HEREFORDSHIRE co-driver Keaton Williams will make a welcome return to the World Rally Car championship in Rally Latvia when he accompanies Brandon Semenyuk in a privately entered Toyota Yaris Rally 2.

The current American Rally Association (ARA) championship leaders will switch from their usual Subaru USA Impreza for the event.

The idea is for the Canadian to go to Europe is to enhance his experience and speed to further his ARA campaign.

The Liepaja event is new to world rallying's top table so it offers a more level playing field in the Rally 2 category.

"This is something I've thought about for a while it's going to be very different to what I'm used to, it's a new event to everyone so a little bit more of a level playing field," said Semenyuk 

The duo are chasing a third consecutive ARA title and going to Latvia is about further development for Semenyuk and refine his skills.

"It's really cool to continue my skills as a driver,” he added. “I’d like to set some competitive times and show some pace as the event goes on, but it's really about gaining experience".

For the vastly experienced Williams it is a return to the WRC after sitting next to Takamoto Katsuta in the factory Toyota Yaris Rally 1 car and Josh McErlean in the Hyundai i20 Rally 2 machine.

"It's really exciting to be going to Latvia, it's something Brandon's wanted to do but we are under no illusion it's not going to be easy but were really looking forward to it," added Williams. 

The duo have just taken yet another ARA win on the recent Southern Ohio Forest Rally

The event was the most technical in the calendar with very technical loose stages with no room for error.

The opening stage was a spectacular street super-special stage on the Friday evening.

Day two did not start well with the Red Bull & Subaru USA Impreza overheating plus excessive tyre wear, so it was a case of game management heading into service.

The afternoon stages were much cleaner and with fastest on all of the afternoon tests they held a one minute and 26 second lead over teammate Travis Pastrana going into the third day.

There was drama on the final loop when they missed their braking point into a corner and they ran wide causing a little minor damage.

Pastrana could not capitalise as he went off also at the same place spinning backwards into the trees and allowing Semenyuk and Williams to clinch another victory by just under two minutes.