PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE RACE MOVES TO NORTH WALES

The Lewis and Hunter Cambrian Rally on Saturday October 25 marks round five out of six in this year's Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship and there is absolutely everything still to play for in the title race.

Like many championships, the PWRC got off to a delayed start when the planned opening two rounds were lost to the damage caused in the Welsh forests by last winter’s storms. However, that prompted a rare away day when the championship went to Kielder for its opening round on the Carlisle Stages in April.

Since then, the dry and dusty conditions of the Plains Rally in May and the scorching heat of the Nicky Grist Stages in July were followed by a wet and muddy Woodpecker Rally at the end of August. Now the season concludes with the Cambrian and then the Wyedean Rally in early November and three crews are vying for the coveted title.

James Giddings and Aled Davies currently top the points after an exemplary season in their Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem Mitsubishi Lancer E9 but chasing hard is Liam Clark, who has had more than one co-driver in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. Clark topped the PWRC points on the Plains and the Woodpecker and only a non-finish on the Nicky Grist due to engine woes has blunted his challenge. For the Cambrian he has ace co-driver Jack Morton alongside, which will be a boost to his title bid.

Meanwhile, bubbling under but well down the order at present are Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5. Hirst and Dear missed the opening two rounds but have since taken a win and a second and know that two more victories could yet win them the championship for a fifth time and the fourth time in a row. With the best four scores from six rounds to count, it is wide open heading to Llandudno but all three crews need a big result on the Cambrian to keep up their momentum in the championship contest.

Among the other leading contenders in the top class are the Skoda Fabia R5 of 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.

The Class W13 battle for the non-R5 and Rally2 four-wheel drives is equally hotly contested although Giddings and Davies do have the upper hand. Leading the chase is the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company) and the Subaru Imprezas of new paring Wug Utting and Jack Morris (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport) and Rob and Ashley Aslett. Frazer Martin/Dylan Bargate (Mitsubishi Lancer E6) join the contest this weekend.

Andrew Fox/Jamie Lee-Fox top Class W12 in their familiar and very quick BMW 325, while the Class W11 contest includes the Ford Escort Mk2 Simon Millington/Samuel Kelter and the unusual but effective Mazda MX-5 of Paul Gorge and Dan Wiggins. However, the arrival of the flying Iwan Roberts Jnr and Daniel Jones in their Ford Escort G3 could upset the class equilibrium.

Class W10, for the up to 1600cc cars, will be contested by the Honda Civic of Martin Walters/Marie Fletcher (Digger Parts Direct/Tegiwa) and the Opel Adam of Oliver Phillips/Barry Young (GPM/Damper Tek), with Phillips and Young chasing a third class win on the bounce. Martin Pendlebury/Yvonne Walton (VW Polo) rejoin the class.

In Class W9, for the most powerful historics, Robert Gough and Jack Bowen will be tough to beat in their Ford Escort Mk2 but the similar car of Gareth Bevan and Ian Jones will be chasing hard.

Among the other historic divisions, Class W8 is topped by Gary Smith/Clive Jones, Class W7 by Peter Hinton/Ryan Witty (Yorkshire Garden Maintenance/Rallynuts) and W6 by Hywel Davies/Sion Rowlands, all in various types of Ford Escort.

Rapid teenager Riley Chester and co-driver Bonnie Papper head Class W4 in their Ford Fiesta and in the ever competitive up to 1400cc division, Class W2, the other contenders will be hard pressed to match the flying Nissan Micra of Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans. Chasing as hard as ever will be 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 Ross Clements/Christopher Lear (MG ZR).

Class W1 is led by the Peugeot 106 of Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services) while Class W0 is home to the hard-charging 1000cc Micra of Dominic Hodge/Brian Cammack (Humphris Motorsport).

From a rally base in Llandudno, the Cambrian Rally takes in more than 50 miles of special stages in classic forests including Clocaenog, with mid-day service at Ruthin. The rally finish is back in Llandudno from just after 5pm on Saturday.

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:

5 Oct 25 Cambrian Rally

6 Nov 8 Wyedean Rally

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