Dafydd Evans on the notes as Gareth Edwards slides the Darrian around to a top twenty result on the Tour of Epynt (Aneurin James)

The weekend of the 25th and 26th of July would see the ever popular Tour of Epynt rally take place over the infamous Epynt military ranges. This Port Talbot motor club organised event would see eight stages of competition split over two days, with the first taking place just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon, with a further four beginning on the Sunday morning, and would give around 80 miles of competition. 

There would be a small handful of club members present, with a couple making their debut on the ranges. First on the list would be Glyn Jones who would be out for the first time this year in his R5 specification Ford fiesta, he would be getting in some miles in preparation for the up and coming Rali Ceredigion. He would have Dylan Rhys James on the notes, and they would be seeded at 21. At 24 would be Gareth Edwards and Dafydd Evans fresh off their excellent Barcud result, they would be using Gareth’s Darrian T90 GTR+ here. Making their Epynt debut would be Arwyn Jones and Mathew Pryce in their road rally specification Mk2 Ford escort, they would be hoping for better luck than what they had on the Barcud. They were seeded at 37. Dorian Evans would once again be sitting with Hywel Davies, they would be at 64 in Hywel’s historic specification Mk2 Ford escort. At 74 would be Jonathan Davies and Owen Rowcliffe in Jonathan’s Peugeot 207. Down at 101 Would be Jac Jones and Marc Hughes in Jac’s Talbot sunbeam, it would be Jac’s first visit to the ranges. 

Everyone would get off to a good start with some excellent times on the first stage, Gareth and Dafydd setting a time of 2 minutes 44 seconds, a steady start for them as this would be only the second time that Gareth had done an event on pacenotes. Glyn and Dylan would be one second behind them in the fiesta with 2 minutes 45, and Arwyn and Mathew would have 2 minutes 50 seconds in their escort. Jonathan and Owen were right behind them on 2 minutes 51 seconds, and then it would be Hywel and Dorian with 2 minutes 54. Jac and Marc would have 3 minutes 24 seconds in the Sunbeam. Sadly this would be the only stage in which they would take part in on the Saturday as the stub axle would break on the second stage, whilst they would manage to repair it and complete the stages on Sunday they would sadly not qualify as finishers. 

It would go a bit smoother for the rest of our runners, Glyn and Dylan would set some great stage times and would end the day in nineteenth overall. Gareth and Dafydd would click and set better times as they afternoon progressed, gaining confidence in the car over each mile. They would end the first day in fourteenth overall. Arwyn and Mathew would have a great afternoon as they would take the lead in the road rally class, finishing the first day in thirty fourth overall. Hywel and Dorian had a good start to their day with some very respectable times and would end their day thirty eighth. Jonathan and Owen would massively improve their seeding after some very quick times in their Peugeot and would end the first day in thirty first overall. 

There would be an element of more of the same for the majority of the field over the next day’s stage, with most of the crews running well and setting some very respectable times. Sadly Glyn and Dylan wouldn’t be included here as they would go off the road on the sixth stage, bringing what had been a great run to a premature end. Gareth and Dafydd would continue to build on their impressive first day and their pace would show in the time sheets as the confidence grew. Their event would end with them finishing in a very respectable fourteenth overall, and second in class, it had been a great event for them.

Arwyn and Mathew would continue to do very well in their escort, building what would end up a very comfortable lead in their class of over two minutes come the finish. Their overall position would be twenty sixth. Jonathan and Owen would also have an excellent second day, setting some excellent times and beating many more powerful vehicles. They would finish their event in an impressive twenty second overall. A great outing for them. Jac and Marc would have a great second day, with Jac getting more time behind the wheel it was clear by the times that his confidence was growing, with some real potential being shown. Jac would no doubt be one to keep an eye on in future, with Marc’s experience no doubt being a big help.

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