Motorsport action returns to the centre of Bournemouth on Friday 25th February as the now-traditional opening special stages of RALLYE SUNSEEKER see competitors heading out from the Lower Gardens, past Pier Approach and along the sea front. This leg of the rally features reverse seeding – the top seeds start last – and, consequently, the honour of being first car through the stage at 7.00pm in the evening goes to the Skoda Favorit of Darren Jones & Kevin Jackson.

Saturday features a full day of rallying in the forests in the south of England and it will be 2004 Sunseeker winners, Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Subaru Impreza WRC), who will set off with the aim of taking back-to-back wins on the opening round of the MSA National Gravel Championship.

Defending National Champion Steve Perez (Ford Focus WRC) will be intent on improving on his fourth place last year, but will also be keeping one eye on the car starting behind him which is the Hyundai Accent WRC of current Kwik-Fit Pirelli British Champion David Higgins.

Poole driver Marcus Dodd, whose name appears on the Rally Sunseeker trophy four times already, returns in another Hyundai Accent WRC eager to lay to rest the disappointment of the 2004 event. Marcus and co-driver Stephen McAuley were leading when they slid off the road in the snow and were forced to retire.

The exceptional quality entry list continues with former National Champion Mark Perrott (Ford Escort WRC), former Scottish Champion Barry Johnson (Subaru Impreza WRC) and Craig Middleton (Hyundai Accent WRC) who so nearly won Sunseeker last year, only to be denied by gearbox woes whilst in sight of the finish.

The Top 10 is completed by more National Championship regulars - Andy Burton (Peugeot Cosworth), Steve Petch (Hyundai Accent WRC) and Paul Bird (Ford Focus WRC) who was leading after the first two stages in 2004.

The Mitsubishi Evolution Challenge is responsible for 30 entries, each of whom has their sights firmly set on the first prize of a works-supported drive in the 2006 British Rally Championship. Nik Elsmore is the highest-seeded contender, ahead of David Wright and Stuart Jones.

Rallye Sunseeker is also the opening round of the Peugeot 206 Cup – 15 identical 1600cc 206XSi models begin their quest for glory with a number of Championship returnees interspersed with some newcomers. Richard Sykes and Mike Faulkner are set to resume their rivalry from last season, while former Ford Ka Champion Jonnie Wigmore has moved across to a Peugeot this year.

The entry list for Rallye Sunseeker usually contains a liberal sprinkling of motoring and motorsport journalists – and this year is no exception! Olly Marshall (Skoda Octavia WRC) has enlisted the services of ITV's World Rally Championship presenter Jon Desborough, while Sunseeker veteran Tony Jardine will be leaving his Formula 1 commitments behind for a while as he and the Deputy Editor of Autosport Magazine, Jim Holder, set forth in their MG ZR.