The leading entries have it all to play for in the penultimate round of the Kumho Rally Championship, the Park Systems Stages on 11th September.
Based in Newton Stewart which nestles in Dumfries and Galloway, the Park Systems Stages uses some of the finest gravel stages in Scotland.
With a new seeding system, the event will give Kumho Clubman Championship competitors the opportunity to prove their mettle as they are seeded amongst the National competitors.
Steve Perez leads the charge in the National field with a slim five point championship lead over Roger Duckworth, who similarly has a five point lead over Mark Perrott.
Perrott has in turn a four point lead over Group N leader, 2003 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge champion Brendan Crealey.
With competitors required to drop the points from one round from their overall championship score, Duckworth and Perrott can both recover from their respective non-finishes.
If either Duckworth or Perrott has one more non-finish they will tumble down the points table.
Perez however, with his impeccable finishing record has the luxury of a cushion. A non-finish on the Park Systems Stages will only put him on an equal number of finishes as Duckworth and Perrott. Whichever way, Perez has
to drop a score, so he would most likely lose his lead.
Duckworth is raring to go with a fully rebuilt and refreshed engine after the previous unit went pop whilst leading the Swansea Bay Rally.
Perez however is relishing the prospect of releasing a new car on the Scottish stages in the form of Markko Martin's 2003 Ford Focus WRC. Perez is hoping this will give him an edge over his opponents, although they will be hoping that he will take his time to learn the new machine.
The co-driver's championship is led by Duckworth's Mark Broomfield followed by Perrott's Paul Morris and then Crealey's Steve Harris.
The National Junior championship is even closer with Gareth McHale leading Stuart Jones by two points and Jones leading Michael Curran by five points.
