Stefan "Dr" Davies and Kieran Price setting the standard as they claim victory on the Barcud (Aneurin James)

The weekend of the 12 and 13th of August saw Barcud motor club hold their Barcud rally. This rally would consist of some 80 miles of competition starting from Tregaron on OS maps 135 and 146 and would be the sixth round of the welsh road rally championship. Naturally with it being close to home a fair number of Lampeter and district members entered. 

First up at car 1 was Cadog Davies who was with regular driver George Williams, they would again be in George’s Mk2 Ford escort and hoping for a repeat performance of their recent success on the Pacemaker. At 6 was Stefan “Dr” Davies in his Mk2 Ford escort, he again would have Kieran Price on the maps and were hoping for better luck on this rally after their last couple of attempts ending in DNF’s. At 19 was Alan Gaunt in his Peugeot 206, he had partnered with Hefin Jenkins for this event. Declan Mason was a couple of places further back at 21 in another Mk2 Ford escort, he would have Ryan Griffiths guiding him around the route here. At 23 and making his first appearance in the lanes for a little time was James Davies who would be with Owen Rowcliffe for this rally, they would be using a Proton Satria GTI. At 44 were Osian Lloyd Jones and Llyr Davies in Osian’s Nissan micra, hoping for a strong result on this local event. Lewis Jenkins was navigating for Jamie Haynes at 63, they were using a Vauxhall corsa. They were followed by Owain Evans at 64 in his Peugeot 206 GTI, he would be with Gwern Thomas for this event. Evan Justin Jones was right behind them at 65 in his Mk1 Ford escort, he had Jac Davies on the maps. At 67 were Arthur Jones and Debbie Evans in Arthur’s Ford fiesta ST. Sion Busson was at 71 in his Ford fiesta, he had Ryan Dabner navigating for him again. Carwyn Jones and Steffan Thomas were at 76 in a Proton compact and at 82 were Arfon Jones and Mathew Pryce in a Subaru impreza. Rounding off club members at 83 was Osian Davies in a Peugeot 206 GTI, he had Conor Wilson on the maps.

With signing on done there would first be a test at Pencefn Feeds Ltd Just outside of the town for competitors to tackle. Sadly this is where James and Owen’s rally would end as one of the Protons shafts would break on the start line of the test, forcing them into immediate retirement. Stefan and Kieran would do best among club members as they set the second best time of 6 minutes and 42 seconds. George and Cadog were fifth best with 6 minutes and 55 seconds, and then it was Osian and Llyr with 7 minutes and 36 seconds. Alan and Hefin were a second off them on 7 minutes and 37 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan were next in the proton with a time of 8 minutes and 8 seconds. Jamie and Lewis followed them with 8 minutes and 19 seconds in their Vauxhall, and then it was Arthur and Debbie on 8 minutes and 30 seconds. Owain and Gwern followed them in 8 minutes and 32 seconds. Arfon and Mathew achieved a time of 9 minutes and 20 seconds and they were followed by Evan Justin and Jac, who whilst setting a time of 8 minutes and 23 seconds had a fault on the test, so a minute was added to their time and they ended up with 9 minutes and 23 seconds. Sion and Ryan were another with faults, so 2 minutes were added to their time and they ended up with 10 minutes and 18 seconds. Osian and Conor also had faults so their time was 13 minutes and 51 seconds. It would sadly be an early night for Declan and Ryan who would retire at the beginning of the event. 

With the test complete competitors would then go off and plot the night's route. The first section would take place on Garth farm before heading down the B4343 to Llanfair Clydogau. Most competitors passed through this section without gaining any penalties. Then competitors turned left onto the yellow road towards Glanrhyd. From here it was over the Ffarmers mountain road where TC4S was located, there would be six not as map sections in this section, resulting in everyone gaining penalties. Doing best among club members on this section were George and Cadof who stopped the clocks on 1 minute and 30 seconds and again put themselves into a battle for the rally lead. Next best were Steffan and Kieran with 1 minute and 41 seconds. Alan and Hefin were next with 2 minutes and 22 seconds. Sion and Ryan did well here in novice class and achieved a respectable 2 minutes and 55 seconds, Arfon and Mathew followed them on 3 minutes and 11 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan stopped the clock on 4 minutes and 13 seconds, and then it was Evan Justin and Jac with 5 minutes and 16 seconds and Owain and Gwern managed 5 minutes and 54 seconds. Following them were Jamie and Lewis with 6 minutes and 46 seconds and rounding off club members were Osian and Llyr who had troubles and therefore had a time of 15 minutes and 56 seconds. Sadly the list of retirements grew with both Arthur and Debbie plus Osian and Conor joining a growing list of retirements.

Time control 5 was located at the bottom of the mountain road and then competitors would turn right into the tarmac white which would be another tight section, with time control 6 would be located here on the Sarn Helen roman road. Stefan and Keiran were charging here and were awarded with a time of 31 seconds for their efforts, putting them into the lead of the event.  George and Cadog followed on 46 seconds. Osian and Llyr were now trying to claw back time and managed a very respectable 1 minute and 20 seconds here. Alan and Hefin also managed a respectable time with 1 minute and 30 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan were now battling for the novice class lead with 1 minute and 41 seconds in their Proton. Arfon and Mathew were now into the rhythm and managed 1 minute and 55 seconds. Owain and Gwern followed them on 2 minutes and 7 seconds. Then it was Jamie and Lewis on 2 minutes and 12 seconds and not far off on 2 minutes and 16 were Sion and Ryan on 2 minutes and 12 seconds. Evan Justin and Jac were another crew with troubles and managed 10 minutes and 12 seconds.

