Margam Forest

Length: 17.37 km

The Margam Forest stage is a very testing 17.37 km of gravel roads through the beautiful Margam Forest.

In 2003, the old Margam stage has been split in two, with some new sections added. This stage is the same route to 17.37 km, and then has a new finish.

How to get there?

The entrance to Margam Park (Car Park T)

Some parts of this stage are actually quite tricky to find, as a lot of the access roads have been blocked by police.

Car Park T is the easiest to find, as it is basically Margam Park itself. The picture on the left shows the entrance. This car park will be the finish of the whole rally, and therefore the whole World Rally Championship on Sunday 9th November (SS18 - Margam Park 2).

The most popular car park is Car Park R. Leave the M4 at Junction 37, and follow the A48 towards the village of Pyle.

Go straight over a roundabout and then turn right onto the B4281 in the village of Pyle. After approximately 1 mile, take the second left and follow the Wales Rally GB signs down a one-way system through narrow lanes to the Car Park.

Car Park S is even easier to find, as it is located very near to the M4. Leave the motorway at Junction 40 and follow the Wales Rally GB signs straight to the stage - it is just over 1 mile from the motorway ! The Car Park will be located on your right-hand side, just as you enter the Margam Forest.

Stage Maps

Thanks to Multimap.com, you can now view Stage Maps here.

Click here for the SS12 access to Car Park R (1:25000).
Click here for the SS12 access to Car Park S (1:25000).
Click here for the SS12 access to Car Park T (1:25000).
Click here for the SS12 start area (1:25000).
Click here for the SS12 start area (1:50000).

The B4282 along the northern edge of the stage is completely out-of-bounds for spectators, so don't even bother trying to find a short-cut that way. You will be turned around by police, and may miss part of the stage as a consequence.

Also, do not leave the M4 at junction 38, as you will be immediately turned around and sent back onto the M4.

As this run through the stage does not involve the Margam Park area, take the opportunity to explore the forest as much as you can, and find a good (but safe) place to spectate. There will be official, and therefore busy places to spectate, but if time permits and you can walk deeper into the forest you will be rewarded with some excellent viewing.

In 2003, if you want to spectate at Margam Forest you will need to buy either the World Rally Pass (not Car Park S) or the Forest Stage ticket 3. There will also be purchase on the day tickets available (subject to availability) for all the car parks.

For full ticket details, including advice, you will be able to find out all the information you need in the Tickets section.

As the Margam stage has been split this year, it seems as though the officials have given way to people power and kept the "family-friendly" stage (SS13 - Margam Park 1), but allowed the more adventurous rally spectator to see more of the action in Margam Forest. Take the opportunity !

The parking area at Car Park T

The view towards Car Park T as you head towards the stage

Further along towards the stage

Car Parks R and S are both of a good standard, and much like some of the parking areas on the other forest stages. Car Park S only has one fork to it, so if you find the parking area there are no other routes to try and find. Car Park R however is much bigger and has a variety of spectating points along it, making for easy parking.

Car Park R actually has two forks as you get deeper into the forest, which both allow similar types of viewing - just at different stages.

Once you're parked and have got changed into clothes ready for the stage, you will not have too far to walk to the stage, although obviously this will depend on which part of the car park you decide to stop at.

Car Park T at Margam Park itself is a tarmac road which leads onto a grassed area, which can get very wet and muddy as the number of spectators increases.

The actual entry into Margam Park itself will be very busy. There will be a heavy police presence, and also a one-way system in operation. You cannot enter the park from the Eastern side, you will have to go down to the roundabout, come back on yourself and enter the park from the Western side.

Once inside the park, you will soon come upon the large parking area. As you can see in the first picture on the left, the parking area is a good quality, although this picture was taken in 2002 when the weather had been particularly dry. This was a very rare occasion for the Wales Rally GB, so expect the grassed area muddier in 2003.

Once you're parked and have got changed into clothes ready for the stage, you will walk towards the stage and pass the toilet cubicles, which are near to the area in the second picture on the left. The third picture shows the type of surface you can expect to walk on as you leave the car park.

How far to the stage?

Walking towards the stage

From Car Park R, there are two main viewing areas - one approximately 1 mile from the entrance to the parking area, and the other one approximately 2.5 miles from the entrance to the parking area. Depending on where you park, you will probably not have a walk of more than 20 minutes here, but allow for double this time, just to be sure. The parking area does extend the whole of this 2 mile area, so you will need to park nearer the middle (i.e. after 1 mile) if you wish to see that particular section of the stage.

From Car Park S, the stage is approximately 1.25 miles from the entrance to the parking area, so again drive in as far as you can to make sure you have a shorter walk. Again, you will probably not have a walk of more than 20 minutes here, but allow for double this time, just to be sure.

From Car Park T, you will be able to stroll around the gardens of Margam Park as you try to find a good spot to watch the drivers. If you do park here, you will probably just want to see the competitors drive past as close as possible, so anywhere near the entrance to the park will do, making it a walk of less than 500m. The first picture on the left shows you the type of ground you will need to walk on.

Bear in mind though that you cannot really get close to the action in the park itself. All spectators are fenced off from the action, and in my opinion the action is far too far away, as you will see if you look at the Margam 2 2002 Gallery section.

Catering at Car Park T is probably some of the best you will find at any of the stages (except for Cardiff), as it is within the gardens of the stately home and therefore very accessible.

However, the catering at Car Parks R and S are also of the usual high standard, allowing for a large number of spectators.

There are a whole host of facilities in and around the Margam area. The M4 has it's Swansea West services between junctions 46 and 47 and also Sarn Park services just off Junction 36.

The village of Pyle also has a small amount of shops where food can be purchased.

Best spots for spectators

If you are a forest stage enthusiast, this is the stage for you. A lot of spectators think of Margam as just the stately home area, but it is far more than that. Margam Forest is a spectacular, classic Welsh forest stage, with almost all of the spectator areas having easy access to fast corners over crests, fast flowing corners and a good variety of 90 degree junctions.

Car Park R offers views over a fast-flowing section where the bends are not particularly fierce, but does show you how some parts of the stages can be taken at high speed. Parts of the forest have been felled to improve the viewing areas.

Car Park S has two viewing options. The first is a very tight left hairpin after a long fast straight which has caught out some drivers in the past. The second is a section where you can view the cars from above in a quarry area. This is quite different to many stages where you just watch as the cars whizz by, and is well worth a try.