SPECTATORS lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the this year’s Malcolm Wilson Rally.

Round two of the 43rd event, named after the Cumbrian rallying legend, was held in the county at the weekend.

On Friday, M-Sport has its WRC car on display for a sneak peek, along with various stalls with fans watching the rally cars go through their safety and compliance checks.

Then on Saturday morning, Cockermouth mayor David Malloy started the rally from the M-Sport headquarters at Dovenby at about 7am.

Media co-ordinator Katy Mashiter said the event was well attended.

“A total of 95 cars set off early, driving through Hobcarton, Whinlatter Forest, Comb, Greystoke, Grizedale and Broughton Moor before ending back at The Hired Lad in Penrith at about 4pm.

“It was great to see locals cheering the drivers on.”

The rally series is made up for eight rounds, with the first taking place in North Wales in February.

In the competition, drivers take their best six scores from the eight rounds to be in with a chance of winning.

Round two of the rally was made possible by the support of Cockermouth Town Council and Allerdale Borough Council.

A number of volunteers helping to marshal the event, whose duties including manning radios and footpaths, as well as officials acting as control marshals at various passage checks, all helped to ensure the rally went smoothly.

Last year, the event was cancelled due to the unavailability of the North Lakes Forests Stages.

The 2018 rally was originally postponed at the start of March due to the snow and ice that swept the country during the so-called ‘beast from the east’.

Organisers then failed to find a new date to hold the event.

The next locations of the rally series will see the drivers head across to Wales for two events - the Rallynuts Stages Rally (formerly known as the Severn Valley Stages) in April, then on to the Plains Rally in May - before heading north for the Carlisle Stages Rally on June 9.