From here the route then went back through Llanfair Clydogau and up through Olmarch where there would be another tight section at Time control 8S. Here again it would be Steffan and Kieran that did best with 40 seconds gained. This would in fact be the best overall time at this clock. The section would finish just before Comins Capel Betws. At this point Stefan and Kieran held a 10 seconds lead in the rally, with a total time of 9 minutes and 34 seconds. George and Cadog were next in third overall, they had a penalty count of 9 minutes and 58 seconds. Alan and Hefin were third among club entrants in sixteenth overall with 12 minutes and 52 seconds. 

The next section of the event began just North of Llangeitho with a short loop on the lanes outside of the village before competitors joined the B4342 briefly as they passed through Bwlch-Llan. Time control 12S was located here between the villages, and again would see competitors gain penalties. Best among club members were George and Cadog with 1 minute and 6 seconds. Hot on their heels were Steffan and Kieran with 1 minute and 9 seconds. Doing very well here were Carwyn and Steffan as they set an excellent time of 1 minute and 27 seconds. Alan and Hefin followed them on 1 minute and 50 seconds, and then it was Sion and Ryan with 1 minute and 53 seconds. Owain and Gwern were also right behind them on 1 minute and 56 seconds. Jamie and Lewis managed 2 minutes and 29 seconds. Saldy there would be more retirements, with Osian and Llyr and Arfon and Mathew both retiring, Arfon retiring with an overheating engine in their Subaru. Evan Justin and Jac would have a troubled night and would go over time limit at the final Main control, so they would also not feature on the results sheet.

From here it was through Llundain-Fach and through the well known ford at Trefilan before crossing the B4337 towards Cilcennin, before then turning right and having the section finish on the give way back on the B road. Time control 14S was located at the finish of this section, and here Stefan and Kieran were once again pushing hard, setting a time that few could get close to, with 1 minute and 25 seconds gained. George and Cadog were next best among club entrants, with 2 minutes and 27 seconds. They were followed by Sion and Ryan with 3 minutes and 21 seconds. After this it was a close battle between car 64 Owain and Gwern, and 76, Carwyn and Steffan, with Carwyn and Steffan just getting the better time with 3 minutes and 38 over Owian and Gwern’s 3 minutes and 39. Jamie and Lewis managed 3 minutes and 44 seconds, and Alan and Hefin rounded things off with 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

A short section just outside of Bethania and Penuwch followed before the route crossed over to map 135. The next section would begin to the east of Rhydroser before moving down into Trefenter. Time control 20S was on this section of road, and here once again Stefan and Kieran were the pace setters with only 4 seconds gained. George and Cadog once again followed them on 19 seconds, and then it was Alan and Hefin who managed a time of 51 seconds, and they were the only club entrants under the minute mark. 

The final couple of sections of the rally saw competitors loop around Bontnewydd and very briefly back onto map 146 before again heading north back onto map 135. There would be two more sections between Bronant and Lledrod with the first being to the West of the A485 and then a section to the East followed. Time control 30S would be the final one of the night and would be the last one where penalties were gained for competitors. Stefan and Kieran rounded off an excellent night by setting the pace again, with 1 minute and 33 seconds gained, George and Cadog would be a further 10 back on 1 minute and 43 seconds. Then it would be Carwyn and Steffan on 2 minutes and 33 seconds. Jamie and Lewis achieved 2 minutes and 35 seconds, and Alan and Hefin managed 2 minutes and 48 seconds. Owain and Gwern had 3 minutes and 34 seconds. Sion and Ryan missed the last few controls so they would not gain time here but would pick up penalties for not passing through controls.

With a tough but enjoyable night complete it was back to Tregaron for the finish, and it was no surprise to see that the event winners were car 6, Stefan “Dr” Davies and Kieran Price that had an excellent run pulled out a comfortable victory, turning their recent run of bad luck on its head in the process. They had a penalty count of 16 minutes at the end. A well deserved result for them. George Williams and Cadog Davies would be next as they finished in third overall, they had a penalty count of 18 minutes and 10 seconds. Alan Gaunt and Hefin Davies would finish in a very respectable fourteenth overall with 27 minutes and 35 seconds. Carwyn Jones and Steffan Thomas finished in an excellent twenty-ninth overall with a count of  37 minutes and 21 seconds, they would win the novice class in the process. Jamie Haynes and Lewis Jenkins finished in thirty second overall. Their penalty count was 46 minutes and 25 seconds. Sion Busson and Ryan Dabner finished forty-ninth with 153 minutes and 7 seconds, they also had 8 fails. Owain Evans and Gwern Thomas finished in fifty-second with 59 minutes and 1 second, and they also had 19 fails. 

Thanks must go to Aneurin James for the use of his image.