News from the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Thursday, June 5, 2025
50 PWRC CONTENDERS ALREADY ENTERED FOR NICKY GRIST
Another packed entry for the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship will be a key feature of this year's Nicky Grist Stages on Saturday, July 12.
For the third round of the PWRC, 50 crews have already entered the popular Builth Wells-based event, and it is likely that more will join the entry list with five weeks still to go until the rally.
The Nicky Grist Stages, which runs on classic special stages in the Epynt region of mid Wales, is the mid-point of this year's Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship as it marks round three of six. With close to 140 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.
Two notable PWRC entries will join many of the championship regulars in search of more points in the season-long contest. Defending champion Matthew Hirst and co-driver Declan Dear will make their first PWRC start of the season in their Skoda Fabia R5 while former British Rally champion Osian price has also registered for the PWRC with his historic specification Ford Escort Mk2 from the Wales Motorsport team.
It all adds up to another superb field for the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship, which will continue at the end of August with round four, the Woodpecker Stages based in Newtown.
Championship co-ordinator Bryn Pierce said: "I'm delighted that we've already got 50 registered crews entered for the Nicky Grist and I'm sure we have a few more still to come. It will be great to have Matthew Hirst back in the championship and we look forward to welcoming Osian Pryce to the PWRC."
Two young contenders from this year's championship will win 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 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.
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:
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:
