HEREFORDSHIRE Motor Club host the seventh running of the popular Welsh Marches Mini Epynt stages this Sunday.

Sponsored by Apex Motor Parts, the event sees a full and varied entry of cars, including many Herefordshire crews, and a healthy reserve list, with the first competitors due off at 9am. Taking part is last year’s winner, Dave Willett, who will be running as one of the course cars in his red, yellow and white Mk2 Escort.

Another confirmed course car sees Julian Wilkes back on the tarmac in ‘Skippy’.

As recent winners over Epynt, Ray Horton and Paul Williams (Darrian T90GTR) and Phil Turner and Simon Anthony (Evo9) aren’t eligible to win the event.

Previous winners who are eligible to win overall are Jason Pritchard and Steve McPhee in their historic Mk2 and Darren Underwood and Tom Wolfenden.

With Mini Epynt being a qualifying round of King of Epynt, others crews looking for a good result and points will be Roger Hicks and Neil James in the Green FLK 1T Escort, Ian Caddy and Alan Thomas (Mk2 Escort), Mark Jones and Terry Martin (BMW), Tony Rees and Geraint Thomas (Talbot Sunbeam), Mike Williams and Phil Jones (MGZR), Peter Lewis and Alan Jones (Mk2) and Richard Bliss and Jamie Vaughan (Honda Civic).

Vaughan was the 2014 King of Epynt co-driver.

Other crews include Sean Crowley and Emma Jones (Mitsubishi Colt), Glyn Cartwright and Adam Wilks (Mk2) and Andrew Yates and Unum Pila (205).

Yates lives in Scotland and this will be his first time over Epynt but he will have an experienced Welsh navigator alongside him.

Another crew, both Epynt virgins, are Adrian/Oliver Jackson, also in a 205.

There are some Under-18 co-drivers competing - these include Daniel Petrie sitting alongside Christian Prynne (205 GTI), Lewis Mason with Alan Bowen (Mk2) and Jordan Wilkinson in with Steve Hopkins (Nova).

Notable car numbers will include Brian Davis and Ian Davies (Mk2) running with 50 on the door to celebrate Davis’s 50th birthday, and the 68 of Pat Jerome and Chris Davies. Jerome has been rallying for 50 of his 68 years.

The club are also delighted to have Sgt James Hallam and Cpl Richie Price competing in a Subaru Impreza RA (58).

Hallam is 31 and been in the army for 15 years.

His regiment is 29 Commando but is currently an instructor at Harrogate.

He has been rallying for the last few years and was last out in February on the North-West Stages in Blackpool.

This will be Price’s first rally for some years and the the team is made up of a group of soldiers and called Team Voodoo.

They are currently competing in the British Army Stages Championship.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Mike Pugh competed in the recent Plains Rally based at Welshpool.

Stages one and two saw them only 16 seconds off the lead in Class N3 but an off in stage four left them in a culvert and damage to the front of the vehicle.

Despite this setback, they are still third overall in their class of the BTRDA Rally Championship.