The town of Sliven in central Bulgaria will host the 29th International Rally Sliven event on August 29-30 2008. A total of 43 teams wil take part in the rally, which has a coefficient 10 in the world rankings. Six teams from Ukraine, Hungary and Russia will participate as well, Bulgarian news agency BTA said.

Among the favourites for the title are Bulgarians Dimitar Iliev (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9), Kroum Donchev (Peugeot 307), Yassen Popov (Mitsubishi) and Alexy Tamazov of Ukraine (Subaru Impreza).

Last year's edition of the rally was cut short when a Ukrainian crew had a severe accident in one of the stretches and the driver died on impact.