• New, spectator friendly, Service Park in Swansea
• No interruption of Cardiff 's Millennium Stadium Stage
• Few changes to the route which ran successfully in 2006
• Return of competitive driving in darkness

"2007 will be the seventh year that the Rally Service Park has been located in Swansea and the Council is delighted to play host and support it once again this year. The new venue at SA1 Swansea Waterfront will add a new and exciting dimension to what is already a very successful event", said Councillor Gerald Clement, Swansea Council's Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation & Tourism.

The £400 million development - a joint venture between the Welsh Assembly Government and the private sector - is an extension of Swansea City Centre and will provide a more easily accessible location for spectators, bring rally teams closer to their accommodation and provide permanent facilities for working media.

"SA1 is a benchmark for waterfront regeneration and everyone can benefit from the new social, leisure and business opportunities that it offers. Moving the Service Park - the competitive hub of Wales Rally GB - to this impressive waterfront setting will introduce SA1 to a world wide audience and should encourage even more visitors to the rally", said Gareth Hall, Director, Welsh Assembly Government's Department of Enterprise, Innovations and Networks (DEIN).

http://www.sa1swanseawaterfront.com/

Cardiff will continue as Host City, staging the Ceremonial Start on the evening of Thursday 29th November and the Finish in the afternoon of Sunday 2nd December. Both will be in a new location near City Hall.

The Special Stage inside Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Saturday 1st December will include motorsport-themed entertainment prior to the first rally car starting the one kilometre timed test at 7 pm, which will then run without interruption.

The provisional three-day competitive route will feature three forest stages in the Vale of Neath on Friday, three stages on both Forestry Commission and Military roads north of Brecon on Saturday and two forest stages in Carmarthenshire on Sunday. With the exception of the Cardiff Special Stage inside the Millennium Stadium, all other timed stages will be run twice, on the same day.

One of the original characteristics of World Championship rallies was competitive driving at night. Subject to FIA approval, this challenge could return to Wales Rally GB on both Friday and Saturday when the final special stage on each Leg will be run in darkness. "This would be fantastic" said Guy Wilks, runner up in the 2005 FIA Junior World Rally Championship and outright winner of the opening round of the 2007 Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship. "The organisers should be credited for reintroducing what was once a feature of World Championship Rallies. Competitive driving in darkness is a challenge for both the driver and co-driver and provides great atmosphere for spectators", he added.

The final route and timetable of this year's Wales Rally GB, the final round of the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship, will be formally launched in June after consultation with the FIA and the registered manufacturer teams.

For more information please contact John Horton, National Press Officer.
Details and email below.

PR.07.01

Notes for Journalists:

• This year's Wales Rally GB will be the 75th Anniversary of the event.
• Since its inception in 1932 the rally has been run 62 times; this year's event will be the 63rd edition. Enforced stoppages have included World War 2, Suez Crisis (1957) and Foot and Mouth (1967).
• No "Overall Classification" was produced until 1953 when the event finished in Hastings and was won by Yorkshire husband-and-wife Team Ian and Pat Appleyard in a Jaguar XK120.
• Wales Rally GB is the British and final round of the 16-round FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). It is one of only six events that have retained their unbroken World Championship status since the WRC was established in 1973.
• Cardiff first hosted the event in 2000 and the Welsh Assembly Government has supported the event since 2003.
• WRGB is the sixth and final round of the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship and the final round of the FIA Production World Rally Championship.
• Wales Rally GB is held annually and is the UK 's biggest motor sport event. It is organised and promoted by International Motor Sports Ltd (IMS), the commercial arm of the Berkshire-based Motor Sports Association (MSA), the governing body for all UK motor sport.