CHIPPING Norton's Ray Kempster driving a Protruck R4 joins at least 63 teams taking part in the opening round of the 2008 Britpart MSA British Cross-Country Championship at Baden Hall, in Staffordshire, on April 12-13.
The entry has been arranged by championship organisers at Marches 4x4 Motorsport Management and comprises at least 50 cars in the main BCCC category, a further seven in the Trophy event and six in the Clubman section.
Baden Hall, near Eccleshall in Staffordshire, was used as a venue for the opening round of the increasingly-popular series for the first time last year and was warmly received by competitors from as far afield as Scotland, Devon and the south of England.
The venue has a four-mile special stage and offers a mixture of gravel tracks, concrete roads and forestry sections, although it is extremely unlikely that the event will benefit from the freak heat wave that was prevalent in 2007 and muddy conditions are a distinct possibility.
Preston's Gordon Monaghan won the event last year by 34 seconds in his self-built Monaghan RS, but is not returning to defend his title in 2008.
Top seed this time is Huddersfield's Richard Kershaw, who was the runner-up at the venue in his Peugeot 206 GSR last year and went on to clinch the overall 2007 Matador Tyres MSA British Off-Road Championship (BORC) title.
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