Colwyn Bay's Simon Hughes mastered the tricky conditions as he took final honours in the Fiesta SportingTrophy at the weekend.  Hughes was contesting the Bulldog Rally in Oswestry, and took victory by 5.5 seconds after surviving some slippery gravel stages in the class forests of Mid Wales.Driving his Furrows for Ford backed Ford Fiesta ST150, MSA British Rally Elite Academy member Hughes faced a tough task to win the final round of the inaugural series.  Developed by M-Sport, the Fiesta SportingTrophy had gone right down to the wire.  Hughes, winner of the Jim Clark round of the series, could not battle for the overall title however.  A mixed season of fastest stage times and mechanical problems had kept the young Welshman out of contention on the final round shoot out.Determined to spoil the party for the rest, Hughes and Berwickshire co-driver Claire Mole arrived at the event in confident mood.  Hughes knew that a clean run on the event would see him feature at the top end of the leaderboard, and the Welshman's committed display on the opening stages of the event in Dyfnant and Gartheiniog would see him just five seconds off the rally lead.  At service, Hughes was glad to be having a trouble free run at the stages, and was enjoying the tricky conditions.  Recent rain had left a greasy coating on the road in places, and Simon was enjoying the frenetic battle for the lead.After the 14.5 mile long Dyfi stage, Hughes was to move within a whisker of the lead.  Just 0.9 of a second separated Simon from leader George Thomas.  Unfortunately, Thomas was to roll out of the event on the very last stage.  Hughes was perfectly placed to profit, as another excellent stage time from the former Renault Clio Super 1600 driver netted him a fine victory from eventual championship winner Chris Moore.Simon was delighted with the result:"George was a bit unlucky to go off on the final stage, but you need luck in this game" said Hughes.  "We drove at a sensible pace all day, and I was very happy to take the win.  We pushed hard like everyone else, but fortunately luck smiled on us today and we managed to keep it all together and take the victory.  The great thing about the Fiesta SportingTrophy is the closeness of the competition.  Any one of four or five drivers had a chance of winning today, so to come out on top after some of the low points we've had this year was very satisfying indeed.  Overall the year has been a frustrating one.  When we've been trouble free we've been bang on the pace, but the gremlins have struck on a few occasions.  There's nothing much you can do about it, you just have to grin and bear it at times.  I'm not sure what the plans for next year are at the moment, but I'm pleased to have won two of the rounds this year at least".Hughes will now concentrate on preparing for the 2007 season with the advice, support and knowledge gained from being part of the MSA British Rally Elite Academy.