For Simon Hughes

Colwyn Bay's Simon Hughes is aiming to go one better on the forthcoming Pirelli Trophy Rally.  The 23 year old Welshman finished 2nd on the opening round of the Fiesta SportingTrophy, and together with Berwickshire's Claire Mole, the duo are aiming for the top step of the podium on the Carlisle based event.Hughes has contested the event several times before during his time spent competing on the British Rally Championship.  The MSA Academy driver has a best finish of 7th overall on the event, and has previously taken a Super 1600 category win in the infamous Kielder Forests.  As such, the reputation of 'Killer' Kielder holds little fear for Simon, although he is far from complacent about tackling the single day event.Just six stages await the Fiesta masses in their identical Ford Fiesta ST150's, and after a strong start to the Fiesta SportingTrophy International (FSTi) series in Spain and Corsica, Simon is confident.  A brilliant 2nd overall in Spain was Simon's first ever attempt at a World Rally Championship round, and the youngster looked set to follow that result up with another podium finish in Corsica.  Sadly, a mechanical failure on the final day of the rally demoted Hughes down the order, although he retains third in the FSTi championship points.With the confidence of being on the pace at World level behind him, Simon is now more than ready to mix it once again in the UK series, where he lies 2nd overall.  A string of mechanical problems forced the retirements of a number of other drivers on the season opener, the Malcolm Wilson Rally.  Since then, series organisers M-Sport have worked hard to resolve any reliability issues with the brand new cars, and as such, another fierce battle is expected on May 14th on the Scottish borders.Hughes is determined not to let his solid start to the year go to waste:'The Malcolm Wilson Rally was great as it showed the hand of a few drivers and we were able to see what kind of pace there was going to be.  It worked out as I expected, and I was happy with our pace throughout the day.  We lost a bit of time towards the end, but in fairness, Owen (Murphy) who won drove exceptionally well and some of his stage times were outstanding.  It now seems like a long time ago, and doing two World Rally Championship events since then has really made a big difference to my driving.  I feel as though I have learnt a huge amount since March, and in particular, the pace at World Rally Championship level is really quite a step on from the UK series - which is fast enough as it is!  Claire and myself have plenty of past experience in Kielder, and of course, you must respect the place as it can really bite you.  We are going there with plenty of confidence, and we'll also get a brief test in the car soon just to make sure everything is in order.  I'm expecting it to be decided by a handful of seconds next weekend, but I'm also confident that if things go our way, we can be on top of the podium this time'.The Carlisle based rally consists of six stages, including the spectator friendly Pirelli P-Zero 'Super Special' stage, hugely popular with fans last year.  The main 'meat' of the rally takes place within the heart of the Kielder complex, before finishing in the centre of Carlisle around 4pm on the Sunday afternoon.