Class W9 within the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is set to be one of the most hotly-contested of the season, with a first-class line-up of 13 championship registrations to date.
Class W9 in the PWRC is the equivalent of Class 2 within the new Motorsport UK class structure and is for all four-wheel-drive cars that are not Rally2 and R5 models. It is a class that is home to a whole group of Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Lancers in particular, and with 13 crews now registered ahead of the opening event of the season, it is proving to be an incredibly popular division.
Of those 13 registrations, eight are already entered for round one, Rally North Wales on March 28, and it promises to be a supremely competitive part of the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship.
Representing Mitsubishi will be defending class champion James Giddings in his Lancer E9 although James is not currently entered for Rally North Wales. The North Wales entry will be headed by established Mitsubishi Lancer E9 aces Russ Thompson and Pat Naylor, who are both capable of winning both the category and finishing very near the front of the overall PWRC pack. Thompson will be a welcome returnee after only a limited programme in 2025.
Joining them in his Lancer E9 will be championship regular Peter Baylis, while five Subaru Imprezas will include those of veteran competitor Wug Utting and Arwel Parry, who has joined the championship this year as a co-sponsor through his Moduron Arwel Parry Motors. More Imprezas will be in the hands of Keith Jones, Colin Griffiths and Rob Aslett.
Joint championship co-ordinator Bryn Pierce said: "We're absolutely delighted to see such a good entry in class W9. The competition is going to be very strong and it will be fascinating to see how far up the overall pecking order the Mitsubishis and Subarus can get. We look forward to some great rallying from this category."
The Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is supported by Pirelli, Ashmores Press Brake Tooling, Restruct, Moduron Arwel Parry Motors, 57 Tyres and LH Motorsport.
Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship
March 28 Rally North Wales
April 11 Severn Valley Stages
June 13 Plains Rally
July 11 Nicky Grist Stages
September 12 Woodpecker Rally
October 24 Cambrian Rally
November 14 Wyedean Stages Rally
Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship. Tel 07778 547918. For enquiries about the championship please contact Suzanne Lednor - joint co-ordinator on
