106 builth

The weekend of the 5th and 6th of November was a busy one at Builth wells showground, which hosted 2 rallies over the weekend, with the first being the Herefordshire Motor club organised Hymphrys and Symonds Builth stages, a stage rally that had only returned to the rallying calendar a few short years ago after some absence. The event was made up of fourteen stages, giving crews thirty competitive miles, which included a 50-50 split of tarmac and gravel surfaces, and included two stages ran after darkness had fallen to give the competitors an excellent challenge with a variety of conditions to undertake.

Club members tackling the event were Sean Crowley and Emma Jones, who were seeded at 8, they would be using a mk2 ford escort on this event instead of their “Maggie” Mirage. At 35 war Marc Mayes, who had James Davies navigating in a mk2 ford escort. Jonathon and Kevin Davies were at 43 in a Peugeot 206. Another Peugeot but a 106 this time were Christian and Mark Coleman at 47. Keith Daniels rounded off club representatives in another Peugeot 206 at 49, who had Tony Edwards in the passenger seat.

After the first couple of stages Sean and Emma were holding twelfth overall and 3rd in class with a total time of 7minuets and 7 seconds, Marc Mayes was lying in thirty first on 7 minutes 30 seconds. One second down in joint thirty third was Keith Daniels and Tony Edwards and a further four seconds’ down at fortieth were Christian and Mark Coleman, but with only two stages of fourteen tackled anything could happen.

At the Midway point of the rally all but one of the LDMC members were still running, with Sean and Emma holding sixteenth place in the escort, Christian and Mark climbed up to twenty second overall, and Keith Daniels and Tony Edwards were at twenty fourth, also doing well were Marc and James in their escort who were on twenty sixth overall despite having a misfire on the escorts engine. Unfortunately, Jonathon and Kevin Davies had retired after the second stage, reason unknown.

The final two stages of the rally were done in the dark, which may have suited the members of the club as many have road rallying experience and began their rallying carers in the lanes. Unfortunately for Sean and Emma their rally was to come to an end on stage thirteen (unlucky for some?) putting them into retirement. The following stage would also see a premature end for Mark Mayes and James as their escort decided to give up with only 3 miles left to run, missing out on a class trophy in the process. Christian and Mark Coleman carried on with consistently respectful times and manage to finish the event in twenty first overall and third in class. Keith Daniels and Tony Edwards also managed to get themselves round to the finish in twenty fourth overall and sixth in class.

With the stage rallying done for the weekend it was the turn of the road rallying as Epynt Motor club hosted their D G Jones Agri LTD. Sponsored Powys Lanes road rally, the penultimate round of the welsh road rally championship. The event had a mileage of 130 over the lanes of OS maps 147 and 160. The event saw a handful of club members entered with some hoping to add some last-minute points to their championship bids. Car 1 was Steffan “DR” Davies with Michael Gilbey navigating, Steffan once again out in his immaculately prepared Mk2 ford escort. Navigating in car 3 was Cadog Davies, who once again partnered up with Reian Jones in his Seat Ibiza, Cadog hoping to add to his recent success on road rallies. Navigating for Will Arrowsmith was Dafydd Evans, out on another Mk2 ford escort. At 12 was Malcom TAR Jones and Justin Davies in a Citroen Xsara. Navigating in car 13 was Dorian Evans, who was out with Steve Knibbs in a Proton Satria GTI.

In expert class the club representatives were Gareth Hughes and Andrew Gaunt at 34 in a Peugeot 206. In the Semis Expert class Ellie Willams was navigating for Ben Davies at 43 in another Peugeot, this time a 306, and Tim Evans was at 49 with Andrew Davies navigating. In the Novice class were Huw and Owen Rowcliffe, in a Vauxhall corsa.

After some 75 miles of competition the competitiors arrived at the petrol halt over in Sennybridge, where Reian and Cadog held second place in the seat having only dropped twelve seconds. Steffan “DR” and Michael were on 15 seconds and lay in fourth. Malcom TAR and Justin were at thirteenth having dropped 2 minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Will and Dafydd were down in twenty second overall having picked up 6 minutes and forty-one seconds of penalties. Malcom TAR and Justin were in thirteenth, Gareth Hughes and Andrew Gaunt were twenty fourth in their Peugeot, Ben and Ellie were at twenty ninth in their Peugeot. Tim and Andrew were at thirty fourth in the Proton. Steve Knibbs and Dorian Evans were at forty-ninth, having picked up a fail. Huw and Owen were in fifty second, as they also picked up a fail. With one half down and another left to run it was far from over for any of the crews.

The second half of the event was tighter than the first and contained more droppers giving crews more of a challenge. Steffan “DR” and Michael managed to finish an excellent 2nd overall having had an excellent second half. Reian and Cadog also continued to set excellent times but unfortunately were slowed down when they came across a road that was blocked by another competitor, this dropping them down from second to third at the finish. Gareth and Andrew also had a very good second half and finished in a very respectable fifteenth overall. Ben and Ellie finished twenty fifth in their Peugeot. Will and Dafydd set some excellent times in the second half but sadly they picked up a fail which dropped them down to thirty fifth overall at the finish. Huw and Owen Rowcliffe picked up 2 fails so they finished forty sixth. Unfortunately, Malcom TAR and Justin Retired with alternator failure which was unfortunate as they had been putting in excellent times. Steven Knibbs and Dorian were also on the retirements sheet with electrical and fuelling problems. Tim Evans and Andrew Daives also retired, reason unknown.

With only the Cilwendeg left to run in the welsh championship the welsh championship has already been decided but there are plenty other positions still to be decided, so no doubt there will be plenty of representation from club members down in Newcastle Emlyn in a couple of weeks’ time.

Many thanks to Black Mountains Media for the use of the image.