Mewla Rally To Host Opening Round Of Britain’s Top Asphalt Rally Championship

By Paul Evans

The Old Forge Garage Mewla Rally will host the opening round of the revised Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship, taking place over the famous rollercoaster roads of the Epynt military range on Sunday 29 August.

The Epynt Motor Club organised event had been a championship regular for many years, but was dropped from the calendar in favour of the Legend Fires Tour of Epynt – which runs much earlier in the year.

However, Covid-19 restrictions have seen four of the original 2021 championship events cancelled, including the Tour of Epynt, meaning an August Bank Holiday weekend start to the series – and a return of the Mewla Rally.

The last time the Mewla Rally was run was in 2019, when Welsh drivers filled the top three finishing positions.

Boris gives the Hills Ford Three Shires Stages the green light https://t.co/EwbkzLRu09

— Protyre MUK Asphalt Rally Championship (@AsphaltRallying) February 23, 2021

Damian Cole won the event in his Get Connected Ford Fiesta WRC – equalling the late John Price’s long-standing record of six Mewla Rally wins and 23 rally victories on Epynt.

Because Covid-19 restrictions have prevented rallying from taking place on Epynt (and most placed within the UK) ever since, the Abergavenny driver is still waiting for a chance to break those records.

Jason Pritchard finished second in his North Road Garage Ford Focus WRC05, which was instrumental in him winning back-to-back Asphalt titles, while Llanelli’s Bob Fowden came home third in his Subaru Impreza S11 WRC.

Following the Mewla Rally, the Asphalt Rally Championship will continue with the Hills Ford Three Shires Stages Rally (5 September), the double-header PokerStars Rally on the Isle of Man (1/2 October), the Ford Parts Cheviot Stages Rally (24 October) and finally the Tyrone Stages Rally in Northern Ireland (6 November).

Jason Pritchard in rally action

“We are delighted to announce the revised 2021 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship calendar that continues to offer a challenging number of events, the majority of which will be held on closed public roads, that befits Britain’s premier sealed-surface series,” says Jane Evans, the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship Co-ordinator.

“We’d like to thank all the event organisers for their incredible hard work, and we hope that government and regional Covid-19 guidelines will allow these events to run. Of course these events will only run if it is safe to do so, and we are confident that the Motorsport UK Covid-19 compliant guidelines, together with the continued success of the national vaccination programme, will allow us to proceed as planned. We look forward to welcoming our record number of registered championship competitors back, and look forward to seeing them do battle out on some of the UK’s very best asphalt stages.”