“TOTALLY gobsmacked” and “unexpected” were the words Chris Richmond Hand used to describe his latest win on his first ever time competing on the Rally KH7 Costa Brava 2026, writes ANWEN FRANCIS.

The challenging Spanish event held at Girona, Barcelona saw driver Chris, from Castllnewydd, and co-driver Ben Duke, from Llandysul, returning to Wales triumphant with a 45-second lead and more rallies are on the cards.

The three day oldest historic rally in Spain, organised by the Girona and Fornells de la Selva is home to the world’s finest classic motorsport and being invited to the event was an utter delight for Teifi Valley Motor Club member.

“Who doesn’t want to go to Spain to compete?” asked Chris with a huge grin. “After 22 hours of travelling and only stopping for fuel, we made it and what a rally. It was absolutely worth every mile.”

Chris, is still on cloud nine after his open class win. With rain and foggy conditions adding to an already challenging rally, the Welsh duo did it!

“I don’t really know where to start other than saying — follow your dreams. Doing an event like this in Spain has always been a bit of a bucket list thing for me. If someone had told me a few years ago that we’d be competing in rallies like this, I honestly wouldn’t have believed them, especially doing it in ABX, my toyota starlet.”

With hairpin bends aplenty, a technical route that was hard on both driver and co-driver, the rollercoaster rally tested both men, in this, Ben’s only fourth time on the notes.

“The stages were tough and demanding and a huge thank you to Ben (Llandysul Motor Club) for doing a brilliant job on the notes all weekend - you absolutely smashed it I can’t thank Alex Sasplugas enough for inviting us. It was probably one of the most challenging rallies I’ve ever competed in.”

Chris says none of this would have been possible without the support of his family, friends, service crew and sponsors who all went above and beyond.

“A huge thank you to the service boys of Dafydd Lloyd and Josh Clark – the car was faultless all weekend. That’s a real credit to all the hard work you put in behind the scenes. And of course, a big thank you to all of our sponsors for the continued support. Without these amazing people, journeys and opportunities like this just wouldn’t be possible.

“Finally, to my awesome wife, Letty.Thank you for keeping everything afloat while I was away. I couldn’t do any of this without you.”

Chris has big plans for 2026. His next rally is Donegal, Ireland where he hopes to achieve another terrific result and keep Wales on the worldwide map.