Three towns in race for Network Q Rally

All have made formal offers for the right to become the base for the Network Q rally when the three-year deal for current base, Cheltenham, expires after this year.

A spokesman for the rally organiser and British governing body, the Motor Sports Association, said, 'We are in serious discussion with Cardiff, Blackpool and Newcastle.

'We have been very happy with Cheltenham, but we can't afford to ignore offers from other cities. It would be a very hard act to follow.'

Toyota team manager George Donaldson said that a move to Cardiff would not be good at a time when the rallying is trying to increase its mass appeal.

'We need to take the sport to the people,' he said.

'Newcastle would be much better, but why take the headquarters away from a perfectly good central base at Cheltenham?'

Cheltenham is hoping it will be retained as the rally headquarters. Ken Jennings, head of tourism in the town, said that he was 'very keen to continue its association with the Rally of Great Britain.

Relocation of the rally away from Cheltenham would likely to have major implications for the route of the rally.

A return to the famous Kielder stages in Northumbria, not used since 1995, would likely come with a shift of the headquarters to Newcastle.

A move to Blackpool could open up Kielder as well as Scotland, at the same time as keeping the North Wales stages in the rally.