News from the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Wednesday, March 19, 2025 UNRIVALLED AWARD FOR PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP YOUNGSTERS
Two young contenders from this year's Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship will win a fabulous chance to work with the M-Sport World Rally Championship team on Rally Japan later this year. 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 will be invited to join the M-Sport team to work as a weather crew on Rally Japan in November.
The top scoring under 25 driver and co-driver after the Nicky Grist Stages on July 12, 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.
This unique prize has been developed to help promote young competitors from Wales 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. The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team is no stranger to rallying in Wales and the principality was the scene of its most iconic World Rally Championship success at Wales Rally GB in 2017. On that memorable event, Welshman Elfyn Evans scored his first WRC victory in his Fiesta WRC, third place for Sebastien Ogier's Fiesta WRC sealed his fifth WRC drivers' title and M-Sport was confirmed as manufacturers' champions. Those links to Wales and the desire to promote juniors from both M-Sport and the Welsh Championship are the cornerstone of these new awards.
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.''
Bryn Pierce, Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship co-ordinator said: "We'd like to thank M-Sport and in particular Rich Millener for coming up with this wonderful prize. When we approached them with an idea, little did we think that Rally Japan would be offered up. M-Sport has a similar focus on junior development to the championship. We're incredibly excited for our junior contenders this season and we sincerely hope this will be a first step for them into the higher echelons of the sport. Thank you, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team.''
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 full schedule for the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is:
1 April 12 Carlisle Stages
2 May 17 Plains Rally
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:
