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CLARK AND BOWEN CLAIM WELSH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Liam Clark and Jack Bowen are the two young contenders from this year's Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship who have won the chance to work with the M-Sport World Rally Championship team on Rally Japan in November.

In a partnership between the Welsh championship and M-Sport, the leading junior driver and co-driver after the third round of the championship season are being invited to join the M-Sport team to work as a weather crew on Rally Japan in November.

Clark and Bowen will have a unique opportunity to see how the M-Sport team works on an event, the chance to learn from team professionals and meet the current M-Sport drivers and co-drivers. Accommodation with the team and travel whilst at the event is included.

This unique prize has been developed to help promote young competitors and there is a tremendous synergy in that the prize will be awarded following the event supported by former World Rally champion co-driver Nicky Grist. M-Sport, of course, has an impressive record of success in Wales over some of the world's finest gravel special stages.

Clark, now 25-years old from Skipton in Yorkshire, says that it is a remarkable prize. "It's nice as a young driver or co-driver, especially when you're putting the money in yourself, to actually get something in return," said Clark. "It's brilliant and I think more championships should be looking to do something like this. I'm sure the chance to work with M-Sport is going to open my eyes. It's the preparation that goes into a rally beforehand, it's going to be massive."

Clark had a scare on the Nicky Grist when his Ford Fiesta Rally2 suffered water pump failure. "That wasn't the way that we wanted to finish the round that was going to decide whether we got to go on his trip," admitted Clark.

"We hope to do the next Welsh round, the Woodpecker, and then see how we get on from there. The points are still open and we'll try and complete the season and relieve Matthew Hirst of his title!"

Bowen, meanwhile, is a rising star in the co-driver ranks who turned 25-years old in early June. He is one if the UK's busiest co-drivers and contested 23 rallies last year. This season he has been scoring PWRC points alongside Robert Gough in his historic specification Ford Escort Mk2.

Rich Millener, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Principal, said: "M-Sport has a rich history of developing younger talent, but that development shouldn't necessarily be confined to just focusing on the driving roles. There are many other aspects to becoming professional drivers at the top of their sport. This prize offers the chance for two motivated and upcoming stars to join us on a WRC event to understand how much information is gathered and passed to the crews to operate at the top level of the sport. I hope the experience will give them a competitive edge as they go forward in their careers.''

Championship co-ordinator Bryn Pierce said: "We delighted to confirm Liam Clark and Jack Bowen as winners of this amazing prize. I'm sure it will be a truly memorable trip and an unrivalled chance to learn about how a top team goes about a round of the World Rally Championship."

Awards within the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship include the David Stokes Historic Challenge award for drivers and the Guy Weaver award for co-drivers, Hockly Motorsport awards for 2WD and 1400cc and the 57 Tyres Welsh Challenge for drivers and co-drivers who have not finished in the top 10 overall on any round of the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship or any equivalent status championship event. The Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship remains dedicated to helping develop young rally talent and with the support of OnThePaceNote and Restruct, the under-25 category continues to grow.

The remaining schedule for the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is:

4        Aug 30                   Woodpecker Stages

5        Oct 25                   Cambrian Rally

6        Nov 8                     Wyedean Rally

Championship registration is now open and is available via: https://wnrc.wamc.org.uk

Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship. Tel 07778 547918. For enquiries about the championship, please contact Bryn Pierce via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

HIRST TOPS PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP ON SCORCHING GRIST

Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear topped the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship on round three of the championship, the Nicky Grist Stages on Saturday, July 12.

The Nicky Grist Stages, which ran on classic special stages in the Epynt region of mid Wales from a base at Builth Wells, was the mid-point of this year's Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship as it marked round three of six. The event ran in scorching weather which put a premium on car reliability and tyre choice.

Hirst and Dear (Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5) were in stunning form right from the start and took a commanding victory with a performance that took them very close to the pair of Toyota Yaris Rally2s of William Creighton and Meirion Evans, who used the event as a shakedown for the next round of the British Rally Championship.

Sadly out of luck were Liam Clark and Emily Easton-Page (Ford Fiesta Rally2) who stopped with a water-related engine problem in the first stage of the afternoon loop. However, the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers) hit fuel pump drama even before the first stage of the rally.

Into a fine second in the PWRC ranks came James Giddings/Aled Davies (Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem) in their Lancer E9 but only after a major drama in the final stage of the morning loop when an overhanging branch smashed their screen. They managed to effect a repair and completed the event eighth overall and second in the PWRC points.

