Near capacity entry set for Welsh Hill Rally

The Welsh Hill Rally will take place next weekend at the Walters venue near Glynneath in South Wales. The That’s Motorsport-organised event has attracted a near capacity entry and the crews will face 18 tough stages totalling 107 miles in the Walters complex.

The opening two stages will be on Friday evening with the Production-spec cars running first on the road followed by the UTVs and Prototype cars. Former BCCC Trophy champion Phill Bayliss will lead the cars away in his Land Rover 90 TD5 ahead of Justin Birchall who, instead of his usual Lofthouse Freelander, will be driving an Isuzu D-Max, a car which was last seen in the BCCC. The Production entries also include Belgian driver Frank Blondeel in a Mitsubishi Pajero and former Freelander Challenge crews Michael Wilson and Brian Chase.

The UTV entries are headed by Paul Rowlands in his Can Am X3 RS who will be followed by Ian Gregg’s Polaris RZR. Another Can Am X3, driven by Jason Rowlands, will be third UTV off the line ahead of Becca Clarkson who has been racing her Polaris RZR in the NORC championship this year.

Mark Jacques, who finished third in the BCCC last season, will be the first of the Prototype cars away. Jacques will be using his Lofthouse LS3 and he will be followed by several former offroad racing champions including AWDC winner Stephen Hiatt (Warrior Indy) and BCCC winners Dan Lofthouse (Lofthouse Evo) and Ian Rochelle (Rivet). Also among the Prototype entries are Andy Powell, who’ll be in his new Caze Peugeot 306, Toby Jefferson in his GSR 206, Andy Skelley in his ex-Dan Evans Milner R5 and Henri Joosten in his Mitsubishi PX33.

Clerk of the Course Jon Aston commented: “I’m delighted that the event has attracted a good quantity and quality of entries, there are some very quick drivers and cars competing. The stages should present a good challenge to the crews with over 100 miles of competition. I’d like to thank all our sponsors whose support has been vital in helping That’s Motorsport put on the event and I’d also like to thank the 150 volunteer officials and marshals without whom we couldn’t run. Hopefully we will have a fantastic weekend of motorsport.”

The action starts at 5pm on Friday and the cars will be reseeded based on the results ready for the ten stages on Saturday which will commence at 10am. There will be six more stages on Sunday with the final one scheduled to start just before 2pm.

For more information please visit www.thewelshhillrally.com, the event can also be followed on social media using #WelshHillRally.