Numerous issues caused George Williams and Cadog Davies to cut the route and finish way down the order on the Night Owl, they would qualify as finishers though (Rally Power Pics)

The weekend of the 20th and 21st of April would see Aberystwyth Motor Club hold the fourth round of the welsh road rally championship with the running of the Night Owl rally, based at the National Library car park in Aberystwyth. Naturally being a popular welsh championship round the entry filled quickly, and in the end some 88 cars gathered in the start car park ready to take on the 90 miles of competition over OS map 135. 

Naturally being a popular event there would be a handful of club members in attendance, with the first being Marc Highes who was once again navigating for Lewis Morgan in Lewis’ Mk2 Ford escort. They were seeded at 4 and hoping for a better run of luck than when they last competed together on the Bro Caron. At 5 was another regular navigator, Cadfog Davies who was again sat with George Williams in George’s Mk2 Ford escort. Stefan “DR” Davies would be at 7 in his Mk2 Ford escort, he would once again have Kieran Price on the maps. Arwel Evans was given number 9 in his duratec powered Mk2 Ford escort, he would have Jamie Mills sat with him for this round. At 20 were Osian Jones and LLyr Davies, this very consistent pair once again out for a good result, and again they would be using Osian’s familiar Nissan micra. Tristan Bryn Evans was navigating in a Mazda MX5 for Owain Rowlands, they would be seeded at 26. Alan Gaunt would start from number 28, he had Gareth Parry sat with him, and they would be using his familiar Peugeot 206 GTI. Carwyn Jones and Steffan Thomas were hoping for another strong finish in their Proton Satria, they were seeded at 46. At 48 and making his debut event in his newly built Mk1 Ford escort were Chris Palmer and Fiona Hill, this crew reunited for the first time in around 13 years they were out for the enjoyment and some fun in the new machine. Navigating in car 50 was Geroge Eadon, he would be sat with Thomas Jones in Thomas’ Peugeot 206 cup car and Sion Busson and Owen Rowcliffe were at 54 in Sion’s recently purchased Ford puma. Down in novice class at 70 were Justin Jones and Llion Evans in Justin’s Mk1 Ford escort, sadly however they would not make it to the start, the escort’s gearbox shedding a few gears on the way to signing on. At 76 were Arfon Jones and Mathew Pryce in Arfon’s Subaru impreza. Navigating in car 81 was Greg Harrand, he would be sat with Benjamin Jones in the only Peugeot 205 out on the rally. 

Signing on a plotting taken care of it was off into the lanes for the action to begin, the first section being 2 miles in length and using the lanes on the edge of the industrial estate just out of the town. Here would be the location of the first spectator point of the rally on a harpin right at a junction, where a huge crowd gathered to catch the action early on. Sadly this would be as far as Ben and Greg would get, the Peugeot’s alternator failing soon after, they limped to the end of the section but that was their rally over. Everyone else managed to pass through the first section trouble free. After this the route would head North, with the second section beginning just outside of Rhydypennau passing through the first white of the night before looping to the North and then passing through Penycefn farm. Time control 1 was located just before the farm and would be the first section where competitors would incur penalties. Doing best here were Lewis and Marc, who set the best overall time of 14 seconds in this section. Next would be Stefan and Kieran who had 18 seconds, and they were followed by Arwel and Jamie on 27 seconds. Crwyn and Steffan managed 42 seconds and Osian and LLyr managed 45. Both George and Cadog and Thomas and George managed 48 seconds, the escort pairing would have an eventful rally with the spark plug lead coming off at the first passage control. They would limp through a few sections running on three cylinders before they managed to stop to reattach the lead before Nant-y-Moch. Chris and Fiona managed 49 seconds in their escort, and Sion and Owen would stop the clock on 51 seconds. Alan and Gerath managed 59 seconds, Arfon and Mathew would achieve a minute and 5 seconds and Owain and Trystan would receive 1 minute and 21 seconds. 

The route would then pass through Bont Goch, using some of the roads used on the Rali Ceredigion before travelling to most Northerly point of the night as competitors would skirt past Tal-y-Bont onto the Nant-y-Moch road. There would be four Time controls plus the section finish over this famous piece of road, with Time controls 4 and 6 being timed to the minute and the others timed to the second. There was a blanket of fog covering the higher ground at the top of the dam, bringing down the visibility considerably in some areas. Time control 5 would see the majority of the field gather penalties, but Stefan “DR” and Kieran were among the small number that managed to clean this section. George and Cadog were now on a mission to make time up after their earlier issues, they set a great time of 13 seconds here. Osian and Llyr were also going very well and managed to pick up only 15 seconds of penalties here. Lewis and Marc managed 18 seconds, Lewis being careful through the foggy sections over the dam. Arwel and Jamie were right behind them with 19 seconds, and then it was Thomas and George with 31 seconds. Chris and Fiona managed 34 seconds here and Sion and Owen 37. Owain and Trystan weren’t far behind them on 39 seconds. Arfon and Mathew had 55 seconds.Alan and Gareth received 1 minute 11 and Carwyn and Steffan 1 minute 22.

At the petrol halt in Ponterwyd it was Steffan and Kieran that were doing best among club members, they were in second overall with a penalty of 18 seconds. Lewis and Marc were in joint fourth, a position they shared with two other crews. Their penalty count was 32 seconds. Next were Arwel and Jamie who had 56 seconds so they lay in ninth. George and Cadog were currently twelfth with their count of 1 minute and 37 seconds, and right behind them with 1 minute and 40 seconds in thirteenth were Osian and LLyr. Thomas and George were holding twenty-sixth with 3 minutes and 3 seconds, and right behind them in twenty-seventh were Sion and Owen who had 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Owain and Trystan held thirty-first on 3 minutes and 44 seconds. Alan and Gareth were currently in thirty-eighth with 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Carwyn and Steffan lay in forty-ninth with 4 minutes and 59 seconds, and Chris and Fiona were in joint fifty-second with 5 minutes and 6 seconds. Arfon and Mathew were in sixty-sixth with 7 minutes. However the majority of the rally was still to run and there would be far more tight sections in the second half.