Out of the event with an off in Halfway went the Skoda Fabia R5 of Bob  Morgan/Adrian Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford) while the Ford Fiesta R5 of David Tomlin/Keith Ashley (Axon Commercial Catering Equipment) was another retirement. Rob Morris and Rhys Griffin (RMG Groundworks Citroen C3 Rally2) also failed to finish and the Ignition Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 of Colin Minton/Jordan Joines was an early casualty with engine traumas.

Nik Elsmore and Ifan Devine in their CDS Taxis/Calico Interiors Lancer Evo 9 had a strong run to be next PWRC contenders in the class ahead of the Subaru Impreza of

Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport) and the Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company).

Rob Aslett/Ashley Aslett (Subaru Impreza) and Geoff Cottrill/Nathan Crewe (Cottrill Transport Mitsubishi Lancer E9) rounded off the finishers as Martyn Andrews/Steve Greenhill (Subaru Impreza), Paul Lomas/Mark Leader (Plant Speed Ltd Ford Fiesta R5), the Subaru Impreza of Arwel Parry/Iestyn Williams and the Ford Sierra 4x4 of Ross Clements/Christopher Lear all joined the growing list of non-finishers.

One of the drives of the rally came from Osian Pryce and Phil Pugh in the Wales Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2. They were top 2WD and top historic finishers in an impressive 12th overall as Pryce drove a measured rally to preserve tyres as much as possible.

Robert Gough/Jack Bowen, Ben Friend/Cliffy Simmons (Allglass Anglia) and Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver were next up in the competitive historic pack in their Ford Escort Mk2s, but all battled with tyre consumption in 32 degree ambient temperatures.

In the fiercely competitive class H6, the remaining finishers were the Escorts of Richard Gough/Les Forsbrook, Hywel Davies/Sion Rowlands, Peter Hinton/Ryan Witty (Yorkshire Garden Maintenance/Rallynuts), Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones, Neal James/Brian Stubbs, Lyn Davies/Aled Richards (57 Tyres) and the Volvo 244 of Darrell Denning/Alex Lewis (Genuine Cars and Classics/J&S Handling).

Out of luck were Ron Morgan/Jodan Jones (Restruct/Wales Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2) with a coil failure one mile into the rally and Peter Jones/Gareth Davies who stopped in the final stage.

In class H1, there was a resounding win for the Ford Escort Mk1 of Jonathan Brace/Paul Spooner (Brace's Bread/Dave Jenkins Motorsport) with over two minutes in hand over the similar car of Gary Smith/Clive Jones as Jeremy Wells/Steve Suckling took third in the PWRC ranks.

The BMWs of Andrew Fox/Jamie Lee-Fox and David Jones/Glyn Price set a cracking pace to top PWRC in class 3, with Fox ahead by 46s at the finish. Into third went the Triumph TR7 V8 of Graham Thatcher/Tim Samuel (Pembridge Vehicle Management). Lee and Daniel Robinson were the sole PWRC contenders in class five in their Ford Fiesta Rally4.

Class 6, for the up to 2-litre cars was the scene for a fine PWRC victory for the Ford Escort Mk2 of Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport) after the Ford Fiesta ST150 of Liam Griffiths and Robbie Sandford went off the road in Route 60. Father and daughter Jeremy and Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/PJW Construction/Gurneys Family Butchers Escort Mk1) completed the class 6 PWRC finishers as Tim Phelps/Peter Wilson (Britpart) retired their Escort Mk2 at the rally's mid-point.

Class 7, for the up to 1600cc cars, was topped in PWRC terms by the Opel Adam of Oliver Phillips/Barry Young (GPM/Damper Tek) from the Honda Civic of Martin Walters/Marie Fletcher (Digger Parts Direct/Tegiwa) and the ex-Alan Desbois Peugeot 306 RWD of Andrew Husselbee/Alex Lewis. Chris Butcher/Jonathan Hawkins (Severnside Defibs & Training Vauxhall Corsa) retired in the afternoon loop of stages.

The up to 1400cc division netted a worthy PWRC win for the Nissan Micra of Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans as the crew bounced back in style from rolling out of the Plains Rally. Nissan Micra rivals Ashley Francis-Adams/Mark Ammonds went out on the last stage with fuel pump failure, leaving the Peugeot 106 of Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services) and the 1000cc Micra of Dominic Hodge/Brian Cammack (Humphris Motorsport) to finish next in the PWRC points.

