Meirion Evans and Dale Furniss headed the 2026 Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship during the season-opening Rally North Wales, which was based in the border town of Welshpool on Saturday March 28.
By every measure, this was a superb start to the 2026 Welsh championship calendar. The stages were in prime condition and offered fast and flowing challenges in both Aberhirnant and Dyfnant, while the town of Welshpool embraced the event with an extensive service area at the Livestock Market and town centre activity at the start, middle and finish of the rally.
The competition was intense and Evans and Furniss steered their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to a memorable victory against stern opposition. Although Evans may not be able to contest all of the rounds of the championship, having a car, team and driver of this calibre in the championship for the opening round was a real boost.
Rally North Wales also marked the opening round of the Restruct Junior Challenge within the championship. Two young competitors from this year's Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship will win the opportunity of a lifetime to join the M-Sport WRC team for Rally Italia in October.
Class 0, for the up to 1400cc cars, was very well supported and competitive and it was another giant-killing performance from Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans (Restruct Ltd/Total Spray Solutions/JFB Motorsport/Jordan Road Surfacing-Nissan Micra) that sealed the class. They had a minute and a half in hand over Luke Watts/Matt Rogers (Ian Watts & Son Funeral Directors/Watts Memorials Limited/NJ Auto Repairs-MG ZR), with Gethin Rhun Price/Steven Brown (R Keith Price Haulage-Nissan Micra) in third.
Brynli Thomas/Dylan Griffiths (WA Motorsport/PR Signs/Cresta Taxis-Peugeot 206) took fourth and Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (GW Services/Gwynedd Skip and Plant/Carafanau Hamdden/Ceir Seiont/Cacenau Tyn Twll Cakes-Vauxhall Nova) completed the finishers after a troubled day. Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services-Peugeot 106 XSi) posted an early retirement.
In Class 1, for road rally cars, Colin Evans/John Evans (Towy Waste-BMW 318ti) finished well clear of Richard Phillipson/Jemma Taylor (BL Mini 1000 MK3).
In Class 2 for R2 and Rally4 cars Riley Chester/Robbie Sandford (Peugeot 208 Rally4) took an impressive victory on their debut in the car but Tony Simpson/Simon Rogers (Seacon UK/M-Sport/MRF Tyres/PB Engineering/James Clay & Sons Ltd/ Drop Water Coolers-Ford Fiesta) were only 13s adrift. Michael Jenkins/Christian Brown (Ignition Motorsport-Ford Fiesta R2) rounded out the class.
Class 7 is home to the 1600 to 2000cc cars and was won by Damian Cole/Ian Allsop (Get Connected-Ford Escort Mk2) from Tom Todd/Dan Morefield (Historic Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk1). Geoff Phelps/Lucy Wilding (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk2) should have been well in contention but retired on the first run of Aberhirnant.
Andrew Fox/Jaime-Lee Fox (Severnside Defibs and Training/Fitzgerald Plant Services-BMW 325) had a clear run to take maximum points in Class 8 for the over 2000cc 2WD cars as their opponents faltered. Boyd Kershaw/Keegan Rees (Flying Kiwi Rally Team-Ford Escort Mk2) showed great pace but retired in the final stage while Oliver Wright/Stephen Baxter (Tvalley Motorsports-BMW E30) went out in Dyfnant South.
In Class 9, for all four-wheel-drive cars excluding those running in Class 10, Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers-Ford Fiesta R5 Proto) had a tremendous first rally in the Fiesta, which uses the running gear from their Mitsubishi Lancer. They went well clear of Patrick Naylor/Tom Bishop (Fuchs/GPM/MRF/Bremax-Mitsubishi Evo 9) as Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport) took third and top Subaru Impreza from the similar cars of Keith Jones/Clive Jones (Grooms Garage Ltd) and Rob Aslett/Ashley Aslett (Retro Race and Rally). Sadly, retirements included the Imprezas of Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Cefnsuran Farm Self Catering Holidays), Arwel Parry/Catrin Price (Moduron Arwel Parry Motors/GPrice Photographs) and Chris Gash/Dylan Williams.
Setting the overall PWRC pace were the top crews in Class 10 for R5, Rally2 and S2000 cars and it was Evans and Furniss (Castrol-Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) who turned in a fine performance to take maximum points as the new pairing of Matthew Hirst and Jack Bowen (Skoda Fabia R5) led the chase. Time lost in a first stage spin hampered Hirst's progress.
Liam Clark/Michael Gilbey (Ford Fiesta Rally2) fended off Irish visitors James Wilson/Paul Mulholland (Road Tankers Armagh/Rigual/Emco Wheaton/Pirelli-Skoda Fabia Rally2) to take third in the division as Dan O'Brien/Niall Burns (M O'Brien Group-Ford Fiesta Rally2) and David Tomlin/Keith Ashley (Axon Commercial Catering Equipment-Ford Fiesta R5) packed out the championship class top five.
Bob Morgan/Ade Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford-Skoda Fabia R5) were next after losing time with a puncture in SS3 while Paul Bonas/Elgan Davies (Rallynuts Motorsport Ltd-Ford Fiesta R5) headed Colin Minton/Izzie Holman (Ignition Motorsport Rally Team-Ford Fiesta R5). Sadly, Rob Morris/Paul Spooner (RMG Groundwork's Construction Hub-Citroen C3 Rally2) went out with suspension issues before the first stage.
Class H3 for the Category 2 cars was dominated by Ben Smith/Steven Smith (Amigos Tequila Flavoured Beer-Porsche 911 RS) with a superb performance over stages that really suited the Porsche. David Hopkins/Siobhan Pugh (Hopgrove Construction/Ribbons of Treorchy/Mosley's Rolling Road/WOS Performance-Ford Escort Mk1) were next up and ahead of Jeremy Wells/Martin Saunders (Wells Masonry Solutions Ltd-Ford Escort). Mark Tugwell/Steve Pugh (Metalways-Ford Escort Mk1) were sidelined with engine dramas and Jon Adams/James Wardle (Ford Escort) retired in the final stage.
In the Ford Escort battle in Class H4 for Category 3 over 1600ccc, Rob Dennis/Andy Boswell saw off the challenge of Mike Simpson/Ian Jones to take the class by half a minute. John Greves/Russell Thompson (Greves Transport) took third from Steve Chaplin/Rich Suter after Peter Jones/Gareth Davies posted a first stage retirement.
For 2026 the Restruct Junior Challenge within the PWRC will only be open to crews in two-wheel-drive cars and is for competitors aged under 25 at January 1, 2026.
In a continuation of the unique partnership between M-Sport and the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship, the leading junior driver and co-driver after round three of the season, the Plains Rally in June, will get the chance to travel to Rally Italia and work with the M-Sport team as part of the weather crew for the event.
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.
