Car Rallying in Wales

Wales as a whole country has long associations with holding car rallies in all parts of Wales.Three major participants are Rally North Wales , Wales Rally GB and the Cambrian Rally. Likewise, there are many other extreme sports there.

Destinations

2nd April 2016 .Dolgellau. Dyfi Forest Complex.
This is the first stage of the Rally North Wales. Promoted by Wolverhampton & South Staffordshire Car Club, the compact one day event will be the second round of the 2016 MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the third round of the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship. Carefully planned routes will access the forest roads of Dyfi Forest. Dyfi Forest lies mainly to the north of the River Dyfi between the towns of Dolgellau and Machynlleth.

What about the Rally?

This annual event was first started in 1958 by the local evening newspaper, and continued each year as a road rally in various formats until 1966. In that year the event became one of the first national rallies to include forestry stages . From then on with intermittant gaps and changes of sponsorship. In 1983 Audi Sport took on the sponsorship and with that came the title World Rally Team. This event prospered until 1991 when Audi stopped sponsorship and a new sponsor had to be found.

The Wales Rally GB

The Wales Rally GB is one of the biggest sporting events to take place in North Wales .
Most rallies start within a two day test run. The first day is getting to know the route and speeds. The second day is a Shakedown where drivers speed things up a bit and do a full speed test of the course. After the two days there is a further three days of competition usually Friday to Sunday. The route is made up of Special stages, racing against the clock to obtain the fastest time on both Public roads and Forest roads. The Wales Rally GB will run from 27th October to the 30th October 2016. The route has not yet been advised yet. ( 03/03/2016)

The Cambrian Rally

This years event has already taken place on 13th February and was again held in the Gwydyr and Clocaenog Forests of North Wales with Llandudno and Conwy as major towns on the route. As a matter of fact, the Cambrian Rally is organised by the North Wales Car Club. and has done since it was formed in 1955 .

Other Extreme Sports in North Wales

North Wales is fast becoming the major extreme sports centre of the United Kingdom. The very latest addition is a sizeable venture known as Surf Snowdonia. It has opened on the former Alluminium Works site at Dolgarrog Near Conwy. It is the largest wave lagoon in Europe and caters for beginners to advanced surfers, with waves of up to 2metres high. The waves travel the total length of the lagoon about 200 metres. It will be open this Easter 2016.

Extreme Zip Wire

Zip World opened in 20213 in a slate quarry at Bethesda with 2 wires running a length of 1 mile, where speeds of up to 100 mph can be achieved and at heights of 500ft. On the other hand, the Zip World Titan opened at Blaenau Ffestiniog in 2014 which is the first four person zip line to open in Europe. 2016 sees the expansion of the Tree Top Centre in Betws-y-Coed with further zip lines planned.

Plas y Brenin

The well known Plas y Brenin Mountain Training centre in Capel Curig offers courses in all outdoor sports from skiing , canooeing, sea kayaking, mountain biking, mountain climbing and guiding. Thy have their own dry ski slope for instruction and practise.

Go Below

Offers instruction on exploring caves and old mine workings in and around the Betws
-y-Coed area. An extemely varied itinerary to look forward to.