spidi daf

It had been a weekend of mixed fortunes for club members over the weekend of the 10th/11th of Spetember, as a pair of navigators travelled up to Porthmadog to compete on the Harlech and District Motor Club organised Rali Meirion, a 110-mile event, all of which was to take part on OS map 124, an area that is well known for being enjoyable but difficult part of the country with many not as map corners and technical mountain passes and mazes.

 

                Fist club representative was Dafydd Evans, who was once again navigating for Arwel “spidi” Hughes Jones, who must have been the favourites from the beginning as they had won the event in the previous two years, could they make it a third in a row? Also out was Cadog Davies, once again partnered by Reian Jones in Reian’s Seat Ibiza, hoping to add some much needed points to their welsh championship bid.

                The rally couldn’t have had a better start for Spidi and Dafydd, as right away they posted quickest times on the rally’s opening sections and held a comfortable lead of twenty-nine seconds and the halfway fuel halt. The first had gone quite well for Reian and Cadog as they held fifth at petrol. Unfortunately, their rally was to come to a premature end as they were excluded.

                For Spidi and Dafydd it was to be a great night as they continued the second half in much the same way as they did on the first, posting more excellent times and going on to secure their third win on the trot on this tricky but enjoyable event. Reain and Cadog hope to have better luck on their next event.

                The Meirion wasn’t the only event that saw action from crews on the weekend, as a trio of members headed out to Ireland to sample the closed road rallies that take part over the water. Wexford Motor Club once again organised their Wexford Volkswagen Stages rally, a popular two-day tarmac event that would take place on the closed roads in the Wexford area.

                Representing Lampeter and district Motor Club were Tomos Davies with Eurig Davies navigating, out once again in Tomos’ Ford fiesta R5. Sean Crowley and Emma Jones were trying their luck again on the rally and hoping for better luck than their previous year’s effort. Once again Sean at the wheel of Maggie, their Mitsubishi Colt Mirage. Also out was Iwan Griffiths, who was navigating for Barry Jones in a Mk2 Ford Escort.

                On the rally’s opening stage Tomos and Eurig set off at an excellent pace and posted eighth fastest time, Barry and Iwan also had a good start to their event with Joint twenty first quickest in their escort. Unfortunately for Sean and Emma Maggie’s engine decided to let go on the first stage, putting an early end to their rally.

                There were nine stages on the first day of the rally and the club members put in excellent times throughout the day’s stages, where at the end of the first day Tomos and Eurig lay in ninth overall and Barry and Iwan had dropped down a little and were in fifty seventh place. It was possible for crews that had retired on the first day to compete under the super rally rules so it was possible for Sean and Emma to compete on the seconds day’s stages, if they could find a replacement engine, which not only they did, but also manged to get it installed in only 5 hours!

                So the second day of the event once again saw all three club representatives out, but once again disaster was to strike for Sean and Emma, as once again they were met with engine failure, resulting in two engines in two days, possibly the worst luck of all of the events competitors.

                The two remaining club members on the event had far better luck as Barry and Iwan posted some excellent times which saw them climb back up to thirty Seventh overall. Tomos and Eurig managed to climb even higher and finished an excellent sixth overall in their Fiesta, rounding off a very eventful weekend for the Clubs members.

With many thanks to Gwynant Pierce for the image.