Colwyn Bay's Simon Hughes arrived in Scotland hoping to win the penultimate round of the Fiesta SportingTrophy.  Sadly, the long trip north from Wales was to prove a fruitless one.  Despite starting the event brightly, Hughes slipped off the road on the second stage of the rally, ending any remaining hopes he had of lifting the title after a frustrating season.Partnered by Berwickshire's Claire Mole, the Furrows for Ford backed duo were desperate for a good result on the Park Systems Rally, based in Newton Stewart.  The forests of South West Scotland have been good to Hughes in the past, and the young Welshman was looking forward to making the most of his experience of the stages.Hughes was denied a chance of victory on the recent Mewla National Rally after collecting a puncture on the final stage of the rally, dropping him to a still respectable 3rd.  As such, the result kept Hughes and Mole within the fight for the title, but a victory in Scotland would be essential if Simon was to stand a chance of taking the title on the final round, the Bulldog Rally.Heading into the first stage, Hughes was immediately in trouble, as the Fiesta was suffering a long brake pedal, not ideal for an attack on the stages.  Hughes still recorded an excellent time as he took second fastest on the stage.  The Welshman's event was not destined to go much further however, as it all went wrong in the following stage.  Hughes misjudged a tightening right hand corner, and slid into the ditch on the outside, breaking a driveshaft and wishbone.  The Welshman dragged the ailing Fiesta ST150 out of the ditch, but the damage was permanent, and Hughes title fight was over.'It was a mistake on my part' said Simon.  'We had no option but to push hard from the start, and despite the brake problem on the first stage, the time was good.  I felt we needed to push harder on the next stage, and the corner just caught me out.  We slipped off the road and landed quite heavily in the ditch, which broke the driveshaft and the TCA.  I did my best to drive on, but the car got stuck in the middle of the road, so it was getting dangerous to go further.  I must thank the spectators who helped us move the car into a safer location off the road.  Of course I'm very disappointed not to have been able to keep the title fight going.  Unfortunately we have not had the best of luck at times this season, but that is the way it can go for you sometimes.  I'm just concentrating on the Bulldog Rally now, as we'll be going all out to end the season on a high with a win.'The Bulldog Rally uses forests well known to Hughes from his previous attempts at events such as the Rally of Wales.  Based in Oswestry on the Welsh border, Simon will look to show a clean pair of heels to the competition on the last round of the year as he bids to record his second victory of the season.