Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship crews head to the Nicky Grist Stages

Witham Motorsport are looking forward to attending the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship this weekend where Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear will be aiming for a hat-trick of maximum points in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 when the series continues with the Nicky Grist Stages (Saturday 13 July).

After an unscheduled 13 week break in proceedings following the cancellation of the Plain Rally (18 May), the best four scores from six events will now count towards the Pirelli Welsh overall and class titles. It also means that the Nicky Grist Stages is even more critical in the destiny of the end of season trophies, and it is no surprise to see a very strong entry for what has become the midway round of the all-gravel series.

Dan O’Brien has swapped his O’Brien Group Ford Fiesta RS WRC for a Fiesta Rally2 and, co-driven by Mark Glennerster, he’ll contest his second gravel rally in the car on the Nicky Grist Stages.

James Giddings/Aled Davies are second in the standings and will aim to continue their good run in their Fordpad/Enva/Sar Metals Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Russ Thompson/Stephen Link are in a strong position with a third-place finish and a dropped score already in the can, so expect them to rocket up the leaderboard in their Dunnow Plant Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Peter Baylis has enjoyed a great start to the season, despite a few overheating niggles returning to his Artificial Lawn Company Mitsubishi Evo 9. Co-driven by Paul Godden, the Gravesend man arrives in Builth Wells tied for fourth in the overall Pirelli Welsh points table and keen to continue his run of success.

Wug Utting is equal fourth after a magnificent start to the season in his Geoff Jones Motorsport-prepared Subaru Impreza N12b. Co-driven this time by Chris Reeves, Wug knows the Nicky Grist Stages well, and will once again put his vast experience to good use – especially when tyre management comes into play.

David Tomlin has also enjoyed a great start and has been challenging for podium finishes in his Axon Ford Fiesta R5. The Worcester driver will be reunited with co-driver Keith Ashley as they tackle the classic mid-Wales forest stages.

Colin Minton had a good points scoring run on Rally North Wales and will be hoping the problems he suffered on the Rallynuts will merely go down as a dropped score. Co-driven this time by Adam Westerby, the Swindon driver will be looking for his first top 10 finish of 2024 in his Ignition Motorsport-prepared Tutts Clump Fiesta R5.

Bob Morgan finished third in the overall standings in 2022, but he and co-driver Ade Williams are in a race against time to repair their Winner Garage Škoda Fabia R5 after rolling the car on the recent non-championship Sweet Lamb Rally Time Trial.

Daniel Moss hopes to kick start his season after picking up just five points in the first two rounds. The Gloucester driver can pretty much score every point be wins from now on, and together with co-driver Hannah McKillop he’ll be looking for a trouble-free run in his Hurst Haylage Mitsubishi Evo 10.

Steve Hollis/Tim Currie are always on the cusp of a top result and just need a good clean run to show the true potential of their V6 Jaguar-engined Volkswagen Golf V R32.

Paul Walker/Geraint Thomas were the top Quinton Motor Club crew home last year and will be looking for another good Pirelli Welsh top 10 in their Green Paw Subaru Impreza STI N11, while also returning are the 2023 57 Tyres Welsh Challenge champions Martyn Andrews/Steve Greenhill in their Opie Oils Subaru Impreza STi N12.

Also aiming to show what 4WD power can do will be Rob and Ashley Aslett in their Rigfone Electric Contractors Subaru Impreza, Geoff Cottrill/Nathan Crewe in their Arnside Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 9 and Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan in their Jamtech Motorsport-prepared Subaru Impreza STi.

Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver arrive leading the highly competitive Pirelli Welsh Historic W9 class in their Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks Escort RS18000 Mk2. They’ll resume their battle with reigning class champions Lyn Davies/Aled Richards in their Jonesport-prepared 57 Tyres Escort RS1800 Mk2, Peter Jones/Gareth Davies, Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones, Robert Gough/Jez Rogers and Steve Chaplin/Rich Suter (all Escort Mk2s).

