Cad Barcud

Cadog Davies guides Gavin Wyn Edwrds around to win the Barcud rally (Joseph John Gilbertson)

                On the weekend of the 17th and 18th of August Barcud motor club held their rally, The Barcud, a rally which would be the sixth round of the welsh road rally championship. It was a rally of close to 100 miles on OS maps 135 and 146. Once again rally HQ was in Tregaron leisure centre with the start car park being at the mart. With it being a rally on home turf for many club members it was no surprise that there were plenty of club members among the list of 76 starters that had arrived at Tregaron. First among club members in car 3 was Stefan “DR” Davies in his Mk2 ford escort, he had Dafydd Sion Lloyd on map duties. Right behind them at 4 was Cadog Davies who was once again navigating for Gavin Wyn Edwards in a hired Mk1 ford escort, Mk1 escorts are a rare sight on welsh road rallies so it’s always nice to see one on the entry list, and with Gavin and Cadog being the crew, there was a good chance it would feature near the top of he results sheet too. Dafydd Evans was once again partnered with Kevin “Penclawdd” Jones in Kevin’s Toyota corolla at number 5. They have been collecting excellent results and are due their first win together, with it being a local rally for Dafydd and Kevin being consistently competitive in any part of the country it was perfectly possible that it could happen here. Justin Jones was at 6 in his Mk2 ford escort, this was to be the first road rally he was competing on in the new car and out to get some more seat time in it, he had Lewis Sim in the passenger seat. Another escort followed, and that one belonged to Gari Evans who was once again with Richard “Ty-capel” Williams, they have been getting some very good results recently and were hoping to repeat that performance here. At 13 was Alan Gaunt in his Vauxhall astra GTE, he had Deian Rees with him. At 22 was Daniel Williams who was once again out in his BMW 318ti with regular navigator Shaun Richards. At 26 were Huw Rowcliffe and Andrew Gaunt with Huw taking his Peugeot 206 GTI for its first rally in some time. At 30 were Jonathon Davies and Owen Rowcliffe in Jonathon’s recently built Mk2 ford escort. Steffan Daniels and Wayne Jones were at 37 in Steffan’s Peugeot 206. Another Peugeot 206 was at 41, this one being that of Tim Evans. He had Gareth Edwards with him on map duties. Richard Hughes was navigating in another Peugeot 206 at 47, he was with Arwel Thomas. Rounding off club members were Lee Plant and Mike Phillips at 48 in Lee’s Mitsubishi colt.

                With signing on and plotting duties taken care of it was off into the lanes, with the first section of the rally taking place in the top north eastern of map 146 at Penllwynbedw and finished at Bryn Cethin where Time control 2 was located. Some competitors managed to pass this first section of the rally without picking up any penalties but most did receive some. Alan Gaunt had 28 seconds and Daniel Williams had 20. Huw Rowcliffe and Andrew Gaunt received 35 seconds whilst Steffan Daniels and Wayne Jones had 20. Tim Evans received 41 seconds here and Lee Plant and Mike Phillips received 1 minute and 7 seconds. Unfortunately, it was to be a short night for Arwel and Richard Hughes who retired in the first half of the rally as well as Jonathon Davies and Owen Rowcliffe who also retired in the first half.

                From here the route headed north and swapped between maps 146 and 135 where lanes and whites around Blaenpennal and Bontnewydd were taken on. Time control 6 was located on this section and would be the next tight section along the route, with everyone receiving penalties here. Stefan Davies and Dafydd were really pushing hard and managed an excellent time of 15 second here in their escort, closely followed by Gavin and Cadog Davies who were another crew that were rally pushing, their time was 36 seconds here. Kevin and Dafydd Evans were going strong and managed 56 seconds here, while Justin Jones and Lewis received 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Alan Gaunt and Deian recieved 1 minute and 55 seconds whilst Daniel Williams and Shaun managed 1 minute 22 seconds. Huw Rowcliffe and Andrew Gaunt stopped the clock on 2 minutes and 39 seconds whilst Steffan and Wayne achieved 2 minutes and 13 seconds. Tim Evans and Gareth managed a very respectable 1 minute 19 seconds. Lee Plant and Mike Phillips had 1 minute 52 seconds.

From here the route headed north again through Trefenter before passing along the outskirts of Llangwryfon at Cnwc-y-Barcud. This is a very tight and twisty section of road and often features in the route of welsh road rallies with its rural setting ideal for testing competitors. Time control 9 was located at the end of this piece of road and once again penalties were received here. Stefan and Dafydd were once again trying very hard and managed to set an excellent time of 40 seconds. Once again hot on their heels were Gavin and Cadog that set a time of 46 seconds here. Kevin and Dafydd were once again going strong and 58 was the reward for their efforts. Justin and Lewis managed 1 minute 20 here and Alan and Deian managed 1 minute and 34 seconds. Daniel and Shaun were also doing well and were rewarded a time of 1 minute 28 seconds. Huw and Andrew managed 1 minute 29 seconds and Steffan and Wayne managed 1 minute 31. Tim and Gareth had 1 minute 51. Lee and Mike had 5 minutes and 38.

