Mark Kelly and Dafydd Evans on their way to a first victory on the stages together (Aneurin James)
Another couple of busy weeks have occurred for members of Lampeter and district motor club, with two tarmac rallies taking place. The first of which took part at the Pembrey circuit, where on the 23rd of July, Carmarthen motor club held the Fairfield Merlin stages. This six stage event using roads on and around the race circuit gave competitors some 35 miles of action.
First members down on the entry list were Jonathan Davies and Owen Rowcliffe at 17 in Jonathan’s Peugeot 206 GTI, at 32 was Kevin Davies who was out once again in his Peugeot 207, he would again have Sion Rowlands on navigation duties. Not far behind him was Keith Daniels in his vauxhall corsa. He would have Rhys Williams reading the notes.
Jonathan and Owen got off to an excellent start as they found themselves in the top ten at the end of the first stage with tenth fastest time on 8 minutes and 30 seconds, being the road rally class leader at the same time. Both Kevin and Sion and Keith and Rhys set the same time of 9 minutes and 22 seconds, so they tied for forty-fourth overall.
On the second stage Jonathan and Owen dropped down the leaderboard a little but still set a very respectable time of 8 minutes and 12 seconds which was good enough for twenty-second overall. Keith and Rhys climbed a little and set the thirty-eighth fastest time of this stage with a time of 8 minutes and 30 seconds, and Kevin and Sion were right behind them in thirty-ninth quickest with 8 minutes and 32 seconds.
For the third stage it was Keith and Sion that set the standard among club entrants with a time of 8 minutes and 17 seconds, which was good enough for joint twenty-fourth overall. Keith and Rhys were joint thirty-fourth with a time of 8 minutes and 26 seconds. Jonathan and Owen had problems so were fifty-second on this stage with a time of 9 minutes and 57 seconds.
All club members continued to press on and set some very respectable times for the remaining stages of the event, with the little corsa of Keith and Rhys breaking into the top twenty on the fourth stage. At the end of a very enjoyable event it was Keith Daniels and Rhys Williams that did best among club entrants as they finished in a very respectable twenty-third overall with a total time of 51 minutes and 38 seconds. They finished second in the up to 1400cc class. Jonathan Davies and Owen Rowcliffe finished in twenty-seventh overall with a total time of 52 minutes and 19 seconds, they won the class for road rally cars. Kevin Davies and Sion Rowlands finished in thirty-fifth with a time of 55 minutes and 59 seconds. They finished fourth in class.
On the 30th of July Port Talbot motor club held the Tour of Epynt rally, an event of approximately 70 miles and seven stages over the famous military training venue that always attracts a strong entry with competitors from all over wishing to compete over the famous tarmac. The stages would vary in length from around 3 miles up to over 13 miles in length, and would be made up of an interclub rally for modern specification vehicles as well as a national category for historic specification vehicles.
Among the entrants were a small handful of club members, with the first being Dafydd Evans, who was navigating in car 1, an R5 specification Skoda Fabia for Mark Kelly. Right behind them at 2 were Malcolm “tar” Jones and Rhys Jones who were again giving the Darrian T90 GTR a run. His brother Wayne was at 6 in his own Darrain T90 GTR, he had Gwynfor Jones with him for this event. At 32 was Emyr Morgan in his Mitsubishi Evo 10, he had Paul Jones with him on navigating duties. Kevin Davies was out again in his Peugeot 207, and again with Sion Rowlands in the passenger seat. They were seeded at 64. In the national category at 107 was Tomas Davies in his Mk2 ford escort, he had Eurig Davies sat with him.
It would be a very short rally for the tar brothers sadly, with both Darrians retiring on the first stage, with Malcolm’s example developing a misfire on the engine and Wayne’s example developing gearbox issues. For everyone else the event would continue with the added challenge of mixed weather conditions, with rain falling heavily between some of the stages.
Mark and Dafydd got off to an excellent start as they set the fastest time of the opening stage, opening up a 17 second lead straight away. Tomas and Eurig also got off to a great start with twelfth quickest in their historic specification car, Emyr and Paul tied on joint twenty-ninth overall on the opening stage and Kevin and Sion managed fifty-seventh.
On the following stages Mark and Dafydd would continue to build their lead by going 4 seconds faster than anyone else on the second stage and an impressive 28 seconds quicker on the third. Tomas and Eurig would break into the top ten on the second stage with ninth quickest time and come very close to the top ten on the following stage with joint eleventh on the third. Emyr and Paul would be twenty-sixth on the second stage and twenty-third on the following stage. Kevin and Sion managed to climb a little with the fiftieth fastest time on both stages 2 and 3.
Mark and Dafydd would extend their lead by a further 6 seconds on the fourth stage, and Tomas and Eurig drop down a little but still remained well inside the top twenty with sixteenth overall here. Emyr and Paul were setting some very consistent times and were twenty-fourth quickest over this stage. Kevin and Sion would be sixty-second on this stage.
The rain fell heavily on the fifth stage, but luckily Mark and Dafydd were on wet tyres, they decided to really push on this stage and were rewarded with a time 26 seconds quicker than everyone, giving them a comfortable lead of over a minute and twenty seconds. With such a healthy lead they decided to play it safe for the remaining two stages and backed off a little to save the car. Even so they would still set the fastest time on the sixth stage as well as second fastest on the seventh and final stage.
Tomas and Eurig would continue to have a strong event and manage more top ten positions, with eighth fastest on the fifth and seventh stages as well as tenth on the sixth so they would also get a strong result at the end of the day. The rally would sadly end on stage six for Emyr Morgan and Paul Jones and Mitsubishi evo would retire, a great shame as they were doing well and only had one stage left. Kevin and Sion would continue to climb up the leaderboard with the forty-third quickest time on stage 5, and then thirty-fifth fastest on stage six. They would break into the top thirty on the last stage with the twenty-ninth best time, ending a successful day for them.
Come the finish of what had been an enjoyable but tricky day it was of no surprise that the event winners were Mark Kelly and Dafydd Evans who dominated the day with fastest time on all but one of the stages, their winning margin ended up an impressive 1 minute and 47 seconds. It would be the first tarmac rally win for both crews. Tomas and Eurig Davies managed a very respectable ninth overall in their escort after setting some great times so a successful day on the ranges for them. Kevin and Sion managed thirty-seventh in their peugeot, a great result for them, especially with their times on the later stages.
Thanks must go to Aneurin James for the use of his image in this report.