The action in this year’s Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship switches to mid-Wales on Saturday, August 30, for the hugely popular Woodpecker Rally.
Round four of the championship season features another bumper PWRC field and takes crews into the stages of Hafren and Myherin from a rally base in Newtown for a day of fierce competition over some of the best gravel stages in Wales.
The popularity of the Woodpecker is evidenced by a capacity entry of 170 cars, including a tremendous field from the Welsh championship.
As the championship season reaches its two-thirds point on the Woodpecker, the PWRC action will then continue with the Cambrian Rally at the end of October and the concluding round, the Wyedean Rally in early November.
Heading for Newtown the championship battles are finely balanced and it is James Giddings/Aled Davies (Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem Mitsubishi Lancer E9) who head the overall standings after the first three rounds following some tremendous performances.
However, chasing hard are defending champions Matthew Hirst and co-driver Declan Dear in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5.
Though they didn’t score on the opening two rounds, a maximum score on round three, the Nicky Grist Stages in July, kickstarted their title bid, and another strong result on the Woodpecker would be a huge step forward for Hirst and Dear.
However, Hirst is quick to point out that this is an event that has not been kind to them over recent years, so they will be hoping for a change of fortune when they head into Hafren forest on Saturday morning.
Liam Clark and Chris Williams will be in the lead contest in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, as will the Mitsubishi Lancer E9s of Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers), and Nik Elsmore/Ifan Devine (CDS Taxis/Calico Interiors).
More leading entries in the four-wheel-drive pack include the Skoda Fabia R5 of Bob Morgan/Adrian Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford), the Ford Fiesta R5 of David Tomlin/Keith Ashley (Axon Commercial Catering Equipment) and the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Rob Morris/Paul Spooner (RMG Groundworks).
The quality of the four-wheel drive entry continues with the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company), Subaru Imprezas for Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport), Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Cefnsuran Farm Self Catering Holidays), Rob Aslett/Ashley Aslett and Martyn Andrews/Steve Greenhill as well as the Ignition Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 of Colin Minton/Jordan Joines and the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Geoff Cottrill/Nathan Crewe (Cottrill Transport).
Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss lead the two-wheel drive entries in their Wales Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2 from the historic classes and will be very tough to beat as Pryce warms up for the following weekend’s Rali Ceredigion.
Fierce opposition in historic cars will come from Dan Mennell/John Roberts (Mennell Motors/Pirelli/Speedline), Robert Gough/Jack Bowen, Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver and Stefaan Stouf/Paul McCann.
