By Paul Evans

Experienced Ammanford-based rally driver, and former Welsh Tarmac Rally Champion, Rob Tout will contest this year’s Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship in his rapid Mitsubishi Evo 10.

Tout’s rally career began in the late 1970s, and, having stopped for a number of seasons, he returned to competition in 2001 driving an Escort. He soon swapped to a Mitsubishi Evo and became a regular Group N class winner, clinching the Welsh Tarmac Rally Championship title overall in 2014.

Eighteen months ago, Tout purchased the B13 class Mitsubishi Evo 10 which he will drive this year – which, over the winter, has enjoyed a comprehensive rebuild, ready for the opening round of the revamped Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, the Melvyn Evans Motorsport Tour of Epynt on 11 March.

Co-driven by Aberystwyth’s Dylan James, Tout’s 2018 programme will be supported by The Wheel Specialists, Enterprise Insurance, Owen Developments and Tout’s Tool and Plant Hire.

“We’re going to concentrate on the Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, and if we do any other events in between it will only be one or two to keep ourselves on the pace,” said Tout. “We had a difficult year in 2017 for all sorts of reasons, but now we’re back and firing on all cylinders.

“It’s unreasonable to think that our B13 class Mitsubishi Evo 10 will be able to beat World Rally Cars and the latest R5 cars, but we’d certainly like to think that we’ll be the best of the rest.

“We’ll be looking at consistently finishing inside the top half dozen, and if we do that, with five out of six scores to count, then I think we can do very well in the Championship.”