The GenPower Motorsport Rally Team are back in action on March 1st, as they head to Newtown in Powys for the Mid Wales Stages Rally. Held over a single day on some of the best Welsh forest rally stages, the team will face a stern test over 45 challenging stage miles.

Roland Llewellin, from Haverfordwest and co-driver Jamie Edwards, from Wrexham will once again be using their GenPower supported Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, run by SW Motorsport. The all Welsh team will also be supported by Evans Waterless Engine Coolants, Morris Lubricants, and Yokohama Tyres.

The Mid Wales Stages is the second round of the MSA Welsh National Rally Championship and comes just two weeks after the season opener in the Forest of Dean. After a promising start on the Wyedean Rally, Roland and Jamie were forced to retire their Mitsubishi on the penultimate stage when a brand new fuel pump failed on the car – leaving the crew with no option but to stop near the end of the stage. Despite a few minor issues in the morning, the pair had moved into the podium positions in the Welsh series – and were keen to bag a bumper points haul in the process.

With that disappointment now over, attention turns to four special stages around the Llangurig area on St David’s Day. The pair will tackle world renowned gravel stages in the famous Sweet Lamb complex along with the Hafren and Myherin Forests. With no score on the opening round, the pair will be pushing hard from the off on Sunday as they seek to score as many points as possible in the overall and Production Cup standings.

Roland Llewellin:
“The retirement from the Wyedean was a very big disappointment. We’d just set fastest time in the GenPower Production Cup on stage 6 and we were having a really good run through stage 7 when we lost all power and the engine died. On closer inspection after the event, we found that the fuel pump motor had seized – a rare failure on a brand new part only fitted to the car before the event. So it was mixed emotions for us that day – as we were disappointed to retire but pleased to be setting competitive times prior to that. Mid Wales offers some great stages and a different challenge completely. We’re looking forward to it – and we’ll have no option but to push hard from the start to try and kick start our championship campaign".

You can find more about the Mid Wales Stages on www.midwalesstages.co.uk and you can find out more about GenPower on www.genpower.co.uk/motorsport