jonny daf flatters

Jonathon Davies and Dafydd Evans on their way to a class win on the Harry Flatters

                Once again, it’s been a very busy few weeks for club members with rallies taking part throughout the country. 2 such events were the Classic lanes rad rally organised by the Welsh border’s car club, and the Harry Flatters rally, a tarmac event held over the infamous Epynt ranges

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                The Harry Flatters, organised by Brecon motor club, took place in the 28th of July, and included a National A rally (for historic specification cars) and a national B event, for modern specification vehicles. Lampeter and district motor club had a couple of club members competing in the national B rally, with Jonathon Davies and Dafydd Evans seeded at 47 in their road rally specification Peugeot 206 GTI. At 64 was Justin Jones who was debuting his recently purchased Mk2 ford escort and out to get some seat time in the new vehicle, he had Nia Hughes navigating for him.

                The rally consisted of eleven stages on the ranges and both club members did very well and set some excellent times right from the beginning. On the first couple of short stages Jonathon managed to open begin their day with times of 2 minutes and 9 seconds followed by 2 minutes and 58 seconds on the second stage. Justin and Nia also had a very good start to their day with Justin getting back used to being behind the wheel of a Ford escort, they set some very respectful times of 2 minutes and 12 seconds on the opening stage, followed by 3 minutes and 4 seconds on the second.

                The third stage of the day was far longer and both club members did very well over it, Jonathon and Dafydd achieved an excellent time of 10 minutes over it and were in a battle for the class lead following these excellent times. Justin and Nia were still going strong and managed a time of 10 minutes and 26 seconds here, excellent going by them with a car that did have some minor power steering issues, they were beginning to find their feet and get back into rhythm.

                On the next set of stages both club members continued to pus hard and the little Peugeot of Jonathon and Dafydd continued to set excellent times and managed to climb up the leader board. They were well on their way to a class win. Justin and Nia continued to press on and were rewarded with more great times for their efforts. Sadly, their rally was to come to a premature end as on the final stage of the day the escort’s wheel came off, leaving them with three wheels on their wagon. This unfortunately caused their retirement, a great shame as they had been doing well and their times had improved over every stage.

                Jonathon and Dafydd continued to impress with times that matched those of far more advanced and powerful cars. At the end of the rally they managed to finish in an excellent eighteenth overall and also managed to win their class in the process. An excellent result for them.

                The weekend of the 10th/11th of August saw club members head up to North wales to compete on the Welsh border’s car club organised Classic lanes rally. In amongst an entry of 60 starters were Daydd Evans who was navigating for Kevin Bolver in a Talbot Sunbeam, they were seeded at car 5. Cadog Davies was back at the wheel of his Proton Satria GTI at car 8, he once again had Reian Jones with him on the maps. Navigating in car 52 was Maurice Leach, he would be navigating for his son James in a Peugeot 206 GTI that had been recently purchased for £350. It would be Maurice’s first rally in 7 years.

                The rally was a typical Welsh Border CC event, full of challenging but enjoyable condition on some of North Wales’ finest and most demanding lanes. There would be several tight sections where competitors picked up penalties along the route, with the first being at Time control 3a. Here everyone gathered penalties, with Kevin and Dafydd managing 1 minute and 8 seconds in the sunbeam. Cadog and Reian pushed hard from the beginning so their time here was 20 seconds. James and Maurice were getting back into the swing of things and achieved 1 minute and 13 seconds here. Section finish 4 was the next tight section where once again penalties were gathered. Kevin and Dafydd had now familiarised themselves with each other and began to really push. They were awarded a time of 30 seconds for their efforts. Cadog and Reian were also trying hard and achieved 46 seconds here.  James and Maurice were also doing well and achieved a time of 2 minutes and 11 seconds.

                Come the half way petrol halt Cadog and Reian were in seventh overall with 2 minutes and 15 seconds of penalties in the Proton. A good position considering the had lost a little time on a couple of junctions. Right behind them in eighth overall were Kevin and Dafydd on 2 minutes and 23 seconds in the sunbeam. James and Maurice were holding thirty-fourth overall in the Peugeot with 6 minutes and 53 seconds.

                The second half of the rally was similar to the first, more tight and technical lanes that offered an enjoyable challenge to everyone. Kevin and Dafydd began to really push in the second half to make up for the earlier penalties and so they began to climb higher up the leader board. Cadog and Reian also began to push hard but Reian began to suffer with navigator sickness. James and Maurice admitted to having a slightly sloppy first half with it being the first rally for either crew member in a number of years, they had lost a little time here and there with some minor overshoots on slots and what not, as well as this James lives in London so driving the twisty welsh lanes was something he was somewhat unfamiliar with, although they were both enjoying the night and their pace improved over the second half.

                Section finish 9 was another of the tight sections of the night. Here everyone’s penalty count increased as they battled on through the lanes, with Kevin and Dafydd managing a penalty of 11 seconds here. Cadog and Reian managed 25 seconds despite Reian’s stomach feeling a little worse for wear they continued to push onwards. James and Maurice managed a very respectable 54 seconds here.

                For the final section of the night Cadog and Reian decided to cut it out and instead jump straight to the finish to prevent the navigator sickness from getting any worse. This did mean that they dropped down the leader board but they had covered enough of the route to classify as finishers. Kevin and Dafydd had one last push to try and finish as high up the leader board as possible as did James and Maurice. At Section finish 10 Kevin and Dafydd had a time of 38 seconds. James and Maurice managed 1 minute and 43 seconds.

                At the end of an eventful but enjoyable night Kevin Bolver and Dafydd Evans finished in an excellent third overall with 4 minutes and 42 seconds of penalties. James and Maurice Leach finished in twenty-sixth overall and sixth in class with 15 minutes and 42 seconds of penalties. Cadog Davies and Reian Jones received 13 fails for skipping the last section so they were in forty-first overall and fourteenth in class.

                Many thanks must go to Dafydd Evans for the use of his imagine in this report.