Meirion Wexford

Meirion Evans and Jonathon Jackson on their way to an impressive second overall on the Wexford Stages Rally (Sheals Photography)

Its been another busy couple of weeks for club members, with action taking place in the forests and on the tarmac road of Ireland, with the Sixty and Worcestershire organised Event signs Woodpecker stages taking place from Ludlow Racecourse in Ludlow on the first of September.

                Lampeter and district were represented by Dylan Davies and Llion “tractor” Williams who were seeded at seven in their regular Subaru Impreza. Navigating in car eleven was Eryl Evans who was once again navigating for Keith Parry in Keith’s Subaru Impreza. Both of which were B13 specification cars.

 

                The rally would be made up of seven stages taking place in the forests of Radnor and Haye Park, with the stages all taking place in forests to the west of Ludlow on OS maps 136 and 137. The first stage of the day was known as High Vinnalls, and Dylan and Llion managed joint fourth fastest time on it with 5 minutes and 57 seconds, a great start to their day. Unfortunately, it was to be a short day for Keith and Eryl who rolled their Subaru on the day’s opening stage, forcing them into retirement. The second stage of the day was Wigmore South, and Dylan and LLion managed to set a joint third fastest time here, with highly impressive 3 minutes and twenty seconds, just six seconds off the overall fastest time.

                On the third stage of the day, Radnor, Dylan and Llion set a fourth quickest time of 10 minutes and 6 seconds, which saw him in fourth position overall also, with a total time of 19 minutes and 23 seconds. They also led their class. Haye Park is where competitors headed to for the fourth stage, and on this stage Dyal and Llion once again set the fourth quickest time, showing excellent consistency on the stages with a time of 8 minutes and 55 seconds, which saw them hold onto their fourth overall position. Wigmore North was to make up the fifth stage of the event, where, once again Dylan and Llion recorded the fourth quickest time, which was 3 minutes and 26 seconds on this short stage. Stage six was known as Stanlo Tump and here Dylan and LLion dropped down the order a little with a time that would see them take tenth quickest on 7 minutes and 7 seconds. This saw them drop down one position to fifth overall with one stage remaining, they were hoping to have one final push to see if they could climb back up to that fourth spot.

                Cwm y Gerwyn was the final stage of the day, and here Dylan and Llion did one last push to try and regain their fourth position, it was an excellent effort as they managed to put in the seventh quickest time on the stage of 5 minutes and 28 seconds but sadly it wasn’t enough to regain their fourth position, even so they managed to finish the event in an excellent fifth overall with a time of 44 minutes and 19 seconds, and in the process winning their class. A good day overall for them.

                The following weekend on the 8th and 9th of September saw a handful of club members venture over to Ireland to compete on the Wexford stages rally, a very popular two-day event that included 15 stages and often attracts many entries from all over the UK. The format of the event was three stages repeated three times on the Saturday and two stages repeated three times on the following Sunday.

                Lampeter and district motor club were well represented on the entry list, with Meirion Evans and Jonathon Jackson seeded at 8 in their Hyundai I20 R5. At 10 was Tomas Davies in his Mk2 Ford escort. He has Eurig Davies navigating for him. At 40 were Sean Crowley and Emma Crowley in their Peugeot 205 GTI “Pedro”. Llion Williams was navigating for Rhys Pinter in car 94 a Subaru Impreza WRX. In the historic category of the event Ian Davies had entered his BMW M3, he was once again partnered with Ryland James. They were the only car entered in the historic category.

                The first stage of the rally was just under 6 miles in length, and Meirion and Jonathon managed to get their rally off to an excellent start on it, with the third quickest overall time on 5 minutes and 30 seconds. An excellent start for them in a new car. Tomas and Eurig were sixth overall on this stage with 5 minutes and 38.3 seconds, a great start for them also. Sean and Emma got off to a great start in Pedro with twenty-eighth overall time on 6 minutes and 4.7 seconds. Rhys and Llion were in sixty-fifth overall after the opening stage with a time of 6 minutes and 46.7 seconds. In the historic category Ian and Ryland managed a very respectful time of 6 minutes and 28.3 seconds.

