Jason Pritchard of Builth Wells and co-driver Phil Clarke start as strong favourites in this weekend’s Bet on Aces Manx National Rally.

They will be out to avenge bitter disappointment last year when a penultimate stage mechanical problem denied them the chance to become winners in four consecutive years.

The Ford Focus WRC crew were three minutes clear at the time of the electrical problem at Knocksharry near Peel, handing victory to North Wales man Hugh Hunter and Kirk Michael co-driver Rob Fagg.

Hunter and Fagg have switched from the Ford Fiesta R5 they piloted last year to a more powerful Melvyn Evans Motorsport Ford Fiesta WRC and will lead the field into action at tea-time on Friday, with Pritchard right behind.

Their pre-Manx warm-up a couple of weeks ago on England’s first ever closed roads event in Essex saw them finish runners-up to Evans, while Pritchard is this year tackling the Protyres MSA Asphalt Championship (this weekend’s Manx event forms round two) and took a third placed finish on the opening Tour of Epynt.

Just ahead of Pritchard on the Welsh military ranges was multiple-former champion Damian Cole (Fiesta WRC), who starts at three this weekend with new co-driver Jamie Edwards, still chasing that elusive Manx victory after so many podium finishes down the years.

The top-quality line-up of 117 crews continues with 2016 Motor Mall Manx Rally champions Daniel Harper/Chris Campbell, the Lancashire MiniSport crew back in the Mini WRC that they debuted here 12 months ago.

The event is the opening round of this year’s series, shortened by the cancellation of the Haydn Minay Memorial Rally in March.

Carlisle’s Peter Taylor is in another Fiesta WRC and was right in amongst the top crews on the British Rally Championship opener, the Pirelli Rally, a fortnight ago so has match practice. He is a former runner-up on the Mull Rally, so could be a dark horse with no championship concerns to worry about.

Starting next at car six, Jamie Jukes is definitely on a retrieval mission having rolled his Spencer Sport Mitsubishi Mirage R5 out of his last three visits to the island, including when holding third place 12 months ago and more dramatically still on Marine Drive during last September’s Rally Isle of Man.

The team had a car destroyed last weekend during a British Rallycross round won by Mark Higgins at Croft, so can do without Jamie giving the workshop any more work!

Essex man John Indri, a real character with some talent behind the wheel to boot, is another to bring a Mirage, returning after a couple of years away. After years manhandling the unsuited Darrian round the island lanes he should find the Mitsubishi a much more driveable prospect.

The leading local seed is Stu Bainborough, who has Scot Jane Nicol on the notes in the Mitsubishi Evo VI. Bainborough crashed out of the Tour of Epynt on the opening stage and will look to get his dual Asphalt/Manx championship campaigns back on track.

Right behind is Andrew Dudgeon who later this month embarks on his second TT, but this weekend has Joseph Dooley alongside in the rapid Evo 6.5 and is well capable of a top-six finish.

Dan Colley/Adam Yates (Evo IX), along with Timmy and Cliona Collins (Subaru Impreza) will look to keep Dudgeon/Dooley in check in the battle for leading locals, while Kex Walker/Dannii Matthews (BMW 325) head the two-wheel drive local crews once more.

Sean Kelly/Kirsty Duke (Evo IX) start as favourites in the co-running National B Chris Kelly Memorial Rally section of the event, with Paul and Michael McEvoy (Impreza) and Steve Ormond-Smith/Charlotte Shimmin (Evo VII) among their main opposition.