The roads are barely wide enough for one car at their narrowest, and maybe two cars – if racers are lucky – at their widest. At speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour through dense forest on logging roads that will at times have rocks blocking the way, the rally cars in the 2004 Maine Forest Rally will have to be quick and nimble, and so will the drivers behind the wheel.

“I would say with the weather having been pretty cool and wet, (Thursday) notwithstanding, that the race will be pretty quick this weekend,” said Paul Giblin, the event’s media coordinator. “Especially with the people we have running this race.”

One of those drivers is Paul Choiniere, a seven-time nation rally champion.

Starting Friday at the Mexico Recreation Area, the rally will send drivers across 108 miles of back roads over two days, culminating in a final stage in Oquossoc.

“For safety reasons we’ve all but eliminated night racing,” Giblin said. “Some of the slower classes of drivers will have to run with lights near the end, but the top class shouldn’t need lights all weekend.”

Friday, though, will allow racers to get their feet wet, so to speak. After going through a rigorous vehicle inspection in the morning and showing off their cars to spectators at the recreation area from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m, drivers will climb in and run four stages, including a Concord Pond stage, the toughest of the four on Friday.

“Especially on Friday there are a lot of points for spectators to watch from,” Giblin said. “You’d be amazed at the numbers, but you literally see hundreds of people watching to see cars race by for 30-seconds at a time, sometimes sideways as they make the turns.”

On Saturday, drivers will head north from Sunday River Brewing into the Magalloway and Parmachenee regions of Northwestern Maine for the larger, 7-leg portion of the race. In all, drivers will navigate across 22 miles on Friday and 86 on Saturday.

The event has been voted by members of the Sports Car Club of America as the best ProRally in the country twice in the last 10 years, and organizers are again hoping for positive feedback on one of the more unique stops on the nation-wide tour.

“The racers always seem to like coming up here for this event,” said Giblin. “It’s a popular spot on the tour.”

In all, more than 60 teams have registered for the event, with some teams coming all the way from California to participate.