MEXICO — More than 2,000 people lined the dirt track of the Recreational Park Friday afternoon to witness the excitement of the 20th annual New England Forest Rally.

Rally racing is a sport unlike any other. Some of the best auto racers in the world compete against one another and the clock on back-country gravel, dirt and logging roads.

“The sport is much like soccer in its popularity,” said Ananda Siverts, marketing director for Rally America. “Rally auto racing is hugely popular throughout the world but not as much in the United States, although interest is growing here.”

New England Forest Rally is the sixth and final racing competition of the Rally America Championships.

Fifty-one teams of two drive small, specially built sports cars in the two-day, 100-plus-mile multistage competition on logging roads in Maine and Northern New Hampshire.

“The New England Forest Rally attracts some of the finest national and international rally drivers in the world,” Siverts said. “One of the greatest appeals of this race for drivers are these roads.”

This year’s race, presented by the Mount Washington Auto Road, drew some the best rally talent in the world, including Antione L’Estage of Quebec, the 2010 Rally America Champion; David Higgins of Mid-Wales, England; and local resident Chris Duplessis, 24, of Mason Township, the 2010 two-wheel-drive Rally America champion.

“Some of the best rally drivers come from New England,” Siverts said, “in large part due to the proximity of the Team O’Neil Rally School and Car Control Center, in Dalton, N.H.”

“The school is considered the finest rally school in the country, if not the world,” Siverts said. “Most of the drivers racing here in the New England Forest Rally are graduates of the O’Neil school, such as Chris Duplessis.”

“Since most of the rally competition occurs on remote wilderness roads far away from population centers, it is difficult for many people to watch the sport,” said Craig Zurhorst, the emcee for Friday’s race.

“So, Rally America came up with the ‘super special stage’ of the race competition in order to bring the excitement of rally auto racing closer to the public,” he said. “The Mexico super stage is widely regarded by everyone in the sport as the best super stage in the entire country.”

The competition began at Sunday River Ski Resort at 10 a.m. Friday with the Parc Expose.

The Parc Expose involves all of the competitors rolling out their cars into a large parking area and engaging with the public in a meet-and-greet session. Drivers and their co-drivers mingle with the public, signing autographs and fielding questions about the sport and their cars.

The racing proper began at 11:30 a.m. with a “super special race.” Hundreds of fans lined the Sunday River access road to see the rally cars race by one by one.

Rally cars are generally street cars modified to handle the heavy demands of backwoods driving. A wide variety of cars is used by the racers, including Subaru Imprezas, Mitsubishi Lancers, Ford Fiestas, Saabs and even a 1997 Geo Metro.

“Rally racers are a distinctive lot,” Siverts said. “All the racers have full-time jobs and only one will get money for the racing today.”

“These drivers are intensely competitive,” said California native Will Meadows, the “Voice of Rally America” who shared emcee duties with Zurhorst. “There’s a lot of smack talk between racers before and after the race, yet there’s a lot of camaraderie between them.”

Following the Sunday River super special, the drivers traveled the 19 miles to the Mexico Recreation Park for the second and third super special stages.

Bright sunshine and comfortable temperatures bathed the more than 2,000 spectators who gathered along the half-mile dirt track to watch each of the 51 rally cars barrel past, sending up clouds of dust in their wake.

Adding to the Mexico super special’s excitement was a dirt jump where most of the spectators gathered, hoping to see a car go airborne.

Perhaps the highlight of the two-pass super stage on Friday was when a Mitsubishi Rally Car, No. 77, driven  by Viorel Dobasu, went airborne, nearly clearing the entire jump.

The rally was free of charge and had a festive feel, with spectators taking advantage of the many food and apparel concessions, and tailgating.

“I came for the excitement,” Dan Lang of Kennebunkport said, “and this event delivered it. I will be back.”

The Mexico super special event closed with a Parc Expose as the cars were serviced before the next stage of the race, the Icicle Brook Stage, a 16-mile back-country logging road race.

The New England Forest Rally Race wraps up Saturday afternoon with the L.L. Cote competition on roads in the Errol, N.H., area.

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