After a quarter of a century out of rallying, South Wales driver Dave Hopkins will return to the sport to campaign a Chrysler Sunbeam Ti in this season’s West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship.Hopkins rallied Ford Escorts in the mid-1980s, often on BTRDA events, but stopped in 1988 due to time and money pressures. Now, 25 years later, he will make his return on the Red Kite Stages (2 February) in the 1600cc Sunbeam and will be co-driven by Tony Vart. Hopkins has been encouraged to return by his brother-in-law Ian Beveridge, a regular competitor in a Category 1 Volvo PV544. “I co-drive for Ian on the Neath Valley Stages in 2011 and decided I had to do something again. The car has had a rare-shell rebuild and it’s been a four-year project. Historics looked like the right thing for us to do,” said Hopkins. “It’s affordable and seemed like a good idea at the time. My last event was a BTRDA round in Wales in 1988. Obviously I’ve missed rallying.”Hopkins and Preston-based Vart plan to contest the full R.A.C. season and would like to finish the year with a first assault on the Roger Albert Clark Rally.The 2014 R.A.C. Rally Championship starts on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday 2 February and more details are available from www.redkitestages.co.ukThe West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship is the only championship that runs historics first on the road on all events.