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Pirelli Confirms continued support for MSUK Welsh Championship
News from the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Monday, January 26, 2026
PIRELLI CONFIRMS CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP
Pirelli has confirmed its continued backing for the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship in an extension of one of the most successful and enduring partnerships in UK forest rallying.
Seven well-spaced quality rallies make up the 2026 schedule, starting with the Get Jerky Rally North Wales on March 28 and finishing with the Wyedean Stages Rally in November. Having seven events across nine months will help make the championship accessible and affordable for competitors from across the classes.
Andrew Johns, UK Motorsport Manager for Pirelli, said: "The Welsh Rally Championship is a fantastic showcase for British rallying and Pirelli is delighted to confirm continued support through 2026. This renewed partnership reflects our long-term commitment to rallying and to supporting drivers and teams competing at the highest level across challenging and diverse conditions. We're excited to build on the success of our partnership and play our part in the championship's continued growth."
Championship co-ordinator Bryn Pierce said: "'We're delighted to bring a full seven-round calendar back for 2026 after a challenging start to 2025. We offer an unrivalled chance for crews to sample classic Welsh stages in a time friendly format. A huge thanks from us go to Pirelli, which is back as our headline sponsor, and to all of our other valued partners."
The PWRC season takes competitors into the very best Welsh special stages, including Myherin, Aberhirnant, Dyfnant, Dyfi, Gartheiniog, Hafren, Crychan, Gwibedog and Clocaenog.
With classes to suit all types of rally cars, including historics, and a seven-round calendar taking in some of the best gravel rallies the UK has to offer, the PWRC is the obvious choice for competitors seeking a cost-effective, well-run and competitive forest rally championship.
With competitive registration fees, professional co-ordination and organisation, a dedicated media service and live on-line coverage, the PWRC is an ideal platform for competitors and their sponsors seeking a season of forest rallying.
The Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship will have a presence at Race Retro, the international historic motorsport show on February 20-22, on stand 2-260 by kind invitation of LH Motorsport.
Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship
March 28 Rally North Wales
April 11 Severn Valley Stages
June 13 Plains Rally
July 11 Nicky Grist Stages
September 12 Woodpecker Rally
October 24 Cambrian Rally
November 14 Wyedean Stages Rally
Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship. Tel 07778 547918. For enquiries about the championship please contact Suzanne Lednor - joint co-ordinator on
Riley Chester on his M-Sport trip to Japan
HIRST AND DEAR CLAIM PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Monday, November 10, 2025
HIRST AND DEAR CLAIM PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear wrapped up a stunning season by winning the Wyedean Stages Rally (November 8) to take maximum points in the Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Rally Championship and win the overall title for the fifth time.
This was an exemplary performance from Hirst and Dear, who know the tricky Forest of Dean stages well and they won from the front in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5. They were quickest by a significant margin on the opening Speech House stage and never looked back as they dominated the rally to win by 1m20s. Even though they only contested four of the six PWRC rounds, four big results were enough to secure the championship over rival Liam Clark in his Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Hirst said: "We've pushed in places and had a fantastic day with no problems whatsoever. We always enjoy rallying in the Forest of Dean. We've tried the new Pirelli tyres and they've worked a treat. We knew that a conservative approach would reap the rewards that we needed. But it's always an event that can catch you out quite quickly and we just needed to drive well within ourselves. It's great to cap off the year like this."
With the rally running in warm and sunny conditions and the Forest of Dean looking spectacular in autumnal colours, a big turn-out of spectators and slick organisation from the Forest of Dean Motor Club, this was a great climax to the championship season.
Having sat on the reserve list until a couple of days before the rally, Clark made a late rush to be at the Wyedean for his first taste of these particularly tricky stages, with Harry Stubbs co-driving. "It was like driving on ice," said Liam of the morning loop of stages when he made the wrong call on tyres. With tyres changed and suspension tweaked, things went better in the afternoon but any chance of beating Hirst to the Pirelli Welsh title was gone. Instead, he finished a very worthy second after an excellent campaign.