Ron Morgan contests his first event of the season in his gorgeous Wales Motorsport-prepared Escort RS1800 Mk2. The Restruct driver finished second in class on last year’s Nicky Grist Stages and will be partnered once again by Sion Jones.

There is an equally close battle in the Historic W8 class, which is currently being led by Gary Smith/Clive Jones in their Escort RS1600 Mk1. They are just four points ahead of defending class champions Andrew Stokes/Jonny Tad Evans (Stokes Rally Team Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1), while Jonathan Brace/Paul Spooner have already dropped a score and remain in title contention in their Dave Jenkins Motorsport-run Brace’s Bakery Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1. Jeremy Wells (partnered this time by Paul Rumary) switches back to his Wells Masonry Solutions Escort Mk1.

The top three finishers in each Historic class at the end of the season will be put forward for the David Stokes Historic Challenge award for drivers and the Guy Weaver award for co-drivers.

Peter Hinton (co-driven by Lewis Sim) leads the Historic class W7 in his Escort Mk2 and resumes his fight with Graham Thatcher/Tim Samuel in their Pembridge Vehicle Management TR7 V8.

Defending 2WD champions Iwan Roberts Jnr/Daniel Jones broke the steering on their Roberts of Ffestiniog Ford Escort G3 after a heaving landing on last year’s Nicky Grist Stages and will be hoping for a good finish this time after winning the class last time out.

They’ll have a big fight on their hands in the Hockly Motorsport-supported 2WD category against the likes of defending W12 champions Andrew Fox/Jaime-Lee Fox (Xwatch Safety Solutions BMW 325), class W11 leader Rob Dennis (co-driven by Andy Boswell in his Team Dennis Escort Mk2), Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Hartpury Farms Escort Mk2), Dan Chester/Steven Davey (Dan’s Action Vehicles BMW E30), and Scott Walton/Daniel James (Escort Mk2).

Mike Brown Jnr will also contest the event in his LB Passive Fire BMW Compact M3. The former SEAT Super Six champion has been rallying for nearly 30 years, and this will be the first time that Mike has been co-driven by his sister Nikola Brown.

Defending W10 champions Martin Walters/Marie Fletcher lead the class in their Digger Parts Direct Honda Civic, albeit just five points ahead of Michael Jenkins/Jordan Joines who have had to overcome power steering and vibration issues in their Tutts Clump Fiesta R2 to still be in second place. Alan Desbois (co-driven by Lucie Gutteridge) won the class last time in his Peugeot 306 RWD, while Greg Mills/ Andrew Sankey will be hoping to score their first finish of the season in their 1.6-litre Toyota-engined Escort Mk2.

The fight for the OnThePaceNote / Restruct Welsh Junior title is wide open. Lewis Hooper (co-driven by Rhys Edwards) won the class (and W4) last time out in his Hooper Sport Fiesta R2 and he’ll be battling for top position against the likes of Luke Watts/Sarah James (MG ZR), Dylan Fowler Bishop/Dan Evans (Restruct Nissan Micra) and Sam Mason/James Seymour in their class W4 SM Autocare Ford Fiesta.

Dylan and Luke are also in a W2 battle, with the Hockly Motorsport-supported class being led by Ashley Francis-Adams/Mark Ammonds in their T2 Fabrication Nissan Micra. Having already netted a second in class finish, Paddy Homan (co-driven this time by Tom Homan) will be aiming to go one better in his Gallant Building Services Ford Puma.

This year’s Nicky Grist Stages contains a compact route bordering the counties of Powys and Carmarthenshire and will feature two loops of four classic mid-Wales forest stages totalling 44.48 stage miles. Llyn Login will host the opening morning and afternoon stages, followed by Monument (run in the reverse direction to last year), Halfway (also run in the reverse direction and with a twist towards the end) and a new configuration through Bowlsey (the renamed Crychan stage). The start, midday service and finish will be held in the centre of Builth Wells.

For details about the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship and how to register visit: wnrc.wamc.org.uk.