The Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship reaches its penultimate round on Saturday (October 24) on the Lewis and Hunter Cambrian Rally, which runs over classic north Wales forest stages.
The Llandudno-based rally is round six of seven in this year's championship and will be a critical event in the battle for the overall title and the classes. Once again, a strong field of PWRC contenders will compete over famous stages including former World Rally Championship stages in the Clocaenog region.
At the head of the action in championship Class 10 for the R5 and Rally2 cars it is Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear (Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport/Speedline Corse UK/Pirelli Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) who will be aiming at another strong score as they bid for a record sixth title. They need strong finishes on both remaining rounds to have a chance of overhauling Dan O'Brien/Martin Brady (M O'Brien Group-Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Bob Morgan/Ade Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford-Skoda Fabia R5).
Other leading contenders include James Wilson and Paul Mulholland (Road Tankers Armagh/Rigual/Emco Wheaton/Pirelli-Skoda Fabia Rally2) and Rob Morris/Daniel James (RMG Groundwork/Construction Hub-Citroen C3 Rally2) while Paul Bonas/Bryn Pierce (Rallynuts Motorsport Ltd-Ford Fiesta R5) and Colin Minton/Izzie Holman (Ignition Motorsport Rally Team-Ford Fiesta R5) wrap up the class.
Heading Class nine for the non-R5/Rally2 four-wheel-drive cars are Wug Utting and Dan Nieroda (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport-Subaru Impreza) but they know that Russ Thompson and Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers-Ford Fiesta R5 Proto) are big rivals. With two non-finishes to date, Thompson needs two more good scores to have a shot at toppling Utting.
Adding quality to this very competitive class are Patrick Naylor/Tom Bishop (Fuchs/GPM/MRF/Bremax-Mitsubishi Evo 9), Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company-Mitsubishi Lancer E9) and Geoff Smith/Joe Dunn (Liberty Express Ltd-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) along with the Subaru Imprezas of Arwel Parry/Catrin Price (Moduron Arwel Parry Motors/GPrice Photographs) and Chris Gash/Dylan Williams.
Andrew Fox/Jaime-Lee Fox (Severnside Defibs and Training/Fitzgerald Plant Services-BMW 325) top Class 8 for the over 2000cc 2WD cars but are under attack from Boyd Kershaw/Keegan Rees (Flying Kiwi Rally Team-Ford Escort Mk2) while aiming to get into the class battle after missing several rounds are Dan Chester and Jack Morris (Dan's Action Vehicles Ltd/Silverstone Rally School-BMW E30).
After some strong results in their Get Connected-Ford Escort Mk2, Damian Cole/Ian Allsop head Class 7 for the 1600 to 2000cc cars but have recently switched to a Peugeot 208 Rally4. The strong Class 7 is also home to Max Utting/Huw Mathias (Ford Fiesta), Tom Todd/Dan Morefield (Historic Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk1) and Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk2).
Michael Jenkins and Christian Brown (Ignition Motorsport-Ford Fiesta R2) are one maximum score away from securing the title in Class 6 for the up to 1600cc cars. Their Cambrian class rivals are Christopher Skinner/Mark Williams (Peugeot 205 GTi) and Neil Commons/Harriet Worth (Ford Fiesta R2). Class 1, for road rally cars, is the sole preserve of Richard Phillipson/Brian Cammack (BL Mini 1000 MK3). Meanwhile, in a smaller historic entry than usual, Mike Simpson/Ian Jones are the sole entry in Class H4 for historic Category 3 cars over 1600cc.
The ever-competitive Class 0 for the 1400cc cars is another division that could be settled this weekend. Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans (Restruct Ltd/Total Spray Solutions/JFB Motorsport/Jordan Road Surfacing-Nissan Micra) need one more class victory to take an unbeatable lead but can expect major opposition from Luke Watts/Matt Rogers (Ian Watts & Son Funeral Directors/Watts Memorials Limited/NJ Auto Repairs-MG ZR), Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (GW Services/Gwynedd Skip and Plant/Carafanau Hamdden/Ceir Seiont/Cacenau Tyn Twll Cakes-Vauxhall Nova), Ed James/Kevin Lane (EJM Preparation/SJG International-Nissan Micra kit car) and Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services-Peugeot 106 XSi)
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.
