Colwyn Bay's rally ace Simon Hughes produced a terrific performance on the opening round of the all new Ford Fiesta SportingTrophy series this weekend, as the 22 year old finished a fine 2nd overall after a tough day in the Lake District.Hughes and Berwickshire co-driver Claire Mole were contesting the Malcolm Wilson Rally based in Cockermouth, home of Ford's own World Rally Championship Team, M-Sport.  With no less than 24 identical Fiesta ST150's contesting the event, Hughes and Mole knew that they faced a stern examination of their skills on the rough and muddy roads of the Lake District forests.Starting with the gravel tests near to the Whinlatter Pass, Hughes made a steady start as he eased himself into the pace of the event.  Less than five seconds covered the three leading Fiesta crews after the opening loop, and Simon was happy to find himself third as he planned to up his pace in the two Grizedale forests.  True to his word, the Welsh ace flew through the 12 mile stage to stop the clocks a full eight seconds faster than current leader Owen Murphy, taking a fantastic 16th fastest time in the overall rally in the process - a remarkable performance.Hughes now took the lead, but Irishman Murphy wasn't finished yet.  He countered with an equally breathtaking performance on the next stage to reclaim the lead, with just seven seconds separating the pair now.  Hughes would then close the gap further on the next stage as he moved to within five seconds of the leader.  Simon continued to push hard into the seventh stage, but fortune didn't favour the Welshman as he suffered a time consuming spin, having to reverse the Fiesta back onto the road in the process.  Despite the time lost, Hughes remained in with a fighting chance going into the final stage of the rally, Greystoke.Fortunately, Hughes was able to complete the stage and return to the finish to claim a fine 2nd.  However, the story could have been so different.  Midway through the six mile stage, the Fiesta began to miss gears as Hughes struggled with a broken selector in the gearbox.  If that was not enough of a concern, the Fiesta then bottomed out on a rough section, damaging the radiator on the car in the process.  Understandably, Hughes was mightily relieved to see the finish ramp in Cockermouth, and the prize of £500 for his efforts had been well earned on a bitterly cold day.'It's been quite a fight, and the car has plenty of scars' said Hughes.  'I have to take my hat off to Owen for his performance.  We thought we'd really turned the corner on the long Grizedale stage, but he attacked so hard on the next one and it really made for a great fight to the end.  I was a bit disappointed to spin as it realistically ended our hopes of winning, but of course in rallying you never give up.  The last stage was full of drama too - its never good to drive a stage when you know the car is suffering and the stages were incredibly rough in places - really punishing the cars and that is never good.  Fortunately we were able to get back to the finish, but now its a race against time to prepare the car for the next event.'Hughes next event is quite a challenge in its own right.  The Welshman kicks off his campaign in the Fiesta World Series, starting with Rallye Catalunya, Spain's round of the FIA World Rally Championship.  The event will be Simon's first ever foray into the World Rally Championship, and both he and co-driver Mole are looking for a good result after their heroics in the Lake District.