Iwan Jones sure to be to the head of the action. But there is strong opposition to come from Mark Clifford/Graham Wild, Chris Shooter/Ben LeGood and Derek Belbin/Steve Dargan. Finally, in class D2, Flanders newcomers Jakob Scannell and Nina Thompson (Escort Mk2) take on the Sunbeam Ti of Pat Anderson and Tom Mansfield.
 
The Historic Tour Flanders is organised by the Autoclub Midden Vlaanderen. For more details about the event, please visit the website at: www.omloopvanvlaanderen.be
 
Issued by Paul Lawrence (tel 01952 510382) on behalf of the Historic Rally Car Register (www.hrcr.co.uk). The Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship is managed by the HRCR.