Petter Solberg thrills at Rallyday 2012

Rallyday marked its twelfth edition in style at the weekend with 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg pulling out all the stops to give the fans a truly memorable day at Wiltshire's Castle Combe Circuit, home of the UK's Premier Rally Car Show.

Solberg is one of the most popular and flamboyant characters in the WRC, and visitors were left in no doubt as to why he is known affectionately as Hollywood, as he performed dozens of crowd-pleasing donuts in his Castrol Edge sponsored Ford World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC car.

The Norwegian, who was one of a plethora of stars from the rallying world in attendance and who was making his Rallyday debut, was mobbed wherever he went, and he stayed right to the very end to bring the curtain down on another hugely successful edition of the annual show.

"This is a fantastic event and there is a lot of people here and a lot of nice cars," said the 37-year-old and veteran of more than 150 WRC events. "I must say I fit in very well because I love cars and there are some very, very special ones here.

"The fans at Rallyday have a lot of passion too and that is why it is very enjoyable. I have been signing I don't know how many autographs, but it is great, and I loved going out on track in the Fiesta RS WRC Car - just give me a steering wheel and some power and I will do my job!"

Petter was on hand too, to announce the winner of the Castrol Edge Search for a Rally Star competition. Six finalists - namely Callum Atkinson, Kris Farrell, Phil Kendall, Barry Lindsay, Tony Lynch and Sara Williams - were invited to Castle Combe to take part in a series of driving and assessment tests, but it was Kendall who came through to win the works drive in a national rally with full support from M-Sport and Castrol Edge.

"It is a dream come true for me," Kendall said. "I put quite a lot of preparation into today. But nobody knew what way it was going to go. Everybody was fast. The Fiesta R2 is amazing to drive - it just glides over the bumps and the suspension is just unbelievable. Just the enjoyment of driving today was superb, but to win the overall prize is fantastic. I can't believe I have actually done it."

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Ott Tanak meanwhile was another of the current WRC crop in attendance and he was on the judging panel that selected Kendall as the inaugural winner of the Castrol Edge Search for a Rally Star.

"It has been a really interesting day. I have been to a couple of similar events, but it is great to be here and there is a lot to see and do will all these different cars," Tanak said.

In addition, Jonny Milner, MSA British Rally Champion in 2002 and 2003, drove his Toyota Corolla WRC that took him to those two titles and the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship title in 2010. Milner was joined by fellow British Rally Champions Jimmy McRae and Russell Brookes, the former reunited with the DTV Chevette he campaigned back in 1978.

"Rallyday is just such a great spectacle for the fans and the drivers," Milner enthused. "The fact you can get up close to talk to everybody, the spectators can touch all these cars and we have got such a massive history of cars here, from the Group B days right up to the current Ford Fiesta RS WRC, is great. You can see how the cars have evolved. It is very fascinating to look at that - and of course see the stars and see them drive the cars on the track and hear those iconic noises again.

"I last came here four of five years ago and the fact it has gone on for so many years is brilliant. It just gets stronger and stronger. I have done the Goodwood Festival of Speed and there are always a few rally cars there, but it is not the same depth as it is here. Fair play to the organisers - they have brought on another cracker today and to get the rain to stop yesterday, I don't know who managed to order that one!"

Other stars at the event included Phil Collins, Terry Kaby, Phil Mills, WRC Academy pilot John MacCrone plus regular Rallyday hosts, Tony Mason and Howard Davies.

The event spans many different rally disciplines and 2012 was no exception. The Clubmans Rally Stage, which uses the perimeter road, was active all day, while Rallycross teams put on a head-to-head demonstration to the attending spectators across a mixture of Asphalt and loose surfaces on and off the main circuit and the AWDC (All Wheel Drive Club) put on two driving displays on a newly designed infield course complete with jumps which proved popular with the fans. Former Dakar Champion Jean-Louis Schlesser also made a special guest appearance at the Cooper Tires 4x4 Rally Raid Zone, which is where the Race2Recovery team, that will become the first team of predominantly injured servicemen to contest the gruelling Dakar Rally in 2013, offered charity rides to the public on a separate loose gravel stage in Dakar spec Qt Wildcats.

Motors TV took footage of all the key action and the Special Stage TV Rallyday Special will be shown on Motors TV on Wednesday 12th September 2012 at 8pm.

Rallyday will also again issue its own official post-event podcast later this week, available via the official Rallyday website event news page and also free to download from iTunes.

For more information please visit: www.rallyday.com