Andy davies and Michael GIlbey charging to a second overall finish on the Cilwendeg (Joseph John Gilbertson)

The weekend of the 21st and 22nd of October saw the eighth round of the welsh road rally championship take place, with Teifi valley motor clubs incredibly famous Cilwendeg once again running in the Newcastle Emlyn area. As per usual the mart car park in Newcastle Emlyn provided the start venue for the 90 cars entered, which included members of Lampter and district motor club. First up at car 3 was Dafydd Evans who would once again sat with Ieuan Evans in Ieuans’ Immaculately prepared Mk2 Ford escort. At 4 was Cadog Davies who would be with regular driver George Williams in George’s Mk2 Ford escort. He and George are locked in a battle for Welsh championship honours and were looking for a strong result here. Behind them at 5 was Andy Davies in his regular Subaru impreza, IDZ. He would again have Michael Gilbey on the map. Marc Hughes was once again on navigational duties, originally entered with Gethin Morgan a last minute change of driver was carried out and he ended up with Lewis Morgan in Lewis’ Mk2 Ford escort. They were seeded at 13 and hoping for similar times that they had set on the Bro caron earlier this year. At 17 was Arwel Evans in his Mk2 Ford escort, he would be with Ryan Griffiths for this event. Navigating at 27 was Arfon Griffiths who was sat in Tomos Evans’ Mk2 ford escort. The Escort is still clearly a very popular car among drivers.  At 48 were Sam Woodcock and Owen Rowcliffe in Sam’s Subaru impreza, they were aiming for a finish and a lot of fun along the way. Osian Jones and Lewis Jenkins took number 66 in Osian’s Nissan micra, and navigating in the car behind them and rounding off club members was Geroge Eadon who was out with Thomas Jones in Thomas’ Peugeot 206. 

With signing on complete and the route put on the maps it was off into the lanes for 110 miles of action. The first section began just to the south of Newcastle Emlyn and Crymych and included a number of spectator points, including the famous San Remo for the hundreds that gathered at the start. This first section of route wasn't too tight and was mainly laid on to give the fans somewhere safe to watch the rally, a sign of great organising by the team. 

The first tight section of the night was from Time Control 1 to Time control 2. Here the route would turn right before looping around to the left just outside of Capel Capel Iwan. Here it was Ieuan and Dafydd that did best among club entrants with 15 seconds of penalties, Arwel and Ryan were next with 24. George and Cago were 5 seconds further back on 29 seconds, then it was Andy and Michael with 33 seconds. Osian and Lewis managed 44 seconds, and following them were Sam and Owen with 50 seconds, Thomas and George rounded off club members with 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Sadly it was to be a short event for Lewis and Marc and Tomos and Arfon as they would both retire in the first half of the event. 

From here the route passed Gors farm and turned right, using the grass triangle where a passage control was located, before passing Cwmgelli farm and then using the cattle track at Black oak. Time control 3 was located just beforeTanglwst, and here some of the front runners, including both Geroge and Cadog and Andy and Michael managed to complete this section without gathering any penalties, however others would add to their penalty count, including Ieuan and Dafydd who picked up 27 seconds, Arwel and Ryan had 3 minutes, Sam and Owen achieved 9 seconds, Osian and Lewis went 2 better with 7 seconds, and Thoas and George managed 18. Time control 4 was located in Cwmorgan and didn’t trouble the majority of the competitors, however Timce control 5 at Cwmcych was a lot tighter, and everyone would drop time here. Ieuan and Dafydd were really on the pace here and stopped the clocks on 40 seconds. They were followed by George and Cadog on 58 seconds. Andy and Michael came next with 1 minute and 5 seconds, then it was Arwel and Ryan on 1 minute and 10. Osian and Lewis were doing well with 1 minute and 26 seconds and Thomas and George managed 1 minute 35. Sam and Owen achieved 1 minute 48 seconds. 

Competitors would then travel south past Cilrhedyn. After passing through here competitors would turn right into a cattle track that would pass through a number of fields before turning right at the give way down to Time control 7. This section would be timed to the minute and two club members, George and Cadog plus Andy and Michael would manage to complete this section penalty free, where most would pick up a minute or two. George and Cadog would briefly hold the lead of the rally after this section, but they would not hold onto it long as the next section coming into the section finish included three not as map triangles, one of which they would overshoot, giving them a penalty of 47 seconds here. Ieuan and Dafydd managed 19 seconds here, and Andy and Michael were on 23 seconds. Arwel and Ryan were on 40 seconds, and Sam and Owen achieved 45 seconds. Osian and Lewis achieved a time of 51 seconds, but safely Thomas and George’s rally would come to an end here with the gear linkage on their Peugeot breaking. 

The second section would see competitors travel further to the south, and would include using the tracks at Pantglas farm as well as a couple of other triangles. Ieuan and Dafydd were again the pace setters as they only picked up 10 seconds here, Andy and Michael were also going well in the Subaru with 19 seconds of penalties here. Both Osian and Lewis and Sam and Owen achieved 24 seconds here, and behind them it was Arwel and Ryan who managed 30 seconds. George and Cadog wwe once second behind with 31 seconds. 

