Just over a month ago on the Rallye Sunseeker in Bournemouth, Dorian Rees and Aberystwyth co-driver, Patrick Walsh, showed determination and speed by finishing behind a Works supported driver in the tough and competitive Group N showroom class, also claiming the second Subaru spot behind the event winner Roger Duckworth despite having never contested the rally previously. Rees will feel a little more confident when he competes on the North Wales based Astra Stages Rally on Saturday 3rd April. The Kumho National Rally Championship qualifier is an event that holds mixed feelings for the Llanybydder driver having contested the rally twice previously, one of which ended his rally with his car completely destroyed by fire. While this remains in his memory, it was freak mechanical problem that caused the fire and not through driver error. "It was a rally I would like to forget but it nearly ended my rally career with the car burnt out, but I have a put a lot of time and effort into getting over the hurdles like that one and moved on to show that I have the pace to beat the best and I will be pushing hard for the Group N battle on Saturday."Thirty cars will be making up the class with a host of cars competing in the Mitsubishi Evolution Challenge, with Dorian and another Welsh driver, Geoff Jones aiming to place one of their Subaru Impreza's ahead of the chasing Mitsubishi pack."We have a better chance this time as the Group N front runners are all running close and we should benefit more than in Bournemouth as we have a good road position. Knowing the stages will also be an advantage with the stages twistier with fewer long straights, which was not to our liking on the South Coast." Having home advantage has not deterred the Welsh driver from getting as much time in the car as possible, with Dorian testing the car ahead of this weekend. The test allowing Dorian to find some extra speed through some different suspension set ups."We tested the car just to try out a few ideas and we were surprised with the results of it. We hope we will benefit on the Astra, but don't want to be too confident and I will settle for a top three position within the class and a top ten placing overall. I would like to think that we will be on the pace with Geoff from the start and would like to have a good Welsh battle with him for the class lead."The rally starts at 8am from Llangollen with three service stops throughout the day in Bala before returning back to the Llangollen finish at 17.30.Dorian and Patrick will be supported on the Astra Stages Rally by Rees Buildings, Roy Rees & Sons Plant Hire, Wyn Thomas Heating, Oriel & Barrie Jones, Ad-Clad, Davies Subaru, Forge Motorsport, P & A Whitfield, Dragon Racewear, Alvington Car Sales, ACE Motorsport and Maximum Attack Promotions.