After a spring break, the Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship resumes on Saturday (June 13) with the Plains Rally forming round three of seven in this year's competition.
Following on from the season-opening Rally North Wales and the Severn Valley Stages in March and April. The Welsh Championship season continues with the Bala- based Plains Rally, organised by the Knutsford and District Motor Club.
The event will run over 10 short sharp stages with two loops of five special stages, including some in the Dyfi complex. Once again, a very strong field of Welsh Championship contenders makes up around half of the total entry and the competition will be fierce across a full day of action before crews return to the finish in Bala on Saturday afternoon.
At the head of the Welsh contenders will be the four-wheel drive R5 and Rally2 cars in championship class 10 and it is Liam Clark and Michael Gilbey (Ford Fiesta Rally2) who head back to Wales with a points advantage over Dan O'Brien/Liam Regan (M O'Brien Group-Ford Fiesta Rally2).
After missing round two due to clashing commitments, reigning champions Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear are back (Delta Salvage//Witham Motorsport/Speedline Corse UK/Pirelli Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and aiming to get back to winning form. The strong class 10 entry also features James Wilson and Craig Nelson (Road Tankers Armagh/Rigual/Emco Wheaton/Pirelli-Skoda Fabia Rally2), Bob Morgan/Ade Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford-Skoda Fabia R5), Rob Morris/Daniel James (RMG Groundwork/Construction Hub-Citroen C3 Rally2), Paul Bonas/Elgan Davies (Rallynuts Motorsport Ltd-Ford Fiesta R5) and Colin Minton/Izzie Holman (Ignition Motorsport Rally Team-Ford Fiesta R5).
As is the norm for 2026, the entry for class nine for the non-R5/Rally2 four-wheel-drive cars has both quality and quantity. Heading the early points after two strong results are Patrick Naylor and Tom Bishop (Fuchs/GPM/MRF/Bremax-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9), but they can expect fierce opposition headed by Russ Thompson/Stephen Link in the increasingly quick GPM/PD Extinguishers-Ford Fiesta R5 Proto.
More strong contenders include James Giddings and Aled Davies (Fordpad-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) who plan to bounce back after rolling out of the Severn Valley Stages. Geoff Smith/Joe Dunn (Liberty Express Ltd-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) will be right in the mix along with Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport-Subaru Impreza). Packing out the class will be Arwel Parry/Catrin Price (Moduron Arwel Parry Motors/GPrice Photographs-Subaru Impreza), Martyn Andrews/Tim Currie (Subaru Impreza) and Chris Gash/Dylan Williams (Subaru Impreza).
Class 8 for the over 2000cc 2WD cars could be the domain of Boyd Kershaw/Keegan Rees (Flying Kiwi Rally Team-Ford Escort Mk2) who are back after transmission problems on the final stage of Rally North Wales. Rivals to the Escort crew will be Andrew Fox/Jaime-Lee Fox (Severnside Defibs and Training/Fitzgerald Plant Services-BMW 325) and Kevin Metcalfe/Ian Jones (BMW E30).
The competition is very close in Class 7 for the 1600 to 2000cc cars and after two rounds Damian Cole/Ian Allsop (Get Connected-Ford Escort MK2) hold a slender points' lead over Tom Todd/Dan Morefield (Historic Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk1) and Steve Chaplin/Rich Suter (Ford Escort Mk2)
Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk2) will be keen to repeat their Severn Valley victory as they battle back after a first stage retirement on Rally North Wales while more depth of quality in the class includes Jeremy Harris/Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/Gurneys Family Butchers/Edge Communications-Ford Escort Mk1), Simon Millington/Sam Kelter (Ford Escort Mk2) and Max Utting/Huw Mathias who are out for the first time this season in their Ford Fiesta ST.
With Ashleigh Morris absent, Michael Jenkins/Jordan Joines (Ignition Motorsport-Ford Fiesta R2) will seek to take advantage in the 1600cc Class 6. Rivals will be Christopher Skinner/Mark Williams (Peugeot 205 GTi) and Jeffrey Jones/Graham Isaac (Peugeot 106 GTi) while joining the championship will be Andrew Husselbee/Alex Lewis (Peugeot 306 RWD).
Class 1, for road rally cars, will again be headed Colin Evans/John Evans (Towy Waste-BMW 318ti) after a non-finish on the Severn Valley Stages. Chasing them will be Richard Phillipson/Brian Cammack (BL Mini 1000 MK3).
The highly competitive Class 0 for the 1400cc cars is currently topped by Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans (Restruct Ltd/Total Spray Solutions/JFB Motorsport/Jordan Road Surfacing-Nissan Micra) from Gethin Rhun Price/Steven Brown (R Keith Price Haulage-Nissan Micra) and Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (GW Services/Gwynedd Skip and Plant/Carafanau Hamdden/Ceir Seiont/Cacenau Tyn Twll Cakes-Vauxhall Nova).
Leading the chase of the top three will be Luke Watts/Matt Rogers (Ian Watts & Son Funeral Directors/Watts Memorials Limited/NJ Auto Repairs-MG ZR) as well as the Nissan Micra kit cars of Matthew Jackson/Sasha Heriot and Ed James/Kevin Lane (EJM Preparation/SJG International) while Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services-Peugeot 106 XSi) and Brynli Thomas/Dylan Griffiths (WA Motorsport/PR Signs/Cresta Taxis-Peugeot 206) round out an excellent class entry.
In Class H3 for the Category 2 cars, Neal James/Siobhan Pugh (Valley Auto Sport/Classic Car Storage Ammanford-Ford Escort Mk2) will take on Mark Tugwell/Steve Pugh (Metalways-Ford Escort Mk1). The co-drivers are not related!
Meanwhile, Class H4 for Category 3 over 1600cc features the Ford Escort Mk2s of Andy Davies/Owain Davies (GAP Solutions Ltd), Mike Simpson/Dale Gibbons and John Greves/Russell Thompson (Greves Transport).
For 2026 the Restruct Junior Challenge within the PWRC is only 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 four of the season, the Nicky Grist Stages in July, 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.
After the Plains Rally, the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship continues with round four the Nicky Grist Stages on Saturday July 11, with a route taking in classic stages in the Epynt region from a base in the town of Builth Wells.
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.
