Matthew Hirst has won a record-breaking fourth Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship title after victory on the Wyedean Rally last Saturday, for a fourth time in a row.
Co-driven by Declan Dear, the Doncaster driver finished the Forest of Dean event almost two minutes ahead of his nearest championship rival, after a sublime performance in his Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5.
Matthew had made several set-up changes to the car, most notably softening the anti-roll bars, which worked a treat on the usually dry and grippy late autumn gravel roads.
He’d opened up an impressive 37 second lead after the first two stages and extended that to over a minute by the lunchtime service halt – although he arrived at the Ross-on-Wye cattle market with a wooden branch sticking out of the rear right Pirelli K8A tyre. It was a miracle that the tyre hadn’t deflated, and where Matthew had suffered more than his fair share of bad luck this year it appeared that some good luck had come at a crucial time in his title hunt.
Three more fastest stage times in the afternoon made it a full house of seven out of seven stage wins, as the defending champions scored their fourth set of maximum Pirelli Welsh points to clinch the title in style (below).
“It seemed like the odds were stacked against us earlier this year, so I can’t believe we’ve won the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship for a record-breaking fourth time,” said Matthew.
“We had a DNF and a ninth-place points finish this year, but even on Rally North Wales where we had a good result some mechanical gremlins were going on in the background. Some other things didn’t quite click as we’d have liked during the season as well, so we really had to work hard for the title.
“The Wyedean is a great event and to win here for the fourth time in a row is a fantastic way to finish the season.”
Bob Morgan hadn’t rallied since the Nicky Grist Stages in July but was nevertheless quickly back into his stride in his Winner Garage Škoda Fabia R5. Co-driven by Ade Williams, the local Cinderford driver was a lot faster in the afternoon after bolting on a new set of Pirelli tyres and was eight seconds faster through the second running of the Serridge stage, despite a 360 degree spin. A big push towards the end secured Bob a well-deserved second-place Pirelli Welsh points finish.
Tom Llewellin secured an overall Pirelli Welsh podium, plus a 2WD and W9 class win (just like he’d done on the Woodpecker Rally) after another stunning drive in his Dave Jenkins Motorsport-prepared Weir Rallying Escort Mk2. Co-driven by Ross Whittock, the former Pirelli Welsh Junior champion fought hard for second place but couldn’t quite keep a charging Bob Morgan behind him and lost out by just nine seconds.
Simon Rogers began the day with a minor overshoot on SS1 when he out-braked himself at a hairpin and ran wide. The work he and co-driver James How had put in pre-event on their pace notes, especially for Speech House (which was run three times during the day) paid dividends with consistently fast stage times – including third fastest overall time on SS4. The Radlett driver eventually took home fourth-placed Pirelli Welsh points after a great run in his MacWhirter Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 6, and announced at the finish that he is drawing a close on his 37-year rally driving career.
Simon finished ahead of Rob Wilson, whose hopes of victory vanished when he ran wide on the opening stage, hit a bank and broke a driveshaft on his Mitsubishi Evo 7. Had that not happened, the 2023 Welsh Junior and Challenge champion and co-driver Martin Hagget may well have given the winners a close run for their money.
Colin Griffiths ended the season on a high with a great run in his Jamtech Motorsport-prepared Subaru Impreza STi. Partnered by Marc Morgan, who was completing his first full season as a co-driver, the Worcester driver hit a bank and had to reverse on SS3 but recovered to take home sixth-place Pirelli Welsh points and clinch the highly competitive 57 Tyres Welsh Challenge title.
Ross-on-Wye driver Gary Bollands scored by far his best result of the season when he, co-driven by Nigel Baldwin, netted a seventh-place points finish in his Subaru Impreza Wagon.
Colin Minton also left his best until last, scoring his first Pirelli Welsh overall top 10 finish of 2024 with ninth in his Ignition Motorsport-prepared Tutts Clump Fiesta R5. The Swindon driver was partnered on this occasion by Harry Walshaw.
Rob and Ashley Aslett also got to the finish after a consistent run in their smart Rigfone Electric Contractors Subaru Impreza.
Ross Clements/Christopher Lear were going well until an engine bay fire, possibly caused by leaking power steering fluid, put an end to their day in their Sierra XR4x4. A severe misfire forced Geoff Cottrill/Nathan Crewe out of the event in their Arnside Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 9, while Paul Lomas/Mark Leader put their Plant Speed Subaru Impreza STi off the road on SS4.
Despite losing the brakes on their Escort Mk2 on the opening stage, Charles Hopkinson/Alan Jones recovered well to finish second in the Historic class W9 (behind Tom Llewellin).
Steve Chaplin/Richard Suter also had a good run to capture the final class podium place in their Escort Mk2, while fourth secured Lyn Davies/Aled Richards the runners-up position in the class (behind class champions Rudi Lancester/Guy Weaver) in their 57 Tyres Escort RS1800 Mk2.
Ron Morgan/Sion Jones enjoyed an all-too-rare outing in their Restruct Escort Mk2 and finished fifth in class, ahead of Peter Jones/Gareth Davies in their Escort Mk2.
