Owen Rowcliffe guides Alan Gaunt through the fog for a top 10 placing on the Cambrian (Joseph John Gilbertson)

The weekend of the 3rd and 4th of February saw the Tregaron and district motor club organised Cambrian road rally take place. This rally would be the first round of Lampter’s road rally championship so featured a good number of club competitors. Starting from the Tregaron cattle market a route of some 65 miles plus a test up in Dolboilon rally stage. Among the 58 starters on the entry list were Alan Gaunt at number 11 in Alan’s Peugeot 206 GTI. Behind them at 12 was Andrew Gaunt who was navigating for Jonathan Davies in a Mk2 Ford escort. At 20 was Damian Summerfield who was out in a hired Proton Satria GTI, he had Dan Parsons navigating for him. Owain Evans was at 30 in his Peugeot 206 GTI, he had Callum James sat with him. Right behind them at 31 were Llyr Davies and Osian Jones in a Nissan Micra. Another Lampeter pair followed, with Carwyn Jones and Steffan Thomas taking the number 32 slot on Carwyn’s Proton satria GTI. Navigating in car 41 was Mathew Pryce, he sat with Arwyn Jones in Arwyn’s Subaru impreza. Sion Busson was also on navigating duties, he sat with Owain Dixon in Owain's BMW compact. They were seeded at 42

At the test it was Alan and Owen that did best among club members, setting the 8th quickest time with 5 minutes and 25 seconds. Behind them were Arwyn and Mathew who managed 5 minutes and 45 seconds which saw them twenty-third. Llyr and Osian managed the twenty-sixth best time with 5 minutes and 48 seconds. Owain and Callum were a couple of seconds behind with 5 minutes and 50 seconds which saw them thirty-second. Carwyn and Steffan achieved 5 minutes and 54 seconds which saw them thirty-fifth despite two half spins in the slippery conditions. Jonathan and Andrew got the escort around in 6 minutes and 12 seconds which saw them in thirty-eighth. Owain and Sion achieved a time of six minutes and 19 seconds which was good enough for forty-first. Rounding off club members were Damian and Dan with 6 minutes and 24 seconds which saw them forty-third. 

With the test taken care of, competitors travelled up to Teifi Pools to plot the night's route. The first section of the night would actually be the road leaving the Pools; this very tricky piece of lane was made more difficult with heavy rain showers and fog causing visibility to drop greatly,  and there would contain four passage controls in this section. It was Arwyn and Mathew that did best among club members on this section, stopping the clocks on 1 minute and 51 seconds. Behind them were Llyr and Osian on 1 minute and 53 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan achieved 1 minute and 59 seconds, Alan and Owen achieved 2 minutes and 10 seconds and Owain and Sion managed 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Jonathan and Andrew achieved 2 minutes and 53 seconds and Damian and Dan stopped the clocks on 3 minutes. Owain and Sion would have a short rally as they broke the BMWs exhaust which forced them into retirement. 

The disused mines at Rhiwlas made up the next section, the loose surface tracks giving a tight section where everyone would add to their penalty count. Best club members here were Llyr and Osian, they set an excellent time of 2 minutes and 3 seconds. Behind them on 2 minutes and 16 seconds were Alan and Owen with their time of 2 minutes and 16 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan were settling in and managed a time of 2 minutes and 20 seconds here, they were just in front of Damian and Dan with 2 minutes and 25 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew achieved 2 minutes and 31 seconds in their subaru and Jonathan and Andrew achieved 2 minutes and 46 seconds in the escort. Owain and Callum rounded off club members with 3 minutes and 5 seconds. 