Destined not to reach the finish was the Vauxhall Nova of Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (Gwynedd Skip and Plant Hire/GW Services/RG Hire Ltd/Ceir Seiont Cars/T D Plant Hire/Carafannau Ham) and the Corsa of Adam Booth/Daniel Granger, which went off in Halfway.

Finally, Class 10 for the near standard Rally Start cars fell to the BMW 318 of Colin Evans/Harri Evans (Towy Waste) from the VW Polo of Martin Pendlebury/Lucie Gutteridge (Wilsons Auctions) and the Peugeot 205GTi of Lewis Davies/Tom Wood.

Two young contenders from this year's championship will shortly be announced as winners of a fabulous chance to work with the M-Sport World Rally Championship team as a weather crew on Rally Japan later this year.

The top scoring under 25 driver and co-driver after the Nicky Grist Stages, will have a unique opportunity to see how the M-Sport team works on an event, the chance to learn from team professionals and meet the current M-Sport drivers and co-drivers. Accommodation with the team and travel whilst at the event is included so the lucky pair will only need to cover their flight costs to Japan.

Other awards within the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship include the David Stokes Historic Challenge award for drivers and the Guy Weaver award for co-drivers, Hockly Motorsport awards for 2WD and 1400cc and the 57 Tyres Welsh Challenge for drivers and co-drivers who have not finished in the top 10 overall on  any round of the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship or any equivalent status championship event. The Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship remains dedicated to helping develop young rally talent and with the support of OnThePaceNote and Restruct, the under-25 category continues to grow.

The remaining schedule for the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is:

4        Aug 30                   Woodpecker Stages

5        Oct 25                   Cambrian Rally

6        Nov 8                     Wyedean Rally

Championship registration is now open and is available via: https://wnrc.wamc.org.uk

Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship. Tel 07778 547918. For enquiries about the championship, please contact Bryn Pierce via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SUPERB PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY FOR NICKY GRIST

Nearly 60 crews from the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship will contest round three of the championship, the Nicky Grist Stages on Saturday, July 12.

The Nicky Grist Stages, which runs on classic special stages in the Epynt region of mid Wales from a base at Builth Wells, is the mid-point of this year's Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship as it marks round three of six. With close to 160 entries across the entire event, it is also a strong indicator that forest rallying in Wales is back to very good health after a delayed start to the year due to the damage caused by Storm Darragh.

The entry for the Welsh championship has quality to match the quantity and it is multiple champions Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear who head the front-runners in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5. Although this is the first time this season they have contested a round of the championship, they still have a chance of adding another title if they can score well across the four rounds still to run.

Fresh from victory in the Sweet Lamb Time Trial, Liam Clark will start the event aiming to seal his place as one of the winners of the M-Sport award for under-25 competitors in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 and will Clark be a prime challenger to Hirst for maximum PWRC points.

Leading the chase of Hirst and Clark will be three rapid Mitsubishi Lancer E9s for Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers), James Giddings/Aled Davies (Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem) and Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company) along with the Skoda Fabia R5 of Bob Morgan/Adrian Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford) and the Ford Fiesta R5 of David Tomlin/Keith Ashley (Axon Commercial Catering Equipment).

Making a welcome return to the championship will be Nik Elsmore and Ifan Devine in their CDS Taxis/Calico Interiors Evo 9 and making his second PWRC outing will be rallying newcomer Rob Morris with Rhys Griffin alongside in the RMG Groundworks Citroen C3 Rally2.

The incredibly strong four-wheel drive entry includes Subaru Imprezas for Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport), Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Cefnsuran Farm Self Catering Holidays) and Martyn Andrews/Steve Greenhill as well as the Ignition Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 of Colin Minton/Jordan Joines.

Rounding out the four-wheel drive pack are Paul Lomas/Mark Leader (Plant Speed Ltd Ford Fiesta R5), the Subaru Imprezas of Rob Aslett/Ashley Aslett and Arwel Parry/Iestyn Williams, Geoff Cottrill/Nathan Crewe (Cottrill Transport Mitsubishi Lancer E9) and the rare Ford Sierra 4x4 of Ross Clements and Christopher Lear.

Another strong historic field will thrill the fans and it is very good to see Osian Pryce and Phil Pugh leading the pack in their Wales Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2. The former British Rally champion is an ace in Escort Mk2s but will need to push hard to see off the similar cars of Ben Friend/Cliffy Simmons (Allglass Anglia), Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver and Robert Gough/Jack Bowen.

