Graham Colfer will be among the competitors in the 2012 ALMC Stages Rally.

The countdown is on for the start of the 2012 ALMC Stages Rally which will take place on Sunday 15th July and pass through parts of Meath and Louth.

The annual rally is organised by the ALMC Motor Club which is made up of members from Meath, Louth and north Dublin.

Many of those members will be mobilised as part of the huge effort that goes into staging the rally which is divided up into three stages.

The rally base will once again be the CityNorth Hotel with the first stage from Naul to Duleek.

The second stage is from Duleek to Tullyallen and the third from Tullyallen to a location just north of Slane.

The cars will travel through each stage three times making up the competitive 160km and according ALMC official Alan Biney important guidelines have to be followed to ensure everything is in place before the chequered flag goes down.

"We put notices in local papers, and two of the national papers, containing information on road closures.

"We process the road closing orders with both Meath and Louth county councils to make sure people aware of what's happening.

"Also the residents on the roads of each stage are visited by club members on at least three occasions and we also try to co-operate in organising any access people might need during race day."

The Meath drivers expected to take part are PA Bellew (Ford Escort Mk2), Thomas Boylan (Honda Civic), Sean Brady (Peugeot 205 GTi), Graeme Colfer (Citroen C2 R2) and Mark Nangle (Subaru Impreza N12).

The rally is expected to attract many of the top drivers in Britain and Ireland with leading UK entries likely to include the winner of the 2010 rally Damien Cole in his Ford Focus WRC and John Stone in his rebuilt Skoda Fabia WRC.

ALMC Motor Club have established a number of incentives to encourage the many rally competitors around the country to take part including a cash prize of €1000.

This year's event also features classes for historic and junior competitors (who will be eligble for a prize of €350) and they will be competing on the six stages of the rally. There will be additional prizes on offer for the winner of the MkII challenge.

This year's rally is a counting round of the Get Connected REIS UK Asphalt Rally Championship, the Loughran Signs Midlands East Rally Championship and the newly established Carberry Sand & Gravel Honda Cup.

Entries for the rally will remain open until Thursday 12th July to allow competitors to get the last of the budget together and ensure a maximum entry.