Welshman Stuart Jones will obviously start as favourites for the final round of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge 2005, having already won four out of the five gravel rounds in the series. Jones heads towards a thrilling series finale on his favourite surface when he contests the Bulldog Rally on Saturday 22nd October, also in familiar territory, with the rally based in Oswestry, just up the road from his hometown.
While the Welshpool driver and his Oswestry co-driver Craig Parry are confident they have the pace for the final round, they are leaving nothing to chance and have kept preparation to an all time high.
"We had a very busy September, with a rally over each weekend. One of which was the Wales Rally of Great Britain, so the car has done a lot of miles and we have been working hard on the car to get it ready for the Bulldog. We will also complete some testing on Wednesday to ensure the set up is right. We are really looking forward to the rally."
While the MSA Rally Elite star is planning to take his fifth win in the eight round series, the title will be decided on the result of other drivers on the final round. While Jones has been the quicker driver on gravel in the championship, two retirements in the series has placed the Welshman in second place, just four points off series leader Ryan Champion.
"Our gameplan is simple, we have to win and rely on Ryan finishing outside of fourth place. Although he has consistently finished inside the top four, it will be a tall order. It is guaranteed to be a tough and very competitive battle for all of us who are in with a chance of taking the title."
The Bulldog Rally is also a qualifying round of the Welsh National Forest Rally Championship, with 2004 Champion Jones lies in second place and in a very good position to take the honours for a second year, with two rounds remaining.
The rally gets underway on Saturday morning at 8.00am from Oswestry with competitive timed stages within Dyfnant and Dyfi forests, with the finish expected around 4.30pm back in Oswestry.
Stuart Jones Rallying have also planned a pre and post rally evening, with an open invite to everyone to join and meet the team at the Wilfred Owen (JD Weatherspoons) on Willow Street in Oswestry. The team plan to be there on Friday evening between 7 - 9pm for pre rally drinks. A similar evening is also planned to start from 7pm on Saturday, however the evening may continue well into the night.
"It should be good fun for everyone, competitors, teams, organisers and spectators. We are just trying to create and end of season atmosphere to what has been a good season, no matter how the result goes on Saturday."
Stuart and Craig are supported in 2005 by VK Vodka Kick, Silverstone Tyres, J.T. Hughes Group Mitsubishi, Rallytech, Mick Jones Timber, R&D Transmissions, Broadoak, Toora, Anglo American Fuels and Scotprint.