Third overall from the PWRC ranks was local hero Bob Morgan with Ade Williams alongside in their Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford Skoda Fabia R5 on stages Bob can almost see from his garage business.
Morgan had a fine day despite suffering a collapsed front hub in the morning loop, which left the brake pedal going to the floor. Fortunately, the problem was resolved at service and he kept up his strong pace to take third.
Out of luck was longtime Welsh championship leaders James Giddings and Aled Davies, who went out with a broken gearbox on their Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem Mitsubishi Lancer E9. Nik Elsmore and Pauline Nash, in a Skoda Fabia R5 hired for the event, suffered a broken wheel, which led to further suspension damage and retirement. Initially, Elsmore had been one of those leading the chase of the flying Hirst.
Chasing Morgan was the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Rob Morris/Paul Spooner (RMG Groundworks) as Morris scored his best gravel result to date, while David Tomlin and Keith Ashley (Ford Fiesta R5) took sixth overall after a good day.
Other 4WD finishers from the PWRC ranks included the Subaru Impreza of Rob and Ashley Aslett, the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Geoff Cottrill and Nathan Crewe and the Subaru Impreza of Hywel Davies and Sion Rowlands. Non-finishers were the Ignition Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 of Colin Minton/Jordan Joines and the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company), which collected a tree but fortunately without harm to the crew.
Andrew Fox/Jaime Lee-Fox took the over two-litre Class W12 with another strong performance in their BMW 325 as fellow BMW crew David Jones and Glyn Price scooped a good finish on what they say will be their last rally.
Among the two-litre Class W11 cars, Ford Escort Mk2 crew Geoff Phelps and Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport) had a fine day even though on the last stage they lost second and third gears. This cost as much as 30 seconds and dropped them down the overall order a position or two to tenth, but they were still clear of the rest to be the leading two-wheel-drive finishers from the Welsh championship ranks.
Tim Phelps/Peter Wilson (Britpart Ford Escort Mk2) and Jeremy and Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/PJW Construction/Gurneys Family Butchers Ford Escort Mk1) chased Geoff Phelps in the class but Mike Brown Snr/Nikola Brown (BMW E36 Compact) did not reach the finish.
Martin Walters and Marie Fletcher posted a rare retirement in Class W10, for the up to 1600cc cars, in their Digger Parts Direct/Tegiwa Honda Civic, leaving the way open for Andrew Hussellbee and Alex Lewis to take top points in their Peugeot 306 RWD.
Another notable performance came from Joel Lewis and Jamie Mills in their Peugeot 106GTi in the 1400cc class while Dominic Hodge and Brian Cammack headed the one-litre cars in their Humphris Motorsport Nissan Micra.
In Class W3 for road rally specification cars, Colin Evans and Megan Williams took the spoils in their BMW 318Ti from the Peugeot 206 GTi of Lewis Davies and Tom Wood.
Among the historic crews there was a mighty performance from the Alllglass Ford Escort Mk2 of Ben Friend and Cliff Simmons to get up into the top six overall. Sadly their pace went unrewarded when a broken steering arm on the final stage put them out of the rally. Instead, Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones showed good pace to see off the similar Ford Escort Mk2 of Lyn Davies/Aled Richards.
Gary Smith and Clive Jones were early retirements from Class W8 in their Ford Escort Mk1 while Darrell Denning/Luke Palmer (Genuine Cars and Classics /J&S Handling Volvo 244GL) also failed to make the finish. Instead, Paul Clayton and Veera Johnson (Retro Race and Rally/PD Extinguishers Peugeot 205 GTi) took maximum points in Class W7.
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.
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:
PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP DECIDER IN THE FOREST OF DEAN
News from the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP DECIDER IN THE FOREST OF DEAN
The Forest of Dean will host the final round of this year's Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship on Saturday 8 on the Wyedean Stages Rally and there could be a winner-takes-all battle for the overall title.
As the event marks 50 years of the rally organised by the Forest of Dean Motor Club, the notoriously tricky stages will welcome a capacity entry of cars, including around a third of the total entry from contenders in the Welsh championship.