Sadly there would be a number of retirements throughout the second half, with Stefan and Kieran and Alan and Gareth both ending up on the DNF sheet. The second half would begin with a very challenging section, starting just outside of Ponterwyd the route would then go North past Llyn Pendam. After this competitors would fork right into a white before passing Cwmerfyn. They would then pass through another white before going up to Rhydybeddau before finishing in Goginan. There would be three tight sections among this part of the route, at Time controls 9 and 10, as well as the section finish. Lewis and Marc would be the pace setters at Time control 9 with only 24 seconds of penalties, they would however puncture in the white, and lost a fair amount of time doing so, so they would receive 11 minutes and 29 seconds at Time control 10. George and Cadog had a good run through both controls, gaining 28 seconds and 1 minute 21 seconds respectively. Another crew having an eventful night were Arwel and Jamie, getting stuck on one white and then gaining a puncture in the next, so they received 11 minutes and 4 seconds at time control 9, and 6 minutes and 55 seconds at Time control 10. Osian and Llyr received 1 minute and 9 seconds at the first, and they followed it up with 2 minutes and 44 seconds at the following control. Owain and Trystsan would have 2 minutes and 45 seconds at Time control 9 and 3 minutes and 56 at Time control 10. Carwyn and Steffan were going very well over this section, gaining 1 minute and 31 seconds at Time control 9, and 2 minutes and 15 at Time control 10. Thomas and George managed 1 minute 52 and 3 minutes 15 at these controls and Sion and Owen had 2 minutes 10 and 3 minutes 13. Arfon and Athew had 2 minutes and 44 at Time control 9 and 4 minutes and 49 seconds at Time control 10. The section finish would also see competitors gather penalties, with everyone receiving a handful of seconds here and there, Lewis and Marc doing best among the club members with 17 seconds gained.

The next section would begin near Aberffrwd and cross the A4120 where the second spectator point was located. From there the route would then skirt New Cross before heading South to the harpins by Llangfihangel Y Creuddyn, again sharing some of the roads used on Rali Ceredigion. Some of the front running crew passed this section penalty free but a few of the later crews would gather lateness penalties. There would be more drama for Geroge and Cadog, with the escort’s dry sump belt breaking, whilst they fitted a spare in no time at all the engine developed low oil pressure, so in order to save the engine they decided to cut the route and jump to the finish, something Lewis and Marc also did from this point on after their puncture also cost them time. Also cutting the route were Thomas and George who would miss the final two sections.

The fifth section saw the route go to its most Southerly point, with the section starting near Wenallt and then going south towards Lledrod, before finishing to the South of Bronant. Section finish five would be the tightest in this section, and here everyone would gather penalties. Arwel and Jamie did best here among the club members, gaining 35 seconds of penalties. Osian and Llyr were next with 55 seconds, and then it was Sion and Owen who had 1 minute. Following them on 1 minute 8 were Arfon and Mathew, and then it was Carwyn and Steffan who were a second further back on 1 minute 9, Owain and Trystan would have 1 minute 30.

The sixth and final section of the rally would see competitors heading back North towards Aberystwyth. Sadly there would be another retirement with Chris and Fiona retiring with transmission problems in their escort. A great shame as they had been doing very well. The section began to the West of Bontnewydd, and would pass through Trefenter, using a triangle on a farm lane entrance where a code board would be located. From there competitors would head up past Cnwc-y-Barcud, before crossing the B4576 before travelling through the final white of the night, and ending just before rejoining the B road. There would be two tight sections on this piece of route, the first being Time control 18 which was at the end of Cnwc-Y-Barcud, and the section finish clock which was after competitors left the white. Sadly this last section would see Sion and Owen going over time limit, with the road blocked by another competitor, they would sadly lose too much time stuck behind. Also going over time limit were Arwel and Jamie, not helped by their earlier issues. For those still running it was Carwyn and Steffan that did best among club members with 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Osian and Llyr managed 3 minutes and 5 seconds, and Arfon and Mathew were right behind with 3 minutes and 6 seconds. Owain and Trystan managed 6 minutes and 30 seconds. At the final clock it was Osian and Llyr that did best among club members, gaining just 39 seconds of penalties. Carwyn and Steffan came next with 1 minute and 42 seconds, and then it was close between Owain and Trystan and Arfon and Mathew who were only separated by a second here, Owain and Trystan managing 2 minutes 11 to Afron and Mathew’s 2 minutes 12.

The finish venue was the town’s football club, after a challenging night it was Osian Jones and Llyr Davies that did best among club members, finishing in a very respectable tenth overall and fourth in class with a total time penalty of 12 minutes and 28 seconds. In seventeenth overall and second in class were Carwyn Jones and Steffan Thomas, their total penalty was 18 minutes and 52 seconds. Owain Rowlands and Trystan Bryn Evans finished in twenty-second and eleventh in class with 27 minutes and 24 seconds. Arfon Jones and Mathew Pryce finished in twenty-sixth overall and seventh in class on 29 minutes and 11 seconds. Lewis Morgan and Marc Hughes finished in forty fifth overall with 39 fails gained from route cutting, and Thomas Jones and George Eadon finished in forty sixth with forty fails gained. George Williams and Cadog Davies finished forty seventh after gaining 44 fails.

With thanks to Rally Power Pics for the use of their image in this report.