by Geoff Mayes
With the 2006 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship coming to an end and despite the fact the overall title honours have already been wrapped up, this will in no way dilute the competition for Wales Rally GB, as the fight for second overall will go down to the wire.
No less than eight competitors can still take the championship runners-up spot and as a result the action should be fiercely competitive throughout the three-day event, which takes place in Wales next week.
A string of consistent runs for Jonny Milner have seen the Yorkshire man build up a solid haul of points and with only the final round remaining the double champion leads the chasing pack by 3 points.
Despite winning two rallies this year Ryan Champion has had more than his fair share of bad luck and the popular young driver will be keen to end his season as a works Mitsubishi driver - a prize for winning the 2005 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, on a high.
"This year has been an eye opener into how a works team operates and its been an amazing experience to be a works driver for Mitsubishi," said Champion. "I’m just focused on having a really good rally in Wales, but I know the competition will be really stiff!"
As well as the fight for second overall in the standings, the tussle to become the 2006 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge winner, along with the prize of a works drive in 2007, will also be resolved in Wales. Milner currently tops the table but Gwyndaf Evans, the Welsh Wizard, will be hoping to overcome the 12 point gap to take the laurels.
"This is always a special event for me with superb rally stages and excellent support from the fans," said Evans. "We have been working hard all year to fine tune the cars and much of our testing has been in Wales so we are confident that whatever the weather conditions we will have the right set-up to challenge for the top spot!"
