Wales Rally GB National preview
Eight stages and more than 80 miles of action will determine the victor of Wales Rally GB National.
Wales Rally GB National is an experience like no other for homegrown crews, as it offers competitors the opportunity to contest exactly the same stages as their World Rally Championship heroes.
Running directly alongside the fully-fledged WRC event since 2010, a total of 64 crews will tackle this year’s contest, which takes in some of the best forest stages in the UK and perhaps even the world.
The contenders
The absence of 2018 winner Andrew Gallacher opens the door for John
Wink and Roger Duckworth to progress from their second and third places respectively last year. But number one seed Thomas Preston is perhaps the favourite heading into the event in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, after winning in 2017 aboard a Skoda Fabia R5.
“We’re definitely going there to win, 100%, that’s the aim,” Preston says.
“We’ll see how we are over the first few stages but I’ll be pushing for the win. John Wink is a quick lad and he’s been in the car a lot, but it’s a shame Gallacher isn’t doing it as it would’ve been nice to have a battle with him.
“It’s one of those events where anything can happen so everyone’s a threat as far as I’m concerned.
“When you’re doing the BTRDA events, you’re up against the same guys all the time so you know where you are against them, but on the National there’s drivers you haven’t competed against before so it’ll be interesting to see how we get on.”
Wink, meanwhile, is aiming to be in the thick of the fight at the head of the field in his Hyundai i20 R5, having missed out on the top spot last year by just over a minute.
“We’ll be trying hard, we would be disappointed to finish further back than last year [but] it’s a long event with no service or management, so we’ll need luck on our side too,” he says.
“I think there’ll be a few [different drivers] to watch and there’s always a dark horse appearing on the timesheets. Tom [Preston] will go well in his World Rally Car and Roger Duckworth knows the stages well. We’ll be concentrating on doing our best and running our race at our pace.”
Duckworth starts the event third in his Subaru Impreza, with Matthew Hirst and Alan Dickson both bringing Mitsubishi Lancer E9s for what should be a fascinating comparison of pace between the BTRDA and Scottish Rally Championship. Welsh legend Wug Utting will also be in the mix aboard his Impreza, while Simon Hay (Lancer E6) and Theo Bengry (Proton Iriz R5) could spring a surprise or two.
Dylan Davies leads the two-wheeldrive contingent in his Ford Escort Mk1 from five-time British champion Jimmy Mcrae, who will compete in a Porsche 911 for the first time. Tony Jardine returns for his 24th bash at Wales Rally GB but his first at the National in a Lancer E9. Perry Gardener, Mathew Tordoff and Alex Waterman are set for a titanic tussle for R2 honours in their Fiestas.
WRGB National offers spectators the chance to watch some rarer cars in action and 2019 is no exception. Mark Ferreday brings his Volkswagen Beetle and John Leckie his Proton Satria GTI, but it’s Matthew Steadman’s entry that is set to thrill. Steadman will try to tame a Lancia Delta Integrale akin to the ones Markku Alen and Juha Kankkunen took to Rally GB victory in 1987,
’88 and ’91.