Another 4 minute section between Lledrod and Wenallt followed. Carwyn and Steffan pushed hard through here and managed to finish the section penalty free, great going by them. Alan and Owen were also going very well and achieved a time of 10 seconds here. Arwyn and Mathew followed on 14 seconds and then it was Llyr and Osian with 15. Jonathan and Andrew managed 19 seconds and Damian and Dan managed 26 seconds. Owain and Callum achieved 45 seconds. From here the route went North-West out of Lledrod before slotting left at Rhosgoch. Then it was a right turn at the give way where the section finished just before entering the village of Llangwyryfon. There were two Time controls in this section, TIme control 9 midway through the section, and Section finish 10. Everyone managed to get through Time control 9 without difficulties but section finish 10 would see them add to their times. Alan and Owen did best among club members here with a minute of penalties gained. After them it was Llyr and Osian who managed 1 minute and 10 seconds, and right behind them it was Owain and Callum that had 1 minute and 11. Carwyn and Steffan managed 1 minute and 20 seconds and then it was Jonathan and Andrew with 1 minute and 32 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew stopped the clocks on 1 minute and 45 seconds and Damian and Dan followed with 2 minutes and 6 seconds. 

The next section of the event was the longest of the night, starting just outside of Llangwyryfon and went through Rhydroser before going down through Blaenpennal to the section finish. Time controls 13 and Section finish 15 is where competitors gained penalties, with Alan and Owen achieving 40 seconds at Time control 13 and 1 minute 51 at section finish 15. Jonathan and Andrew achieved 1 minute 30 seconds and 1 minute 31 seconds, and Damian and Dan achieved 49 seconds and 3 minutes and 11 seconds. Owain and Callum managed 2 minutes and 24 seconds at Time control 13 and 1 minute 32 seconds at section finish 15. Llyr and Osian did very well at Time control 13, achieving an excellent time of only 15 seconds here, they also managed 1 minute and 42 seconds at the section finish. Carwyn and Steffan managed 49 seconds at the Time control and 2 minutes and 2 seconds at the section finish. Arwyn and Mathew managed 1 minute and 19 seconds at Time control 13 and 2 minutes and 1 seconds at section finish 15. 

Another short section followed with the route heading North from Bronant to Lledrod. Here Carwyn and Steffan did best among club members with an excellent time of 41 seconds. Behind them were Alan and Owen with 50. LLyr and Osian were still going well with 54 seconds, and then it was Damian and Dan with 1 minute and 6 seconds. Jonathan and Andrew managed 1 minute and 12 seconds 1 minute and 12 seconds and just behind them were Arwyn and Mathew with 1 minute 17. Owain and Callum rounded off club members with 1 minute and 32 seconds. 

The final section of the rally was another long one with competition beginning South of Bronant again before again heading North towards Lledrod, this time to the Eastern side of the A485, before turning right and going down to Swyddfynnon. By now the fog was finally beginning to lift, and finally visibility improved. There were three Time controls located on this section, with Time control 20 being the one that saw competitors gain penalties. Llyr and Osian were the best club members here as they gained 30 seconds of penalties. They were followed by Alan and Owen who achieved 45 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan also did well and gained 1 minute here, then it was Arwyn and Mathew that has 1 minute and 28 seconds. Both Damian and Dan and Owain and Callum tied on 1 minute and 35 seconds. Jonathan and Andrew finished their night with 1 minute and 31 seconds.

Over to Pontrhydfendigaid for the results and after a very challenging event where the weather made conditions made life difficult for the competitors, organisers and marshalls it was Alan Gaunt and Owen Rocliffe that did best among club members, finishing in a very respectable ninth overall with a penalty count of 14 minutes and 48 seconds. Finishing in twelfth overall and winning the semi-expert class in the process were Carwyn Jones and Steffan Thomas, their penalty count was 16 minutes and 5 seconds. Llyr Davies and Osian Jones were next, finishing in a very respectable fourteenth overall with 16 minutes and 30 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew also made it into the top twenty in eighteenth overall on 18 minutes and 11 seconds. Jonathan Davies and Andrew Gaunt just missed out on a top twenty placing, finishing in twenty-first overall with 19 minutes and 46 seconds. Owain Evans and Callum James ended their rally in twenty-fourth overall with 20 minutes and 11 seconds. Damian Summerfield and Dan parsons achieved 27th with 23 minutes and 11 seconds. The next round of Lampeter and district motor club’s road rally championship is the club’s own rally, the Bro Caron, taking place on the 2nd and 3rd of March.

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