RALLY aces Bob Ceen and Alistair Douglas will once again be competing in the four-day British round of the World Rally Championship, the Network Q Rally Great Britain, which starts next Thursday.

Bob, who is director of Malvern-based CP Engineering, and Alistair, who is a partner of Winnell Douglas in Ledbury, have been rallying together since 1993.

Their best result on the Network Q came in 1998, when they finished 26th overall and 6th amateur crew. Since then they have achieved 3rd place in the UK's premier national championship series, as well as overall wins in individual events.

This year they have been competing on selected national events and Bob is presently ranked amongst the top 15 of all UK-based rally drivers as well as being the reigning Welsh National Rally Champion. Many of their exploits have been seen on television this year, as they have been carrying an in-car camera. They are intending to carry the camera for the Network Q Rally, so there will be no hiding their ups and downs!

Bob and Alistair compete in a Subaru Impreza 555 prepared to the highly modified 'Group A' regulations. The car was originally built for twice World Champion Carlos Sainz (Spain), who used it to capture 2nd place in the 1995 World Championship.

It has a 300bhp engine, four wheel drive and computer-controlled transmission, but even with all these 'gizmos' it is still a handful at 120mph in the Welsh forests!

Also taking part in the rally will be Much Marcle co-driver Michael Park who will be competing in a Ford Focus RS WRC with Estonian driver Markko Martin.

The rally is based in Cardiff, although most of the action takes place in the forests around Swansea, Carmarthen and Llandovery.

The start is at 6.30pm on Thursday (November 14) and the finish at 4.40pm on Sunday. The competitors will cover over 1,000 miles altogether, about 250 of which will be on unsurfaced forest tracks. There will be three visits this year to the purpose-built Cardiff Super-Special stage which is ideal for family viewing. The cars will be tackling the stage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.