Green light for Wales Rally GB facing forestry disease threat

Wales Rally GB has had the green light despite the presence of a tree disease in woodland due to be used on the event’s final day.

Because the event starts in Mid-Wales, where there is no current sign of the disease, and finishes in South Wales, where it has been found, the Forestry Commission is happy to keep the stages open as the cars will pass from unaffected into affected areas.
If it was run the other way around, as it has in previous years, the outcome would be different.
Forestry workers will be making further checks on the unaffected woodland and will be liaising closely with WRGB organisers as the event approaches in November.
In a statement today, the FC and WRGB said it was “business as usual” for the event which takes place from 11-14 November.
The first competitive section of the rally is in Hafren Forest, near Aberystwyth, an area that is currently not affected by the recent outbreak of the Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum) infection.
The route then travels through Radnor, Crychan and Halfway woodlands, which are also not affected by the infection, before finishing in woodlands near Resolven where P. ramorum is present on Japanese larch trees.
P. ramorum can be spread by tree needles and soil clinging to people or vehicles but, as the planned rally route takes competitors from uninfected woodlands to infected woodlands, the risk of cars spreading the disease is greatly reduced.
Cars will be washed down with disinfectant at the end of the competitive route, before they travel to Cardiff for the ceremonial finish.
Spectators will be asked to follow some simple biosecurity precautions, such as keeping to paths, cleaning footwear and not taking any plant material away to minimise the spread of infection.
A British championship rally due to take place in South Wales in the middle of July has been postponed and the FC is talking to other rally and event organisers who use the woodlands about their routes and alternatives.