The 2026 Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship reaches its final round this weekend on the Wyedean Stages Rally on Saturday, November 14.
The popular Forest of Dean Motor Club event will be the culmination of a superb season for the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship, which has been hard fought across all classes through seven forest rallies in Wales and eight months.
At the head of the pack will be those in Class 10 for the R5 and Rally2 cars and it is Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear (Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport/Speedline Corse UK/Pirelli Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) who start as favourites to take their sixth victory on this rally. If they can do that, Dear will be confirmed as PWRC champion co-driver to join Hirst, who settled the drivers' title on the previous round, the Cambrian Rally.
However, they won't have it easy, as strong Class 10 rivals include Dan O'Brien/Martin Brady (M O'Brien Group-Ford Fiesta Rally2), James Wilson and Paul Mulholland (Road Tankers Armagh/Rigual/Emco Wheaton/Pirelli-Skoda Fabia Rally2) and the increasingly rapid Rob Morris Rob Morris/Daniel James (RMG Groundwork/Construction Hub-Citroen C3 Rally2). Local Skoda dealer Bob Morgan and Ade Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford-Skoda Fabia R5) will use their local knowledge to good effect, while the class is completed by Colin Minton/Izzie Holman (Ignition Motorsport Rally Team-Ford Fiesta R5).
There is local knowledge to the fore in Class nine for the non-R5/Rally2 four-wheel-drive cars with former overall event winner Nik Elmosre and Pauline Nash (CDS Taxis & Private Hire/Calico Interiors/Bells Hotel and Country Golf Club-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) likely to be very strong contenders.
In championship terms, Wug Utting is looking likely to emerge as Class nine champion with co-driver Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport-Subaru Impreza). Chris Gash/Dylan Williams and Rob Aslett/Ashley Aslett (Retro Race and Rally) have Subaru Imprezas while Cambrian Rally class winners Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company-Mitsubishi Lancer E9), Gary Bollands/Nigel Baldwin (GB Motorservices/CiderOnline/GB Furniture Solutions-Subaru Impreza Wagon) and Frazer Martin/Ian Jones (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) all add considerable depth of quality to this highly competitive category.
In Class 8 for the over 2000cc 2WD cars Andrew Fox/Jaime-Lee Fox (Severnside Defibs and Training/Fitzgerald Plant Services-BMW 325) have already done enough to seal the class after a fine season and will face Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Cefnsuran Farm Self Catering Holidays-BMW 135).
In Class 7 for the 1600 to 2000cc cars Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk2) hold an unassailable lead, but on the day will face fierce opposition from the rapid Ford Fiestas of Max Utting/Huw Mathias and Liam Griffiths/Robbie Sandford with Tom Todd/Dan Morefield (Historic Motorsport-Ford Escort Mk1) and Jeremy Harris/Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/Gurneys Family Butchers/Edge Communications-Ford Escort Mk1) chasing hard.
Michael Jenkins and Jordan Joines (Ignition Motorsport-Ford Fiesta R2) cannot be caught in Class 6 for the up to 1600cc cars as Christopher Skinner/Mark Williams (Peugeot 205 GTi), Neil Commons/Christian Brown (Ford Fiesta R2) and Jeffrey Jones/Graham Isaac (Peugeot 106GTi) lead the opposition.
Riley Chester and Jack Morris (Peugeot 208 Rally4) have Class 2 for R2 and Rally4 cars to themselves but will be aiming to get as far up the overall order as possible. Colin Evans/John Evans (Towy Waste-BMW 318ti) and Richard Phillipson/Brian Cammack (BL Mini 1000 MK3) have Class 1, for road rally cars, sewn up.
Mike Simpson and Ian Jones are already confirmed as champions in Class H4 for historic Category 3 cars over 1600cc in their Ford Escort Mk2 with Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones and Lyn Davies/Aled Richards (57 Tyres) offering the opposition. Neal James with co-driver Steven James (Valley Auto Sport/Classic Car Storage Ammanford-Ford Escort Mk2) has an outside chance of sneaking the Class H4 title if he can scoop maximum points.
With class champion Dylan Fowler-Bishop absent, local Forest of Dean driver Luke Watts and Matt Rogers (Ian Watts & Son Funeral Directors/Watts Memorials Limited/NJ Auto Repairs-MG ZR) will head Class 0 for the 1400cc cars, and will want to add another victory on local ground over Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (GW Services/Gwynedd Skip and Plant/Carafanau Hamdden/Ceir Seiont/Cacenau Tyn Twll Cakes-Vauxhall Nova) 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.
