Preview, round five: Rally Marketing Mid Wales Historic StagesMore classic mid-Wales forest stages will form round five of the 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Rally Marketing Mid-Wales Historic Stages on 24/25 June.Another popular event on the schedule, the Newton-based event runs over the classic Hafren and Sweet Lamb complexes, with two stages on Saturday afternoon and six more on Sunday.Category 1Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies are on a roll at the moment in their Sunbeam Tiger, having won category 1 in three of the four rounds to date. Only a damaging spin on Epynt interrupted their run of success and it is highly probable that they will set the pace on the Mid-Wales in the thundering Tiger.As ever, Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride will chase the Tiger in their Porsche 911, but will have to push hard to beat the leading Lotus Cortinas, notably those of Neil Calvert/Michelle Calvert, Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates, Jonathan Gale/Graham Gale and Chris Green/Hilary Green. Calvert achieved a personal ambition on the previous event by beating Nutt in a straight fight, and that friendly rivalry will continue on the Mid-Wales.In class B2, Clive King and Bob Ward are flying along in their Mini Cooper and consistently setting the pace, but James Stait is determined to get his MG Midget up with the leading Mini. Stait will be co-driven by Gill Cotton, while Mike Barratt/Jody Watson will be back in action despite upending their Cooper S on the Severn Valley.Crowd-pleasing as ever will be the two-stroke Saabs in class B1, with John Parker/Robert Harrison likely to set the pace from Nick Pinkett.Category 2The post-historic category is hugely competitive as the leading Porsche 911s go head to head with the best of the Ford Escort Mk1s. Honours are pretty even to date, with two wins for Mark Solloway's Escort and one each for the Porsches of Jimmy McRae and Steven Smith. Smith and John Nichols gave their 911RS a debut gravel win on the Severn Valley as Solloway/Mark Crisp tigered back into contention after a puncture. Meanwhile, David Stokes/Guy Weaver are overdue a good result after two non-finishes in their Escort. More very quick Escorts will be campaigned by Jeremy Easson/Den Golding, Craig Salter/Preston Ayres and Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips.Adding to the mix for this event is the Porsche of Richard Tuthill, back out for the first time in a couple of seasons and sure to be very quick. Equally, Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood are getting quicker and quicker in their 911 and set fastest stage times on the Severn Valley.Adding depth of quality to the bumper Porsche 911 field in category 2 this season are crews like Graham Wilson/tba, Andrew Street/Jez Mason, Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown and Peter Lythell/Liz Jordan. Going up against the Porsches in class C4 will be the Datsun 240Zs of Hugh and Debby Myers and Duncan Pearcey, who has enlisted the co-driving talents of PR guru/journalist Jamie Edwards for the event.The battles in class C2 have been another highlight of the season, with the Escorts of Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes, John Worthing/Bill Robertson and Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley all in contention.The Mid Wales Historic Stages is organised by Newtown and District Automobile Club Ltd. For more details about the event, please visit the website at: www.newtown-mc.co.ukThe historic rally starts from Newtown at 4pm on Saturday, 24 June and resumes at 8am on Sunday morning.