Cad Ystwyth

Cadog Davies guides Chris Hand round to third overall on the Ystwyth targa rally

The weekend of the Sunday the 16th of June saw two events take place on the rallying calendar, both of which well supported by club members. The first event was the Aberystwyth motor club organised Ystwyth targa rally that took place at the Sweet Lamb rally complex. The rally attracted an entry of 72 competitors and amongst them were a handful of club members, with the first being Cadog Davies who, originally was to be with Andy in his Subaru, but after a late night phone call the previous evening, partnered up with Chris Hand in Chris’ Mk2 Ford escort, they took the number 1 spot on the entry. At 15 were Daniel Williams in his regular BMW 318ti, he was again partnered with Shaun Richards. At 32 was Osian Jones who for this event had Tom Beckett on map duties, Osian had recently had a very good result on the classic tracks targa and was hoping for a repeat performance here. They were in a Peugeot 206. Lee Plant was at 35 in his Mitsubishi Colt, he had Andrea Beck with him on this occasion. Navigating in car 46 was Mike Phillips for his brother Gareth, they were using a ford focus. Rounding off club members Sam Woodcock and Sioned Davies were at 51 in a hired Subaru impreza, this was to be Sam’s first rally in 4 years and he was eager to get back into the sport.

The day consisted with four loops of tests with four tests in the first two loops, followed by a loop of 3 tests, then a loop of 2 tests to finish the day. The weather for the day made challenging conditions with rain showers making the tests slippery although it did help to keep dust levels down to a minimum. On the opening set of tests, it was Chris and Cadog that set the pace among club members with excellent times n their mk2 ford escort. On the opening test they received a penalty count of 3 minutes and 27 seconds, good enough for fourth overall. Hot on their heels with 3 minutes and 30 seconds were Daniel and Shaun in the BMW, a very strong start to their day. Osian and Tom got off to a good start with 3 minutes and 55 seconds in their Peugeot and Lee and Andrea also started strong with 4 minutes, as did Gareth and Mike who also had 4 minutes. Sam and Sioned began their day with an excellent 3 minutes and 54 seconds.

Tests 2 and 3 followed and on each of them club members set excellent times and pushed hard in the challenging conditions. Come the fourth test once again Chris and Cadog set another excellent time of 2 minutes and 56 seconds which was good enough for second overall on this test. Also doing well on this test were Osian and Tom who had 3 minutes and 14 seconds here and just behind them were Sam and Sioned who had a time of 3 minutes and 15 seconds here, excellent going by them. Gareth and Mike also did very well and had 3 minutes and 17 seconds. Daniel and Shaun were gong well with a time of 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Rounding off club members were Lee and Andrea with 4 minutes.

Another loop of 4 tests followed before a regroup, at this point Chris and Cadog were lying in third overall with a penalty count of 31 minuets and 3 seconds. Daniel and Shaun were lying in eleventh overall on 32 minutes and 35 seconds. Sam and Sioned were in fourteenth overall with 33 minutes and 3 seconds. Osian and Tom were in twenty-seconds overall with a count of 34 minutes and 2 seconds. Gareth and Mike were in twenty-eighth with 34 minutes and 31 seconds. Lee and Andrea were in forty ninth on 36 minuets and 37 seconds.

Then a loop of three tests followed and once again all club members put in excellent performances. Chris and Cadog were still involved in a battle for the top three in their escort amongst some stiff competition. Daniel and Shaun were pushing hard and setting timed that saw them break into the top ten in the BMW. Sam and Sioned were also knocking on the door of a top ten placing on this loop of tests after some excellent times although Sam admitted he didn’t want to push too hard in someone else’s car. Osian and Tom were putting in a solid performance and looking at getting into the top twenty in their Peugeot. Gareth and Mike were improving their performances on every test and by now had climbed up the leader board nicely. Lee and Andera were doing well although Lee wished he had a limited slip differential fitted to help with traction.

