ANDREW Burton has put Withington’s Roger Chilman among the favourites to win this weekend’s Team GMF Wyedean Forest Rally.

Chilman, 32, has a new co-driver, Shobdon’s Bryan Thomas, who has enjoyed a hat-trick of British Rally Car triumphs.

Burton, from Lyonshall, won his sixth Wyedean Rally last year and went on to clinch the BTRDA Championship.

But the defending champion will be watching the rally, which starts on Saturday, after the MSA outlawed his iconic car.

“I am going to try to watch the rally to see if I like it,” said Burton, who is now considering having a crack at off-roading.

“It’s going to be a very close affair and young Roger Chilman is definitely among the favourites.

“Hugh Hunter and Steve Perez should also be up there and my good mate Nigel Griffiths can win it if he has a good day.”

Chilman was runner-up to Burton in the BTRDA Championship last year and he also finished second in 2010.

Chilman, who was fifth in the Wyedean 12 months ago, said: “Our Subaru Impreza WRC is a car that is capable of winning these rallies but there are a lot good drivers.

“The car has had some work done to it. We have had a suspension upgrade and a new gear box and the car should be fresh.”

The Withington farmer, who started rallying in 2004, won the BTRDA in 2005. His best finish in the Wyedean was fourth in 2010.

He paid tribute to his vastly experienced former co-driver Andrew Sankey.

“Andrew has been a massive part of my development but I felt the time was right to freshen things up,” he said.

“We competed with each other for seven years in a row. But I just felt that it was time to have a change.”

Chilman’s dad — also called Roger — was a top national driver in the early 1980s and Bryan Thomas used to navigate for him.

Thomas’ career spans almost three decades and he’s sat alongside both Malcolm Wilson and Mark Higgins.

Chilman has always been involved in sport and played cricket for Luctonians last summer.

He is a former inside-centre for Luctonians’ Rugby Club’s first team and a cricketer at Kington.

“I have played a lot of other sports — scored tries in rugby and made a century in cricket — but nothing matches the adrenaline rush of rallying,” he said.

“You can’t match the adrenaline at the end of a competitive stage. It’s absolutely huge and it’s great fun.”

Chilman, who also farms with his dad in Presteigne, is excited about his eighth rallying campaign. He added: “We were leading going into the last stage at the Wales GB Rally and then we had a fuel problem and that was pretty disappointing.

“This is the first round of eight events and, last year, we ended up having a lot of second places.

“But it would be nice to win one so close to home.”