                The second stage of the day was just over 7 and a half miles in length, and Meirion and Jonathon continued to set fantastic times with 3 minutes and 55.7 seconds, this was good enough to lift them up to second overall. Tomas and Eurig set another great time of 4 minutes and 12.7 seconds which was them hold onto sixth overall. Sean and Emma were pushing Pedro hard and set an excellent time of 4 minutes and 23.7 seconds, this lifted them up one spot to twenty-seventh overall. Rhys and LLion also managed to climb a place on the second stage with a highly respectable time of 4 minutes and 23.2 seconds, so they now lay in sixty-fourth overall. Unfortunately, it was a short rally for Ian and Ryland who’s rally came to a premature end after the first stage.

                One more stage followed before the events first service halt. This was the longest stage of the day with a distance of just over 9 miles. On this stage Meirion and Jonathon managed to set another excellent time with 8 minutes and 29 seconds, so they held onto their second overall position. Tomas and Eurig were still going very well in their escort with 8 minutes and 53.2 seconds, so they stayed in sixth overall. Sean and Emma achieved 9 minutes and 22.9 seconds so they were in twenty ninth overall. Achieving the exact same time on this stage were Rhys and Llion in their Subaru and kept onto their sixty-fourth overall after this stage.

                Following the first service halt the stages where then repeated for the second loop, and all club members continued to push hard over the stages. Meirion and Jonathon were incredibly consistent with their times so they held on to second overall after the second loop. Tomas and Eurig were another very consistent pair and held onto sixth overall after the second loop. Sean and Emma held twenty-eighth following the second loop of stages in Pedro the Peugeot. Rhys and LLion managed to climb up to fifty-eighth in their Subaru following the second loop of stages.

                The followed another service halt before competitors tackled the stages once again to finish the first day of action. Once again Meirion and Jonathon set excellent times, as they pushed the new car hard over the stages and so held on to their second overall position at the end of the first day. On the third loop of stages Tomas and Eurig dropped down to tenth overall in the standings but were still going well. Sean and Emma continued to push on in Pedro and by the end of the day they lay in a highly respectable twenty-fifth overall. Rhys and Llion continued to improve their times throughout the day and found themselves in fifty-fifth overall and the end of it.

                The second day began with a stage of just over 8 miles in length. Meirion and Joanthon began the second day in much the same way as they had ended the first, by setting yet another excellent time of 8 minutes 18.8 seconds that meant they still held on to their position of second overall. Tomas and Eurig pushed hard on this stage and were rewarded with a time of 8 minutes and 38.7 seconds for their efforts and so climbed up to ninth overall. Sean and Emma set an excellent time of 9 minutes and 9 minutes and 17.2 seconds so climbed up to twenty-fourth overall. Rhys and LLion set a very respectable time of 9 minutes and 53.4 seconds so they lay in fifty-fourth after this stage.

                The eleventh stage of the day of the rally was the longest of the event with a length of just over 11 miles. Meirion and Jonathon were once again charging down the stages and set another fantastic time of 9 minutes and 16 seconds. Tomas and Eurig were also pushing hard in the escort with a time of 9 minutes and 27.7 seconds, this saw them climb up to seventh overall. Sean and Emma set another great time of 10 minutes and 28.4 seconds in the Peugeot. Rhys and Llion managed a very respectable time of 10 minutes and 35.7 seconds here.

                Then the stages were repeated for the second loop, Meirion and Jonathon kept hold of their second place overall following this second loop, great going by them in the Hyundai. Tomas and Eurig’s rally unfortunately came to a premature end on the thirteenth stage, a great shame as they had managed to push themselves back up to seventh overall. Sean and Emma held twenty-fifth overall in Pedro. Rhys and Llion managed to climb in to the top fifty by placing themselves in forty ninth overall.

                There was one final loop of two stage following a service halt to finish the event. Meirion and Jonathon continued to push the car and were rewarded with second overall come the finish for their efforts, a brilliant result for them. Sean and Emma were next best club members as they finished in an excellent twenty-third overall and third in class in their Peugeot “Pedro”, with this being Sean and Emma’s first event on notes since their accident on Epynt and was a great confidence boost for them. Rhys and LLion finished in an excellent forty-fourth overall in their Subaru Impreza WRX after setting some great times in the later stages of the rally.

                Many thanks must go to Sheals Photography for the use of their image in this report.