The Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship resumes after a summer break with the Britpart Woodpecker Stages on Saturday (September 12). The rally starts from Newtown and has the core of its competitive milage in the Radnor complex.
With a compact route and six of the eight stages in Radnor, this is going to be a short, sharp event and the competition at the head of the Welsh Championship is going to be fierce as the title race heads into the last three rounds.
In overall terms, and in championship Class 10 for the R5 and Rally2 cars, it is Dan O'Brien/Michael Gilbey (M O'Brien Group-Ford Fiesta Rally2) who hold a small lead over Bob Morgan/Ade Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford-Skoda Fabia R5), but closing in fast are multiple champions Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear (Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport/Speedline Corse UK/Pirelli Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), who are now making up for missing the second round of the season and looking strong as drop scores come into play over the final rounds of the season.
There is more strength in the class including Irish visitors James Wilson and Paul Mulholland (Road Tankers Armagh/Rigual/Emco Wheaton/Pirelli-Skoda Fabia Rally2), along with Colin Minton/Izzie Holman (Ignition Motorsport Rally Team-Ford Fiesta R5).
The consistent pace of Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport-Subaru Impreza) has put them at the top of Class nine for the non-R5/Rally2 four-wheel-drive cars, but both Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers-Ford Fiesta R5 Proto) and Patrick Naylor/Tom Bishop (Fuchs/GPM/MRF/Bremax-Mitsubishi Evo 9) have the pace to close in, despite a couple of non-finishes, along with Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company-Mitsubishi Lancer E9).
A gaggle of Subaru Imprezas add more depth to the class with Arwel Parry/Catrin Price (Moduron Arwel Parry Motors/GPrice Photographs), Martyn Andrews/Tim Currie, Rob Aslett/Ashley Aslett ((Retro Race and Rally) and Chris Gash/Dylan Williams.
Andrew Fox/Jaime-Lee Fox (Severnside Defibs and Training/Fitzgerald Plant Services-BMW 325) are the crew to beat in Class 8 for the over 2000cc 2WD cars, but both Boyd Kershaw/Keegan Rees (Flying Kiwi Rally Team-Ford Escort Mk2) and Mike Brown Jnr/Nikola Brown (LB Passive Fire Ltd/Mymidwife.uk BMW Compact) have taken wins in recent rounds. Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Cefnsuran Farm Self Catering Holidays-BMW 135) add to the quality in the class.
Class 7 for the 1600 to 2000cc cars is yet another of the hotly contested divisions within the Welsh Championship, and the flying Fiestas of Liam Griffiths/Dafydd Evans (Presteigne Tyre Services/KS Morgan/Monnow Marquees), Max Utting/Huw Mathias and Callum Griffiths/William Lewis (Presteigne Tyre Services/Square Meadow Ltd) are likely to be at the heart of the action. But at the top of the title race are the Ford Escorts of Damian Cole/Dan Petrie (Get Connected-Ford Escort Mk2) and Tom Todd/Dan Morefield (Historic Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk1), while Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk2) are also firmly in the hunt. Simon Millington/Sam Kelter (Ford Escort Mk2) complete the class pack.
With three wins from four starts Michael Jenkins/Jordan Joines (Ignition Motorsport-Ford Fiesta R2) have a clear advantage in Class 6 for the up to 1600cc cars with opposition coming from Christopher Skinner/Mark Williams (Peugeot 205 GTi), Andrew Husselbee/Alex Lewis (Peugeot 306) and Jeffrey Jones/Graham Isaac (Peugeot 106GTi).
New into Class 2 for R2 and Rally4 cars for this event are Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans (Restruct Ltd/Total Spray Solutions/JFB Motorsport/Jordan Road Surfacing-Ford Fiesta Rally4) as Fowler-Bishop steps up from his 1400cc Nissan Micra. As well as learning about the new car, Fowler-Bishop will be seeking to get as high up the overall order as he can and will surely be one of the event's giant killers, Class 1, for road rally cars, is dominated by Colin Evans/John Evans (Towy Waste-BMW 318ti).
With Fowler-Bishop out of the way, Class 0 for the 1400cc cars will be all about Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (GW Services/Gwynedd Skip and Plant/Carafanau Hamdden/Ceir Seiont/Cacenau Tyn Twll Cakes-Vauxhall Nova), Luke Watts/Kaz Jenkins (Ian Watts & Son Funeral Directors/Watts Memorials Limited/NJ Auto Repairs-MG ZR) and Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services-Peugeot 106 XSi) in a fierce battle of the 1400s. Co-driver Jack Bowen will also score points in this class alongside Perry Gardner in their Vauxhall Nova.
Ben Smith/Steven Smith (Amigos Tequila Flavoured Beer-Porsche 911RS) will set the pace in Class H3 for the Category 2 cars as Jeremy Wells/Martin Saunders (Wells Masonry Solutions Ltd-Ford Escort) lead the chase.
No less than seven Ford Escort Mk2s pack out Class H4 for Category 3 cars over 1600cc and heading the points currently are Mike Simpson/Ian Jones. However, on the Woodpecker they will face a massive challenge from Andy Davies/Owain Davies (GAP Solutions Ltd), who will be fresh from contesting last weekend's Rali Ceredigion.
Andy Burnell/Andy Boswell (Barnstaple Autocare Solution), John Greves/Russell Thompson (Greves Transport), Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones and Lyn Davies/Aled Richards (57 Tyres) add further strength in depth, while Yvonne Morgan will score co-driver points alongside Rob Latham.
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.
