Gwyndaf Evans and the MG ZR S1600 this weekend take to the Ulster Rally as they battle for the British Rally Championship S1600 crown.
The Ulster Rally represents the fifth rally in the calendar in a season of mixed fortunes for Gwyndaf Evans and the MG ZR. Last time out it was the Manx Rally, a gruelling event that saw not one, but two gearbox failures for MG. The event was hard on Gwyndaf's rivals as well however, so the championship still remains a realistic proposition.
Gwyndaf and MG sit in third place in the S1600 championship on 27 points with the current leader, Kris Meeke, having 37 points. Between the two sits Leon Pesticcio on 31 points, so all is left to play for in the remaining three rallies.
The Ulster Rally takes place over some 126 stage miles in sixteen stages. Gwyndaf and co-driver Claire Mole will start out from the City of Armagh on Friday, the longest stage over the two days is 8.95 miles and the shortest is some 4.71 miles. The event is the last tarmac event on the British Rally Championship calendar with the gravel Trackrod Rally Yorkshire and the mixed surface Tempest Rally to follow.
So with three rallies left, every stage is critical to the title campaign. Speaking at Shelsley Walsh, where Gwyndaf drove the MG TF Extreme 500 up the famous hill climb venue, Gwyndaf looked forward to the Ulster.
“We've got a full day's testing next week, we're going to try a few little things differently, they've done some work on the gearbox and I'm optimistic,” he said. “Ulster's been good to me in the past, I just hope it's going to be lucky to me this time and I see no reason why we're not going to be strong there we just need a slice of luck.”
So what does Gwyndaf make of the current S1600 championship leader, Kris Meeke? “A young charger certainly,” he says, “having a lot of experience now doing the JWRC as well and driving well with a car that's had quite a bit of development so full marks to him, he's going well.”
