A FIFTH maximum points haul in as many rallies entered has taken Rhuddlan’s Luke Francis a step closer to Wales’ premier rallying title, while team mate John H Roberts from Colwyn Bay has clinched overall co-driver honours.

Their latest success on Saturday’s Builth Wells-based Nicky Grist Stages means that, despite there being two rounds still to go, Roberts cannot now be caught in the chase for the 2016 Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship, while Surrey’s Wug Utting retains a mathematical chance of overhauling Francis for second.

Third quickest on the opening stage of eight, Luke moved the Mitsubishi Evo 9 to the head of the field on the following stage and coped superbly with difficult, wet conditions in the classic Mid-Wales forests to go on to outright victory.

On the victory podium at the Royal Welsh Showground, Francis said his Mitsubishi had performed faultlessly, adding that he had a slight off on stage six, but fortunately didn’t lose too much time.

The North Wales driver’s task was aided slightly by problems for some of his closest Championship rivals. Llanon’s Dylan Davies and co-driver Llion Williams, from Caernarfon were forced to retire their Subaru Impreza with fuel problems on the opening stage, while Andy Davies and Max Freeman retired their Impreza on stage six with a broken ball joint.

Despite that, Freeman, from Tywyn, continues to lead the co-driver category in the Vital Equipment Welsh Junior Championship, although by just four points from Simon Jones and Chris Davies.

Second place went to Martyn and Dawn England as they continue to get to grips with their new for this season Ford Fiesta R5+. Caernarfon pairing Gavin Edwards and Caron Tomlinson claimed the final podium place in their Mark II Ford Escort.

Wug Utting’s fourth place gave him a win in the Group N category for less modified cars and takes him to the top of the Group N Championship standings.

The Vital Equipment Welsh Junior series has a new champion driver, with Pwllheli’s Andrew Jones clinching the title in his Mark II Ford Escort. Jones also lies in second in the overall Championship, and leads the two wheel drive standings ahead of Flying Kiwi Boyd Kershaw.

Two class titles were settled, with John H Roberts securing top honours among the Class 8 co-drivers, while Worcester’s Martin Griffiths took the equivalent honour in Class 7. There still remain plenty more class battles to be resolved in the final two rounds, starting with the Ludlow-based Woodpecker Rally on 3 September.