Another to announce an end to their rally driving career was Andrew Stokes, who went out with a bang by winning the Historic class W8 in his Stokes Rally Team Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1. Together with Jonny Tad Evans, they finish runner-up in the Pirelli Welsh class standings behind champions Gary Smith/Clive Jones, who come out on top after an exciting year-long battle of the RS1600 Mk1s.
Victory in W7 gave Peter Hinton the Historic class title (above) after a tremendous season in his Escort Mk2. He was partnered on the Wyedean by Dean Mitchell, although it’s Lewis Sim who takes the co-driver’s class title. Graham Thatcher (co-driven by Tim Samuel) finished second in class in his Sparkrite/Pembridge Vehicle Management TR7 V8 and secures the runners-up position.
Three class wins in three events gives Neville Breach (who was co-driven this time by Martin Corbett) the Historic class W5 in his 1600cc Avenger.
The top three finishers in each Historic class will now be put forward for the David Stokes Historic Challenge award for drivers and the Guy Weaver award for co-drivers.
Sam Mason (co-driven by James Seymour) won the OnThePaceNote / Restruct Welsh Junior category on the day in his SM Autocare Ford Fiesta to clinch the runners-up spot (behind Lewis Hooper).
Luke Watts (co-driven this time by Matt Rogers) lost first gear on SS4, but luckily service followed and he was able to continue and finish second in the U25 category (and secure third in the final points standings) in his Ian Watts & Son/NJ Auto Repairs MG ZR. Luke also won class W2 on the day, to secure the class runners-up spot behind Ashley Francis Adams (Nissan Micra).
A superb performance by Rob Dennis saw him jump from sixth to win the Hockly Motorsport 2WD title in his Team Dennis Escort Mk2. Co-driven by Andy Boswell, the Swindon ace never put a foot wrong and took home eighth-place overall Pirelli Welsh points and won the class W11 title.
Geoff Phelps (co-driven by Colin Jenkins) had led the 2WD and W11 sections earlier in the season but just missed out on the titles having finished runner-up in both on the Wyedean in his Hartpury Farms/Sparkrite Escort Mk2 – thanks in part to a time-consuming overshoot on SS3. The Gloucester driver did end the year with a fantastic top 10 overall points score to rocket him into the top 20 in the main drivers’ standings.
Father and daughter crew Jeremy and Alexandra Harris collected their second W11 podium finish of the season after a great run in their Kilcot Garage Escort Mk1, beating Tim and Karen Phelps in their Britpart Escort Mk2 and Mike Brown Snr and daughter Nikola in their LB Passive Fire BMW Compact M3.
Andrew and Jaime-Lee Fox won class W12 in their Xwatch Safety Solutions BMW 325, but second was good enough for Dan Chester (co-driven by Steven Davey) to take the class title in this Dan’s Action Vehicles BMW E30. David Jones was third in his Tanners Arms/GJ Price Transport BMW E30, which was enough to secure Glyn Price the co-drivers’ title.
Chris Butcher (co-driven by Jonathan Hawkins) won W10 for the first time this year in his Vauxhall Corsa, although second was enough for Martin Walters/Marie Fletcher to retain their class title in their Digger Parts Direct Honda Civic.
Michael Jenkins/Jordan Joines picked up a puncture which caused them to go off the road on the opening stage, but they recovered well to finish third in class in their Tutts Clump Fiesta R2.
In addition to Simon Rogers and Andrew Stokes hanging up their race suits after glittering careers behind the wheel, the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship bid an emotional farewell to Dave Evison – the former stage and road rally navigator who has dedicated the last 15 years to growing the series as championship secretary. As a small token of everyone’s appreciation, Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear presented Dave with a retirement gift at the finish ceremony.
The live streaming coverage from the Wyedean Rally, and indeed all the rounds of the 2024 Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship, remain available to view on the Special Stage TV YouTube channel. Watch out too for a special championship edited highlights review.
The Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship has been proud to raise awareness of its official charity partner The Osborne Trust this year.
2024 Wyedean Rally – top 10 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship finishers:
1. Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear (Škoda Fabia R5)….39mins 09secs
2. Bob Morgan/Ade Williams (Škoda Fabia R5)….41mins 34secs
3. Tom Llewellin/Ross Whittock (Ford Escort Mk2)….41mins 43secs
4. Simon Rogers/James How (Mitsubishi Evo 6)….42mins 15secs
5. Rob Wilson/Martin Hagget (Mitsubishi Evo 7)….42mins 50secs
6. Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Subaru Impreza STi)….43mins 09secs
7. Gary Bollands/Nigel Baldwin (Subaru Impreza Wagon)….44mins 56secs
8. Rob Dennis/Andy Boswell (Ford Escort Mk2)….45mins 19secs
9. Colin Minton/Harry Walshaw (Ford Fiesta R5)….45mins 21secs
10. Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Ford Escort Mk2)….46mins 04secs
2024 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Overall drivers’ points after Round 6:
1. Matthew Hirst….120pts (Champion)
2. Russ Thompson….112pts
3. James Giddings….103pts
4. Rudi Lancaster….88pts
5. David Tomlin….83pts
6. Wug Utting….79pts