The Ford Escort pack is brimming with cars and includes veteran contenders Richard Gough and Les Forsbrook as well as the cars of Ron Morgan/Jodan Joines (Restruct/Wales Motorsport), Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones, Hywel Jones/Sion Rowlands, Peter Hinton/Ryan Witty (Yorkshire Garden Maintenance/Rallynuts), Peter Jones/Gareth Davies, Neal James/Brian Stubbs, Lyn Davies/Aled Richards (57 Tyres) and Tim Jones/Yvonne Walton (Walton Contracting). Meanwhile, adding variety to the entry is the splendid Volvo 244 of Darrell Denning/Alex Lewis (Genuine Cars and Classics/J&S Handling).

From the Category 2 field, for pre '74 cars, and running in the first group of cars will be the Ford Escort Mk1s of Jonathan Brace/Paul Spooner (Brace's Bread/Dave Jenkins Motorsport), Gary Smith/Clive Jones and Jeremy Wells/Martin Saunders.

The fine PWRC entry run right through the other classes, starting with the over 2-litre division where the BMWs of Andrew Fox/Jamie Lee-Fox and David Jones/Glyn Price take on the thundering Triumph TR7 V8 of Graham Thatcher/Tim Samuel (Pembridge Vehicle Management). Meanwhile, Lee and Daniel Robinson line up in class five in their Ford Fiesta Rally4.

Class 6, for the up to 2-litre cars is always hotly contested and heading the contender will be Liam Griffiths and Robbie Sandford in their very potent Ford Fiesta ST150. Chasing will be the Ford Escorts of Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport), Tim Phelps/Peter Wilson (Britpart) and Jeremy Harris/Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/PJW Construction/Gurneys Family Butchers).

Class 7, for the up to 1600cc cars, is another hotbed of competition as the Vauxhall Corsa of Chris Butcher/Jonathan Hawkins (Severnside Defibs & Training) takes on the Honda Civic of Martin Walters/Marie Fletcher (Digger Parts Direct/Tegiwa), the Opel Adam of Oliver Phillips/Barry Young (GPM/Damper Tek) and the Peugeot 306 RWD of Andrew Husselbee/Alex Lewis.

The up to 1400cc division is always fiercely competitive with the Nissan Micras of Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans and Ashley Francis-Adams/Mark Ammonds set to rejoin battle with the Vauxhall Nova of Geraint Williams/Ifan Rowlands (Gwynedd Skip and Plant Hire/GW Services/RG Hire Ltd/Ceir Seiont Cars/T D Plant Hire/Carafannau Ham) and the 1000cc Micra of Dominic Hodge/Brian Cammack (Humphris Motorsport). Rounding out this popular class are Adam Booth/Daniel Granger (Vauxhall Corsa) and the Peugeot 106 of Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services).

Class 10 for the near standard Rally Start cars will be a battle between the Peugeot 205GTi of Lewis Davies/Tom Wood, the BMW 318 of Colin Evans/Harri Evans (Towy Waste) and the VW Polo of Martin Pendlebury/Lucie Gutteridge (Wilsons Auctions).

At the end of the rally, two young contenders from this year's championship will be announced as winners of a fabulous chance to work with the M-Sport World Rally Championship team as a weather crew on Rally Japan later this year.

The top scoring under 25 driver and co-driver after the Nicky Grist Stages, will have a unique opportunity to see how the M-Sport team works on an event, the chance to learn from team professionals and meet the current M-Sport drivers and co-drivers. Accommodation with the team and travel whilst at the event is included so the lucky pair will only need to cover their flight costs to Japan.

Othe awards within the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship include the David Stokes Historic Challenge award for drivers and the Guy Weaver award for co-drivers, Hockly Motorsport awards for 2WD and 1400cc and the 57 Tyres Welsh Challenge for drivers and co-drivers who have not finished in the top 10 overall on any round of the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship or any equivalent status championship event. The Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship remains dedicated to helping develop young rally talent and with the support of OnThePaceNote and Restruct, the under-25 category continues to grow.

The remaining schedule for the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is:

3        Jul 12                    Nicky Grist Stages

4        Aug 30                   Woodpecker Stages

5        Oct 25                   Cambrian Rally

6        Nov 8                     Wyedean Rally

Championship registration is now open and is available via: https://wnrc.wamc.org.uk

Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship. Tel 07778 547918. For enquiries about the championship, please contact Bryn Pierce via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.