George Williams and Cadog Davies on route to victory on the Pacemaker (Joseph John GIlbertson)

The Knighton Motor Club organised Pacemaker road rally took place on the weekend of the 8th and 9th of July. Once again the 80 miles event would be the fifth round of the welsh road rally championship and would take place on OS maps 136 and 137. There would be a few club members dotted along the entry list with the first of which being Cadog Davies at 6 who again was with regular driver George Williams in George’s Mk2 Ford escort. They were hoping for a strong result and a decent number of points for the welsh championship. Next up was Stefan “DR” Davies who again had Kieran Price navigating him, they were also in a Mk2 Ford escort, and seeded at number 9. Making another appearance in the lanes at car 38 was Maurcie Leach, he was navigating for Simon Rigby in a Renault clio. He and Simon last competed on this rally twenty years ago where they finished in tenth overall, so no pressure for this year's event! 

The action started between Knighton and Clun the first section would skirt around Sowdley Wood and included two Time controls before the finish control. TC 1A was the first where competitors gained penalties and here it was George and Cadog that did best among club members with only 25 seconds of penalties gained, this put them very near the front in the overall standings and was the beginning of a tight battle among the front running crews. Sadly Stefan “DR” and Kieran’s rally would come to a premature end as they would retire with a broken coil early into the event. Simon and Maurice would achieve 1 minute and 43 seconds here. Both George and Cadog and Simon and Maurice passed through TC 1B without gaining any penalties, but at section finish 1 George and Cadog picked up 1 minute and 6 seconds and Simon and Maurice received 2 minutes and 56 seconds.  

The second section saw competitors take the lanes heading towards Bishop’s Castle via Cefn Einion. There would be another 2 Time controls before the section finish. TC 2B would be where competitors gained penalties, which was located just before the village of Cefn Einion. Here George and Cadog managed 17 seconds here at this control, ensuring that they remained well in the battle for the lead. Simon and Maurice received 1 minute and 48 seconds in their clio.

The third section of the rally was longer than the first two, and began just North of Lydham, where the route went North passed Linley Big Wood before briefly turning South and twice briefly joining the A488, before carrying on South through Bishop’s Moat and then carrying on further South through Clun Forest and then finishing just before the village of Felindre. There were seven Time controls located in the section before the section finish, and would see the front running competitors gather penalties at three of them, with the first being at TC 3B, located near Linley big Wood, which included three not as map controls. Here George and Cadog stopped the clock on exactly one minute and Simon and Maurice achieved a time of 2 minutes and 21 seconds. 

The next tight section was at TC 3E which was right at Bishop’s Moat. George and Cadog continued to set an excellent pace and were rewarded with a time of 9 seconds for their efforts. Simon and Maurice were also doing well and managed a time of 1 minute and 28 seconds here. The section finished off with another technical piece of lane for competitors as it passed Rhyd-y-Cwm. Here George and Cadog managed a very respectable time of 32 seconds. This would in fact be the last time in the rally that George and Cadog would gain a penalty in the course of the rally. Unfortunately Simon and Maurice would lose over 7 minutes in this section with a puncture which dropped them down the leaderboard a little, however they would continue to the finish. 

The fourth section of the rally began just outside of Felindre and ran South past Crossways where the route would loop around south of the B4356. From here competitors would travel East past Llangunllo on their way back to Knighton. Simon and Maurice would gather some penalties along this section on their way to the finish, with a car that spent a fair amount of time bottoming out on the bumpier sections and “white” roads along the route. Even so they got around to the finish with very respectable times.

At the finish of what had been an excellent and enjoyable rally it was declared that the winners were George Willams and Cadog Davies who took a victory of just over a minute with their total penalty of 3 minutes and 29 seconds in their escort. A great result for them and an excellent boost for their welsh championship bid with their first maximum score of the season. Simon and Maurice finished in a respectable thirty-first overall and fifth in class, having picked up two fails earlier in the event, they had a penalty count of 33 minutes and 14 seconds. The next round of the welsh road rally championship will be the Barcud road rally taking place on the 12th and 13th of August and will no doubt feature club members on the entry list.

Many thanks must go to Joseph John Gilbertson for the use of his image in this report.