The sixth and penultimate round of the Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy UK takes place this weekend at the Ulster International Rally, based in the Northern Ireland town of Antrim.  The event sees the FST continue its partnership with the British Rally Championship and allows competitors to compete in the dual format option of the FST series whereby registered crews can not only take part in the FST event but also the full two day BRC event or the double header BRC Challenge event.  The FST event starts on SS1 of the event and finishes after SS10.

The Ulster rally sees a new challenge for all crews competing whereby on the Friday night the crews face stages in darkness, a challenge rarely seen in modern rallying.  The Ulster rally will be a first for the FST with the UK and IE championships both competing at the event creating a double header for the popular one make series.  This means a total Fiesta entry of 17 cars making it a great experience for all competitors involved.

The current FST leader is Craig Breen (18) from Waterford and navigator Gareth Roberts.  Breen is currently in fine form leading the UK and Irish series and comes to the event fresh on the back of a win in the previous FSTi round, Rally Finland.  Breen will be looking to finish as highly as possible to try to help him secure the UK title at the event but with him needing to finish the event to wrap up the Irish series he will have to be cautious at his approach to the event.

Matt Edwards (24) from Cockermouth and navigator Rob Fagg currently lie second in the series and come to the event after a third overall on their first debut on tarmac at the previous round of the series, the Manx International Rally.  Edwards will look to improve on his last tarmac performance at the event, and has also chosen to register for the Irish series to compare his times to the regular Irish runners.

Kris Hall (19) from Appleby and navigator Robbie Durant come to Ulster after recently narrowly missing out on qualifying for the final of the Pirelli Star Driver award but will hope to show the judges that he has the speed necessary to win events this weekend.  Hall still has a chance of winning the series so a good finish is imperative for the talented youngster.

Billy Coleman award winner Ross Forde (25) from Galway and navigator Gary McElhinney will start the event after a promising second overall at the previous round of the series.  Forde has been improving all season and with tarmac his favoured surface he will again hope to shine at the Ulster event.

Kyle Orr (19) from Dromore and navigator Dai Roberts missed out the previous round of the series but return to try and improve their title position at their home event in Ulster.  Orr has the pace to challenge the leaders but will need to drive sensibly over the tough event to secure a good finishing position.

Mark Donnelly (17) from Omagh and navigator Paddy Robinson struggled on the last round of the UK series being forced into retirement after a heavy impact on stage one.  However, the talented Donnelly has the potential to win outright and with title glory now looking less achievable he will be out to purely show his fellow competitors his true talent.

Stevie Brown (21) from Peterhead and navigator Andrew Roughead return to the series after missing out the Manx rally.  Brown competed on the Ulster Rally last year as part of the IE series and hopes the notes he made and experience he gained at the event last year will give him an advantage and put him in good steed for this event. 

Tom Watson (18) from Glanamman and co-driver Ken Bowman are looking to improve on their fifth placed position at the Manx Rally.  Watson has improved at every round he has competed on so far, a great achievement in his first year of rallying.  The young Welshman will look to continue this trend at the Ulster Rally and continue to show his ever-increasing talent.

Barry Greer (20) from Carryduff and navigator John Lemon return after missing the previous two rounds, the event is also Greer's local home event and will look to score well on home turf and perform for his local fans.

Harry Hunt (20) from London and navigator Kris Killip return to the series for the Ulster Rally.  Hunt is still in his first competitive year of rallying and has competed as many events as possible this year, with his times and results continually improving Hunt will want to score well on the penultimate FST event of the year.

Robert Barrable (21) from Dublin and navigator Dermot O'Gorman are also a crew to watch for the weekend.  The ex Formula Ford ace is at home on the tarmac roads and after finishing well on the FST IE rounds he will want to show up the FST UK runners and prove his pace on the tarmac.

Jamie Brown (17) from Foulsham and navigator Craig Burgess and Neil Coalter (26) from Belfast and navigator Hannah Cessford are also both competing at the event.  Brown has used this year as a learning experience and with little tarmac experience he will hope to use the event to improve his speed.  Coalter used to be a tarmac specialist and will hope to confirm his pace at the Northern Ireland event.

With the Ulster Rally seeing the IE series also in attendance, two of the regular IE crews have opted to register for the UK series and compare their pace to the regular UK runners.  Shane Buckley and navigator Thomas Maguire and Desi Henry (19) from Port Glenone and navigator John Rowan have both showed good pace in the IE series and will add extra competition and Irish interest to the already strong UK FST field.

The Kick Energy FST UK has a prize fund in excess of £18,000, with £750 for the winner of each round down to £75 for eighth place.

Current championship leader, Craig Breen, said:

"I am really looking forward to the event, the Isle of Man was a great event for me and it worked out very well for us.  The stages on this event are great and some are absolute classics.  It should be a great rally and with the night stages as well it will be a great challenge.  It will be a tough event but we need to perform as well as possible to help seal our championship