From a base at Ross-on-Wye, the crews will tackle seven stages over roads that can be slippery and narrow in places and the final destiny of this year's Welsh title will be decided by the time the crews return to Ross-on-Wye at around 4pm on Saturday.
To complicate the title permutations, leading contender Liam Clark in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 was still showing on the reserve list at the time of writing. However, if he can secure a place on the entry, Clark knows that he has to beat his arch rivals Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5 if he is to win the title.
Alternatively, if Hirst and Dear take maximum championship points on Saturday, they will win their fourth straight Pirelli Welsh championship title. With the best four scores from six rounds Hirst and Dear have rocketed into contention over the second half of the season with maximum scores on the Nicky Grist and Cambrian rallies and points for second place to Clark on the Woodpecker Rally.
These are stages that Hirst knows well as he has won the last four editions of the rally. Conversely, if he makes it on to the start list, this will be Clark's first time tackling these special stages.
Though they cannot now win the overall title, strong contenders for the final overall championship podium will be James Giddings and Aled Davies in their Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem Mitsubishi Lancer E9 after a fantastic season.
However, a dark horse for the event will be Nic Elsmore and Pauline Nash, who step up to a Skoda Fabia R5 for the first time. Elsmore has an impressive record on his local event and has won it twice in his Mitsubishi Lancer E9 so his pace in the R5 will be watched with great interest.
Other contenders in the class for Rally2 and R5 cars include the Skoda Fabia R5 of locals Bob Morgan/Adrian Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford) and the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Rob Morris/Paul Spooner (RMG Groundworks). The Ignition Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 of Colin Minton/Jordan Joines is another Class W14 entry and back after a recent sporting foray to Italy will be David Tomlin and Keith Ashley (Ford Fiesta R5).
Chasing Giddings in the class for non-Rally2/R5 four-wheel drives will be the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company), the Subaru Impreza of Rob and Ashley Aslett and the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Geoff Cottrill and Nathan Crewe. Hywel Davies and Sion Rowlands step up to join the class in a Subaru Impreza.
Andrew Fox/Jamie Lee-Fox have the upper hand in the over two-litre Class W12 in their BMW 325 but will need to fend off fellow BMW crew David Jones and Glyn Price to be sure of the class title.
Among the two-litre Class W11 cars, Ford Escort pair Geoff Phelps and Colin Jenkins are now secure as class champions for the year but have plenty of opposition on the event from Tim Phelps/Peter Wilson (Britpart Ford Escort Mk2), Jeremy and Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/PJW Construction/Gurneys Family Butchers Ford Escort Mk1) and Mike Brown Snr/Nikola Brown (BMW E36 Compact).
Martin Walters and Marie Fletcher have had a fine season in Class W10, for the up to 1600cc cars, in their Digger Parts Direct/Tegiwa Honda Civic and head to the Wyedean in search of another class win over rivals Andrew Hussellbee and Alex Lewis in the unique rear-wheel drive Peugeot 306.
Favourite for glory in Class W9 for the top historic cars is the Ford Escort Mk2 of Ben friend and Cliff Simmons, although even a win would not be enough for them to take the title in the championship. Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones and Lyn Davies/Aled Richards are the rivals for Friend.
Gary Smith and Clive Jones are set to secure Class W8 in their Ford Escort Mk1 while Peter Hinton has already done enough to settle Class W7 in his Ford Escort Mk2. On Saturday, Paul Clayton and Veera Johnson (Retro Race and Rally/PD Extinguishers Peugeot 205 GTi) and Darrell Denning/Luke Palmer (Genuine Cars and Classics /J&S Handling Volvo 244GL) will contest the division. Colin Evans and Megan Williams look set to take another Class W3 success in their BMW 318 Ti but face the Peugeot 206 GTi of Lewis Davies and Tom Wood.
In the 1400cc class Joel Lewis and Jamie Mills are aiming to complete a perfect season of class wins in their Peugeot 106 XSi while the same applies in the one-litre division to the flying Humphris Motorsport Nissan Micra of Dominic Hodge and Brian Cammack.
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.
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:
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