The next section would head north up to Rhydowen where a difficult slot harpin left that had a blind approach was negotiated by competitors before entering the village. Time control 10 was here but most passed through without too much of a challenge, the section coming into the section finish was much tighter though, heading north to finish just before joining the A478 this section involved travelling over some very tight lanes with no room for error for any of the competitors. Ieuan and Dafydd were again the pace setters among club members with 35 seconds here, and Arwel and Ryan were next with 47 seconds. Andy and Michael followed them on 48 seconds. Sam and Owen were next with 1 minute and 13 seconds. George and Cadog achieved 1 minute and 24 seconds then Osian and Lewis managed 2 minutes and 43 seconds. 

A petrol halt at Glandy cross followed and as things stood it was Andy and Michael that were doing best among club entrants, as they currently held onto third overall with a penalty count of 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Ieuan and Dafydd were currently in fourth with 3 minutes and 26 seconds. George and Cadog were eighth with a penalty count of 4 minutes and 11 seconds, and behind them were Sam and OWen who were in nineteenth with 6 minutes and 9 seconds. Arwel and Ryan were in twenty-sixth having picked up 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Osian and Lewis were in forty-fourth with 9 minutes and 25 seconds. 

The first section of the second half began with a short section just to the south of Mynachlog ddu and finished just after Waun Cleddau. Ieuan and Dafydd managed to complete this section without gathering any penalties here, and George and Cadog achieved 5 seconds here, and Andy and Michael managed 6. Arwel and Ryan had 19 seconds over this piece of road, and Osian and Lewis managed 37 seconds. Sam and Owen had an eventful second half, as they were later seen carrying some minor body damage and a scraping exhaust after an incident, they would later retire from the event.

The fourth section of the rally would be 25 miles in length, with seven Time controls before the finish one. It would begin to the east of Llanfyrnach and head north past Rhos-y-Llyn before turning left at Llwyndrain and then passing Pantralltcych. From here they would turn left and head up to Lancych before slotting left at another spectator point. They would then loop around the maize of lanes down over Cwm Cneifa where they would slot right into a track. Time control 15 would be at the end of this track and would see competitors add to their tally. Andy and Michael were dominant over this section and picked up only 26 seconds of penalties. George and Cadog were next best among club entrants with 44 seconds. Arwel and Ryan managed 1 minute 19 seconds here and then it was Osian and Lewis with 1 minute and 25 seconds. Ieuan and Dafydd rounded off club members on 1 minute and 37 seconds. 

The route would then head south past Frenni fach before another spectator point where competitors slotted right at a harpin right bend, before heading back north. There would be another section of track for competitors to travel over near Cwmblaen. Following this they would arrive at Time control 17. Here Ieuan and Dafydd and Andy and Michael tied on 32 seconds. Arwel and Ryan managed 47 seconds here and right behind them on 48 were George and Cadog. Sadly it would be the end of Osian and Lewis’ rally here as they shared the bottom arm on their Nissan here. The route continued north past Newchapel and the section came to a finish just before Llechryd. 

The route would cross over to the northern half of the map here for the final couple of sections and would feature some classic Cilwendeg sections to round off the night. The fifth section began at Llandygwydd, and would go through Neuadd Cross, Brongwyn and Bryngwyn. Time control 20 was on the white at Beddgeraint, a handful of competitors, including Ieuan and Dafydd, and Andy and Michael passed through this control without picking up penalties, and most others only gained a small handful of seconds. Section finish 5 was at Brithdir and here again it was Andy and Michael that did best among the club entrants, with 27 seconds of penalties gained here. Following them were George and Cadog with 34 seconds. Arwel and Ryan managed 40 seconds here and then it was Ieuan and Dafydd with 55 seconds. 

The final section of the rally began to the south of Rhydlewis and would pass by Dolgian and Cwmsilltyn. Time control 21 was at Dolgain but didn’t see the front runners adding to their penalty count, so it was on to the section finish which provided the last tight section of the night. Sadly it wasn't to be Ieuan and Dafydd’s night as they picked up 6 minutes and 45 seconds of penalties here, dropping them down the leaderboard somewhat. Andy and Michael ended their night with another strong performance and stopped the clock on 1 minute and 51 seconds. George and Cadog were just behind on 1 minute 54, and Arwel and Ryan had 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

Back at the finish in Newcastle Emlyn on what had been an excellent event it was Andy Davies and Michael GIlbey that had done best among the club entrants, finishing in an excellent second overall with a penalty count of 6 minutes and 33 seconds. George Williams and Cadog Davies finished in fourth overall with 8 minutes and 30 seconds. Ieuan Evans and Dafydd Evans finished in fifteenth overall with 13 minutes and 16 seconds. Arwel Evans and Ryan Griffiths finished in eighteenth overall with their penalty count of 14 minutes and 4 seconds. The final round of the welsh road rally championship is the Powys Lanes which takes place on the 11th and 12th of November and will no doubt feature club members on the entry list

Thanks must go to Joseph John GIlbertson for the use of his image in this report.