Scott Faulkner Takes Welsh Rally Championship Lead After Plains Rally Win

A second successive win means that Scott Faulkner now leads the 2019 Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Forest Rally Championship by a single point, as the series reaches its halfway stage.

This year the Plains Rally started from Oswestry and from there the competitors headed out to five special stages in Dyfnant, Aberhirnant and Llangower.

Having taken maximum points at last month’s Rallynuts Stages, a similar performance at the weekend’s Plains Rally moved Scott to the top of the table, while co-driver Gareth Parry moves into second place overall in the Co-drivers’ Championship. The pair took the lead among the championship contenders on the opening stage ahead of Russ Thompson and Andy Murphy in a similar Group N specification Mitsubishi Evo IX.

Third place was held by joint series leaders going into the event, Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear but they would be among a number of competitors to suffer punctures in stage 2, Aberhirnant 1. That promoted Richard Hill and Patrick Cooper to third place in their Subaru Impreza although they conceded it to the Mark II Ford Escort of Ieuan Rowlands and Emyr Hall on the following stage. Hill and Cooper reclaimed the position on the following stage, holding on to it to the finish.

Fourth place was enough to ensure that Matthew Hirst left the event just one point adrift of Faulkner, while his co-driver Declan Dear continues to lead that section of the Championship two points clear of Gareth Parry.

Faulkner and Parry also lead the Group N Championship, five points clear of Surrey based duo Wug Utting and Bob Stokoe in their Subaru Impreza.

Tom Llewellin leads the driver standings in the two-wheel drive section from Chris Powell and Perry Gardener, although it was Callum Black and Michael Gilbey who took top two-wheel drive points for the second event running in their MG ZR. Top two-wheel drive co-driver is Jim Lewis ahead of Caron Tomlinson and Keaton Williams.

Tom Llewellin also tops the junior drivers category ahead of Gethin Price and Zak Hughes. Leading the junior co-driver standings is Tom Murphy, with a five point advantage over both Keaton Williams and Rhys Stoneman.

Tom Llewellin also leads the RAVENOL Welsh Challenge ahead of Perry Gardener and Tony Simpson. Heading the RAVENOL Welsh Challenge for co-drivers is Tom Murphy, ahead of Keaton Williams and Ian Bevan/ Tom Woods in joint third place.

The next round of the Pirelli Motorsport UK Welsh Forest Rally Championship is the Red Kite Stages, based in Resolven in the Neath Valley. The rally takes place on June 23^rd and anyone interested in spectating should go to the Welsh Rally Championship website for more information.