From here competitors headed west to Llanddeiniol before turning back and crossing the B4576 onto some white roads. Time control 11 was located here and was to be the last tight section of the first half before competitors headed back towards Stag’s Head for the petrol halt. Unfortunately, Stefan and Dafydd received a 2-minute penalty for an early arrival at Time control 12 which put them out of the running as they had been doing very well and battling for the in up to that point. At the petrol halt it was Gavin Wyn Edwards and Cadog Davies that were leading the rally with 1 minute and 22 seconds of penalties. Kevin “Penclawdd” Jones and Dafydd Evans held fourth overall with 1 minute 54 seconds of penalties in the corolla. Stefan Davies and Dafydd Sion-Lloyd held sixth with 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Justin Jones and Lewis Sim were in tenth with 3 minutes and 58 seconds. Daniel Williams and Shaun Richards were holding twelfth on 4 minutes and 12 seconds. Steffan Daniels and Wayne Jones were holding fifteenth with 4 minutes and 57 seconds, and matching their time in sixteenth were Alan Gaunt and Deian Rees. Tim Evans and Gareth Edwards held nineteenth with 6 minutes and 1 second. Huw Rowcliffe and Andrew Gaunt were in twenty-fourth with 6 minutes and 56 seconds. Lee Plant and Mike Phillips were fortieth on 12 minutes and 25 seconds.

With petrol taken care of it was back into the lanes for the second half, all of which would take place on map 146, home territory for club members. The first section saw competitors travel west of Llangeitho and up towards Penuwch. Following this the route then travelled down the B4576 before turning right just before Bwlch-Llan. Then it was onto the B4337 before heading through the famous ford at Trefilan and then out to Abermeurig. Time controls 21 and 22 were within this section, and some competitors picked up a handful of seconds of penalties at these two controls although a few managed to pass without picking up any penalties. Then the route crossed the A482 at Creuddyn-bridge before crossing it again into Silian. Time control 26 was located here at the end of this section and the first few competitors passed through penalty free. Justin and Lewis picked up 20 seconds of penalties here and Alan and Deian had 12 seconds. Daniel and Shaun had 17 seconds in the BMW. Unfortunately, the retirements sheet grew in the second half with the diff breaking on the corolla of Kevin and Dafydd, a great shame as they were once again on track for an excellent result. Also retiring were Steffan Daniels and Wayne Jones.

Once competitors had passed here the route then passed by Lampeter and Cwmann before the final section began on the Sarn Helen road. The route travelled up through Llanfair Clydogau before heading over to Olmarch. Time control 30 was located here just before Olmarch, and once again while some of the competitors managed to pass through penalty free some competitors did gain a handful of seconds here and there. From here the route passed through Llwyn-y-groes before turning off towards Llangybi for the final couple of miles of route before competitors finished in Llangybi caravan park. Time control 32 was the final control located along this road and everyone managed to pass through without picking up any penalties. It was then into the caravan park for results and a much needed and well-deserved breakfast for all of the competitors where results were announced.

After a long night of setting excellent times it was declared the winners of the rally were Gavin Wyn Edwards and Cadog Davies who had guided their Mk2 escort around the lanes and finished with a penalty count of 1 minute and 22 seconds, they had in fact managed to go through the whole second half of the rally without picking up a single penalty. A great achievement for them and hopefully this will be the turnaround for the season that Cadog deserves. He has now achieved what his parents also did by wining a rally in a Mk1 escort. Stefan Davies and Dafydd Sion-Lloyd managed to climb back up the leader board as they finished in third overall and second in class with 3 minutes of penalties. Justin Jones and Lewis Sim bought their escort home in seventh overall and sixth in class with 4 minutes and 18 seconds of penalties with Justin getting more seat time in the escort and brining it home in once piece ready for its next outing. Daniel Williams and Shaun Richards managed to climb in the top ten as they finished in ninth overall and seventh in class with 4 minutes and 29 seconds of penalties. Steffan Daniels and Wayne Jones just missed out on a top ten as they came in eleventh overall and ninth in class with 4 minutes and 57 seconds of penalties. Alan Gaunt and Deian Rees finished in twelfth overall and tenth in class on 5 minutes and 36 seconds in their Vauxhall Astra and Tim Evans and Gareth Edwards finished in fourteenth overall and twelfth in class on 6 minutes and 12 seconds. Huw Rowcliffe and Andrew Gaunt finished in seventeenth overall and fourteenth in class with 6 minutes and 56 seconds. Lee Plant and Mike Phillips finished in thirtieth overall and ninth in class with 12 minutes and 46 seconds of penalties.

It had been a highly enjoyable event that had included some of 135 and 146’s finest lanes and everyone left Llangybi happy and looking forward to next years offerings

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