Welsh rally ace Simon Hughes has signed up to contest the Fiesta SportingTrophy Championship, and the 22 year old from Colwyn Bay will start the season with a dual assault on both the UK and World Rally Championship Fiesta series in his all new Ford Fiesta ST150.The rapid BRC regular will contest the UK rounds of the Fiesta SportingTrophy, whilst also contesting Rallye Catalunya and Rallye Corsica on the world stage as he bids for success in what looks like being the most competitive one make rally championship in years.  Partnering Hughes for the season will be the vastly experience ex-Proton works co-driver Claire Mole from Berwickshire.  'Moley' is a valuable addition to Hughes' team, and the pair are keen to step up their preparations for the year ahead.Hughes and Mole kicked off the season with the Tour of Epynt recently, and a trouble free performance by the pairing netted an impressive 15th overall and a class win.  Hughes pushed the Fiesta into an excellent 2nd in the overall Group N standings after a day of icy action on the military ranges.  Next up, Hughes will also be contesting the TAC Winter Stages Rally at Sweet Lamb on February 18th.  Partnering Hughes for a one-off ride will be Motorsport News columnist Jamie Edwards as the pair aim to collect as much testing data as possible during the 45 stage mile event.A highly motivated Simon is delighted to be returning to regular competition after a long winter lay off in the close season.  The youngster spent the 2005 season contesting the Skoda Fabia Rallye Cup in the Czech Republic, and the experience gained in a tough single make rally championship has given the Welshman a good grounding for a busy 2006:'I think the UK Fiesta SportingTrophy is going to be one of the most competitive championships in the world' commented Simon.  'The quality of entrants so far is incredible.  It is just impossible to see a clear favourite for the title, and I'm sure all of us taking part will stand a realistic chance of taking stage and event victories.  Many of the former Peugeot Super Cup competitors are coming out to play, so there is no doubt in my mind that every tenth of a second will make a real difference this year.  It is going to be a fantastic series to take part in.  Perhaps the greatest aspect of the new Fiesta based championship is the World Rally Championship series, and we're contesting the first two rounds of that.  Hopefully if things go well we can continue with that program of six WRC events.  I'm very excited at the prospect of doing events like Corsica and Catalunya - two of the best known rallies in Europe.  They will certainly be an immense challenge but Claire and I are very confident that we stand as good a chance as anyone of doing well on both at home and abroad.'Simon's first truly competitive outing in the Fiesta will be the Malcolm Wilson Rally on March 11th.  Based in the home town of series organiser M-Sport, the event will take in some of the finest gravel stages in the Lake District from the start in Cockermouth.  Well over 20 identical Fiestas are expected to start the opening round of the UK Fiesta Championship.