The final loop consisted of two tests to round off the days action. Test 12 was the first of these, and was a very long and challenging affair. Chris and Cadog went and set the best time on this test with a penalty count of 11 minutes and 51 seconds. Daniel and Shaun also did very well here and picked up 12 minutes and 20 seconds. Right behind them on 12 minutes and 37 seconds were Sam and Sioned in the Subaru. Osian and Tom were next on 13 minutes and 27 seconds in their Peugeot. Lee and Andrea managed 14 minutes and 10 seconds on this test followed by Gareth and Mike who were two seconds behind on 14 minutes and 12 seconds.

The final test was another very challenging one where all crews picked up high penalties. Once again it was Chris and Cadog who were among the top of the leader board with the second-best time with 10 minutes and 42 seconds. Daniel and Shaun did very well here too and recorded the fifth best time of 10 minutes and 56 seconds. Next were Osian and Tom who were still doing very well on 11 minutes and 40 seconds. Lee and Andrea were next on 12 minutes and 31 seconds in the Mitsubishi, and just behind them on 12 minutes and 42 seconds were Gareth and Mike. It all went wrong on this test for Sam and Sioned with a slight driver’s error by Sam who ended up going the wrong way down the test which cost them some time, so their penalty count was 13 minutes and 20 seconds.

At the end of an enjoyable event best among club members come the results was Cadog Davies who with Chris Hand who finished in third overall with 65 minutes and 16 seconds of penalties in their Mk2 Ford escort. In fifth place was Daniel Williams with Shaun Richards with 67 minuets and 37 seconds. In sixteenth overall were Sam Woodcock and Sioned Davies in the Subaru impreza, their penalty count was 71 minuets and 33 seconds. Osian Jones and Tom Beckett finished in eighteenth overall with 71 minuets and 41 seconds. Gareth and Mike Phillips finished in twenty sixth overall with 74 minutes and 54 seconds and Lee Plant and Andrea Beck were in thirty third overall with 76 minuets and 25 seconds.

The other event that took part which saw action by club members was the Mid-Summer Caerwent stages, organised by Forresters car club. The rally was included six stages made up around the military training venue and attracted an entry of 57 competitors. In amongst the entrants in car 22 were Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones in a Peugeot 206 GTI 180 model. At 26 in another Peugeot 206 GTI were Wayne Jones and Steffan Daniels. Navigating in car 37 was Andrew Davies who was with Dafydd Williams, they were in a Chrysler Sunbeam. At 40 were Kevin Davies and Owen Rowcliffe in another Peugeot 206 GTI.

Caerwent is a tight and twisty venue with many junction turns to test competitors, on the opening stage of the day Wayne and Steffan set an excellent time of 11 minutes and 54 seconds which saw them lay in seventh overall and leading the class, but unfortunately on the second stage of the day they cut a corner to excessively and damaged the car which put them into retirement. Two stages in Malcolm and Rhys were holding eleventh overall after setting excellent times in their Peugeot and leading their class. Kevin Davies and Owen Rowcliffe were in eighteenth overall. It was also a short rally for Dafydd and Andrew who had a very good first stage but had a slight off on a 90-degree right hand bend and damaged the suspension on a stone wall so they too also retired.

On the following pair of stages Malcolm and Rhys climbed on position into the top ten after setting more excellent times. Kevin Davies and Owen Rowcliffe also climbed up the leader board in their Peugeot and four stages in they held sixteenth overall.

For the final two stages both remaining club pairs put in yet more excellent times so come the end of the rally Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones finished n an excellent tenth overall and first in class, an excellent result by them, beating many more powerful cars in the process. Kevin Davies and Owen Rowcliffe finished in an excellent fifteenth overall and third in class in their Peugeot 206 after a string of excellent times on what is a very challenging venue.

Many thanks to Joseph John Gilbertson for the use of his image for this report.