Dorian Rees and his Aberystwyth co-driver, Patrick Walsh stuck to their battle plan and claimed victory in the most challenging category in British rallying, taking the Group N class win on a Kumho National Championship round fending off the "Works" supported driver Brendan Crealey. Rees oozed confidence on the Astra Stages National Rally staying in touch with the leaders throughout the day and then claiming the class win over the final two stages of the North Wales event on Saturday 3rd April. The ACE Motorsport run Subaru Impreza driver had predicted a battle with Geoff Jones, another driver benefiting from "works" support in a Subaru, however Jones collecting a puncture on the days first competitive test put pay to any challenge from the Welshman,Wet and windy conditions were to greet competitors over the nine special stages in the forests of Clocaenog, Aberhirnant, Alwen and Penmachno. The Llanybydder driver taken a steady start in the first two stages to place him in thirteenth place overall at first service.Stage three was the stage that claimed Dorian's car two years ago and saw a smile appear on the driver's face as he crossed the flying finish this year."I was glad to see the finish of that one as the last time I went through there I watched my car go up in smoke. It was such a relief to cross the flying finish."Following that stage Rees had also moved up three place and now sat inside the top ten. The West Wales driver remained in tenth spot until the final two stages, which is where Rees had planned his surge. "Having already done these stages earlier in the day, I thought this would be where I could make up some time. I really pushed hard in stage eight and thought it would move us up the leader board. We had improved on our time from this morning by six seconds, which gave us the quickest Group N time through the stage and in turn taking the lead." The Welsh pair then maintained the lead on the final stage to allow them their first outright win in the class and also a repeat of their Rallye Sunseeker finish, claiming seventh overall.Dorian will now miss the Roush Manx Rally, the next Kumho National Rally Championship round. Rees will now concentrate his efforts on the opening two rounds of the British Rally Championship. "We have now shown we are competitive and showed we have the pace in both National B and A category rallying, it's time to move into International rallying with the British Rally Championship and see what we can achieve there. We also have a lot of work to do on the car with some scheduled work which will need completing before the first BRC round."