ELFYN Evans is hoping to bolster his lead in the 2016 MSA British Rally Championship when the DMACK British Rally Team ace takes one of the oldest rallies in the world, the iconic Circuit Of Ireland this weekend.

The first Tarmac round of this year’s revitalised championship is steeped in history, and is revered for its tough, fast and high commitment roads.

It is the 85th anniversary of the event which, in its heyday, took competitors on a four-day lap of the Emerald Isle.

Evans, from Dinas Mawddwy, and Craig Parry are aiming for a repeat performance of their opening round win on the Mid Wales Stages, and to continue their stunning start to the season.In contrast to the Welsh event, however, Evans has limited experience of the Northern Irish stages, and knows the competition will be fierce when the two-day event bursts into gear on Friday morning.

The roads are notoriously difficult and renowned for their bumps – unsettling cars and making it tough to find a comfortable set-up. He tested on Monday to fine-tune the Autotek-run Ford Fiesta R5 Evo car.

"The rally is going to be a big challenge," said the 27-year-old Welshman, son of former Ulster Rally winner Gwyndaf Evans. "The stages in Ireland are both technical and high speed, so they require detailed pace notes, good car set-up and precision.

"The competition is immense, probably one of the strongest regional entries for a while, so hopefully we can push right from the start.”

Evans’ car will be fitted with DMACK’s latest generation asphalt tyre, the DMT-RC2. Complying with regional rally regulations, it’s the first time the tyre has been used outside of the world rally championship after being launched at Rallye Monte Carlo in January.

The Circuit of Ireland will be run entirely within Northern Ireland and based from the King’s Hall in Belfast A qualifying session on Thursday will allow the top 15 drivers to choose their road position for the first taste of competition on Friday.

The opening day features six stages over challenging mountain and coast roads in County Antrim, including Glendun and Torr Head, which threads its way along the cliff-top scenic coast drive. It’s a day for zero mistakes with only a 15-minute remote service to make running repairs and change tyres.

Saturday’s action moves south to the fast, flowing country stages in County Down. With high hedges, gravel-lined junctions and high-speed jumps the tests through Buck’s Head and Hamilton’s Folly will no doubt bring the event to an exciting conclusion.