A mid-Somerset crew is preparing to tackle the county's top rally on Saturday.

The Somerset Stages Rally will take place in the Exmoor National Park and has attracted a capacity entry of 150 cars.

Competing from mid-Somerset will be Steve Leigh, of Street, and his co-driver Nick Parsons, of Glastonbury, who are seeded number 76 in their Ford Escort.

Will Nicholls and his Somerset-based co-driver Nick Broom return to the event as defending champions and their Subaru Impreza WRC will carry number one on its doors as the crew attempt back-to-back wins.

Nicholls' victory in 2008 came at the expense of Andy Burton who had been victorious in Somerset on the previous seven occasions. Engine failure put his hybrid Peugeot Cosworth out of the running last year but he and co-driver Shelley Rogerson are back this time with the express intention of extending their run of victories still further.

As a qualifying round of the Silverstone Tyres BTRDA Rally Series, the Somerset Stages welcomes all the main protagonists for each of its constituent parts, with contenders for outright victory most likely to come from those contesting the Gold Star Championship.

Indeed, Nicholls won it in 2007, Burton's name went on the trophy in 2003 and the 2008 winners, Hugh Hunter and Andy Marchbank, start at number three in their Ford Focus WRC.

Shaun Gardener/Ben Innes, the 2006 recipients, take the number four slot in their Mitsubishi Lancer and, while at this stage of the season the list of candidates for possible success is still quite lengthy, every one of them will need a good result in the South West in order to move their quest forward.

In addition to the battle for outright honours, the struggle for supremacy in the two-wheel drive category features some quick and well-driven machinery.

The first such vehicle in the entry is the Ford Escort of Dave Brick and Rob Woodhouse, closely followed by double former BTRDA Silver Star champion Jon Ballinger and co-driver Alistair Douglas in their Opel Manta.

In turn, they will be keeping a sharp eye out for the 2.5-litre Escort of Will Onions/Tim Hobbs as the rally unfolds over the special stages in Exmoor.

As has become the norm in recent years, it will be the crews in the up to 1,400cc category that run first on the road throughout the day. The Proton Satria of Darren Pinchin/Karen Watts will be the first car away from the start at the Butlins Resort in Minehead at 8am on Saturday, ahead of Millers Oils 1400 Championship leaders Graham Middleton/Ella Flynn in their Suzuki Ignis.

Middleton is attempting to become the first driver to win BTRDA Gold Star, Silver Star and 1400 Championships but will not need reminding that, in his quest for the latter in 2008, Somerset was where it all started to go wrong.

The BTRDA Rally First Challenge, introduced last year and featuring 1,400cc cars with only minor modifications, has certainly caught the imagination of a large number of competitors. Following the first round in a snowy Forest of Dean in early February, the leaders are Chris Jones (Nissan Micra), Peter Scott (Daihatsu Sirion) and Jason Hopkins (VW Lupo) who now all head for the South West for their second encounter.

Tim Lethaby