This weekends opening closed roads rally of the year has attracted one of the strongest ever line-ups for a club event on the island.

The Jaks Bar/Porsche Centre Chester twin sponsored two day event, organised by Manx Auto Sport, is the second round of the Eurocars Motorsport Manx Rally Championship and has an overall entry of 51 crews, the best in recent years. However it is the quality that really marks it out.

The islands top driver, Kirk Michael’s Rob Watson, will lead the field into action from St Johns shortly before 7 o’clock on Friday night, aiming to continue his phenomenal run of success on the club events, which includes winning this one for the last two years. However he’ll have to first settle in with new co-driver Bruce Craig in the Vauxhall Nova kit car.

Usual pace-note man Rob Fagg, whose new partnership with David Bogie means he’s not available to Watson this season, starts one minute behind with the first visiting driver, John Cope in a Subaru WRC. Cope has led this event in the past and is sure to be right at the sharp end, though he’d probably prefer dry conditions which are unlikely to materialise after all the recent rain.

Seeing George Collister (Mitsubishi Evo 3) and Steve Quine (Vauxhall Astra) on the entry list at 3 and 4 immediately brings back memories of the frenetic scrap both had with Watson on October’s similar Black Horse Finance event.

But this time, although Watson starts as favourite, there are probably as many as ten potential winners. You also have to add into the equation a trio of the stunning BMW Mini Cooper S’s for visitors Daniel Harper, John Cressey and Ian Dawes and two recent on-island event winners, Dave Corris (Escort WRC) and Richard Curphey (Vauxhall Nova).

Event sponsor Adrian Kermode uses one of his Porsche’s, while Mark Cubbon’s top three result on the Black Horse makes him one to watch in the Evo 6, with John Swinscoe (Evo 9) and Chris Woodcock (Evo 6) also challenging.

The action is sure to be worth seeing, and the first stage is a real awakener, running up Glenneedle to The Mines and then the rapid descent of the Shoulder Road to South Barrule. From there the crews head to Ballagyr, the Switchback and Staarvey and the loop is completed with a stage from Brandywell Cottage, down Injebreck and through West Baldwin and Mount Rule to Eyreton. Then it’s service at St Johns and out to do it all again.

On Saturday the rally base moves to Jurby for service. The morning begins at 9.20am and features two tests repeated, firstly at The Lhen, Rhendhoo and Jurby East and then The Dollagh near Ballaugh, through The Cronk, West Jurby and Sandygate.

By the afternoon the action moves onto two runs up Tholt-y-Will, which is land-locked for spectators, making Brandywell Cottage the best bet for the double run of the Brandywell Road and Druidale.

After 75 miles of high speed stages the leading crews are due at the Jurby finish shortly before 3 o’clock.

• Scrutineering and signing-on for competitors and officials for this weekends’ Jaks Bar/Porsche Centre Chester Rally takes place tonight (Thursday). For competitors it is at Eurocars’ Peel Road premises and for officials it is the TT Grandstand. If you have a few hours to help marshal or timekeep either tomorrow night or on Saturday the organisers would be delighted to hear from you. Please either pop along to the signing-on session or call Chief Timekeeper Mark Wrigley on 498197 or Chief Marshal Mandy Millward, 458952.
   
• The presentation of awards for the event will take place at the Onchan Squah Club on Saturday night, from around 8.30pm. It is free entry to all and the organisers would particularly like to invite everyone involved in organising the event, in whatever capacity.