LDMC members shine throughout September

 

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Robert Walters/Dafydd Evans drift to 5th O/a and the class 2 victory on the Ystwyth - Photo courtesy of KRB Photography

     September saw club members produce some fine performances on several events throughout the month. Five events made for a hectic schedule with two events included in the WAMC Road Rally Championship just a fortnight apart.

     The Twilight rally based in South Wales and the Rali Meirion in North Wales would gets Septembers’ road rallying underway. An early start for the twenty two entered crews tackling the Twighlight Rally would see them compete at the Caerwent military base and some forest roads during the day before a further eighty or so miles held in the early hours of the morning. Top LDMC seeds were Stefan Davies and Rhodri Morgan hoping to take a step further up the podium after finishing second overall on last years event. The crews rally came to an early end however when they had to retire after the day section of the rally due to problems with the carbs whilst leading the event. Gareth Hughes and Andrew Gaunt were also competing and they brought their Ford Escort Mk2 home in a brilliant 3rd overall.

 

     Three LDMC members made the trip up to the Porthmadog for the Rali Meirion with Dan “Lwni” Jones hoping to keep his championship campaign on track. Also competing on the event was Kevin Davies in his Escort Mk2 and Dafydd Evans navigating for Rhys Roberts in an MG ZR. As the crews reached the petrol halt less than a minute separated the rally leaders to the crew laying in 13th O/a. Kevin Davies was the best placed LDMC member in 10th O/a closely followed by fellow member Dan “Lwni” in 11th, just four seconds adrift. Dafydd Evans navigating for Rhys Roberts held 24th O/a and 3rd in the semi-experts class. As the crews reached the finish, both LDMC Escort members had managed to move up the leader board. Kevin Davies managed to claw himself back up the roster to finish 4th O/a and 3rd in the experts class whilst Dan “Lwni” had jumped up to 7th O/a at the finish collecting more valuable championship points. Dafydd Evans maintained his 24th O/a position from petrol with Rhys Roberts in the MG but moved up one place in their class and finished second in the semi experts class.

     The Ystwyth rally in Sweet Lamb would see a strong showing by the club as four cars with LDMC members occupied the top 10 at the finish. Highest placed member would be Dale Furniss when he guided Mike Roberts to the overall victory on the event with a winning margin of twenty seconds in an Escort Mk2 adding to Furniss' ever growing list of outright victories. Best LDMC crew on the event was Robert Walters and Dafydd Evans when they finished 5th O/a and took the class 2 victory in a CP Motorsport hired Escort Mk2. The crew had narrowly missed out on the overall victory when another competitor driving slowly back to the finish after rolling during the final  test slowed the crew and lost them valuable time. Just behind in 6th O/a and 2nd in class 2 was Andy Davies in the Subaru Impreza who was joint on times with Walters/Evans but missed out on the tie breaker situation with Walters/Evans being quicker on the first special test. Rounding out the top 10 was Gethin Dafis and Arfon Griffiths in another Subaru Impreza while Abi Carrington finished 23rd O/a navigating for Rhydian Morgan in a Peugeot 205. Chris Palmer was unluckily propping up the leader board at the end of the days competition. Palmer, along with navigator Carwyn Evans would have been joint leaders after the opening test had they not acquired a fail. The pairing went out on the rest of the event to enjoy the gravel tests as a good result was not possible due to the fail picked up on the opening test. Amongst the retirements were Dafydd Evans/George Eadon with a cracked rear axle, Marc Mayes in his Corsa with a borken ball joint and Jason Thomas/Owen Rose with a borken driveshaft in their Nova.

     Dan “Lwni” Jones managed to keep the WAMC championship within his sights at the Rali Mon when he finished an impressive second overall on the event. Jones, with Graham Dance alongside on the maps had been leading at the petrol halt and were locked in a three-way battle with their championship rivals Gethin Morgan and Meirion Evans. Jones would be pipped to the post by Morgan as he clinched victory by just fourteen seconds. Phil Evans also made the long journey up North in his Ford Escort Mk1 and finish a respectable 6th O/a in a top 10 occupied by nine Ford Escorts. Marc Hughes, navigating for Richard Williams in a Vauxhall Nova, finished the event 30th O/a even after picking up a fail during the second half. Dafydd Evans would again be navigating for Rhys Roberts in his MG ZR and had been lying 34th O/a and third in the semi experts class at the halfway petrol. Unfortunately a fail picked up during the second half saw the pair still finish in 32nd O/a but drop to eighth in the semi experts class.

     The Tysul Novice rally would see Ieuan “Pantsod” Evans and Jason Thomas finished the highest placed LDMC members on the event when they finished 6th O/a. The rally wasn’t to be without it’s dramas however and the crew did encounter a slight excursion into a hedge on a white but were fortunate to be able to continue. Rhydian Thomas and Tim Evans were also competing on the rally in a 306 Gti-6. Having to cut route to prevent from going OTL would see the crew pick up several fails and finish down in 50th O/a.