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By Paul Evans
The 2014 Welsh Tarmacadam Rally Champion Rob Tout will contest selected events this year in his rapid Mitsubishi Evo 10 – with an emphasis on Epynt and new closed road stage rallies.
The Ammanford-based driver is hugely experienced, having begun road rallying back in the late 1970s. Having stopped rallying for a number of years, Tout returned to competition in 2001 in an Escort, before changing to the first of three Group N Mitsubishi Evos in 2003 and going on to great Group N success – regularly winning his class and clinching the Welsh Tarmac Rally Championship title overall in 2014.
For the last two and a half years, Tout has driven a powerful B13 class Mitsubishi Evo 10, which is supported by The Wheel Specialists, Arwel Jones Motors, ABC Hire Services, Owen Developments and The Horsepower Factory.
Together with North Wales co-driver Peredur Wyn Davies, Tout will mix and match asphalt rallies held over the military roads of Epynt above Sennybridge, with closed road rallies around the UK.
A year ago the Welsh Government made a change to section 12B(6) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, allowing two motorsport authorities – The Royal Automobile Club Motor Sports Association (now called Motorsport UK) and The Auto-Cycle Union – to issue permits to affiliated motor clubs for motorsport events to be organised and run on closed public roads.
The first closed road stage rally is expected to be held in mid-Wales later this year, while England (which changed the law 10 months earlier) has already successful held a closed road rally near Clacton-on-Sea, with more events – like North West Stages Lancashire in March and the Three Shires Stages (which will take place in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire) planned for September.
“I’m going to be away on holiday and miss several early events, so doing a full championship isn’t really on the cards for this year,” said Tout. “However, I have the Legend Fires North West Stages down as my first event of the season, and then I’ll contest all the remaining rounds of the King of Epynt Challenge. I’m also very keen to contest any new closed road stage events that happen during 2019.”
