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Dylan Davies and Llion Williams achieve a top 10 result on Wales' first closed road rally

               History was made on the weekend of the 7th and 8th of September when the first ever closed road rally took place, the Bae Ceredigion. Organised between members of four motor clubs in the area which were Lampeter and district, Newtown, Aberystwyth and Teifi Valley, members came together to create history and hopefully add a regular event to the calendar. With Get connected as the main sponsor of the event, it quickly became a popular event with everyone in the Ceredigion area excited to see it run and bring in an income boost to the surrounding area. The entry filled very quickly with competitors from all over the UK hoping to get an entry and what was the first event.

                The rally included four stages ran twice, giving 8 stages, and over 40 miles of competitive driving on some of West Wales finest roads. The first stage was a run through the village of Bongoch just north of Aberystwyth and the organisers couldn’t believe how well received the stage was among the residents of the village who welcomed the rally with open arms. Something the organisers were very grateful for. The next stage would be Nant-y-moch on the famous dam road. Following this it was over to Ystumtuen before a final stage over Pendam. Then followed a second loop in the afternoon over each stage.

                In amongst the 120 crews that entered were a handful of Lampeter members, with the first on the entry list being Meirion Evans and Jonathon Jackson at car 5 in their R5 specification Skoda Fabia. John Dalton and Gwynfor Jones were at 11 in the first of the Darrian’s that were out with theirs being a T90 GTR specification car. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams were at 34 in Dylan’s recently purchased tarmac specification Mk2 Ford escort. Rhys Wyn Davies was at 45 in another Darrian, he had Gerwyn James taking care of pace note duties. Next up at 54 were Malcom “tar” Jones and Rhys Jones in their road rally specification Peugeot 206GTI 180. Navigating in car 64 was Andrew Davies who was navigating for Dafydd Williams in Dafydd’s Chrysler Sunbeam. Also navigating was Dorian Evans who was with Carwyn Ellis at 66 in a Mk2 Ford escort. At 91 were Christian Coleman and Mark Coleman in a BMW compact. At 107 was Justin Jones who had regular navigator Nia Hughes with him, they were in Justin’s Mk2 Ford escort. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths were right behind them at 108 in Gari’s Mk2 ford escort. Navigating in car 116 was Edryd Evans who was out with Emyr Evans in another Mk2 Ford Escort.

                Scrutineering and signing on took place on the Saturday with cars lining up on Aberystwyth prom which saw a huge crowd gather for a glimpse of the cars before the action followed the following day. There was a surge in spectator ticket sales following scrutineering with people interested in the rally and wanting to check out the action and made for quite the spectacle on the sea front with the cars looking great in the sunlight that shone.

                On the following Sunday the action took off and history was made as competitors left Aberystwyth and headed into the closed lanes. Bontgoch was first up and included a designated spectator area on a tight harpin right bend that had a quick approach where a large crowd of spectators gathered where they could safely catch the action.

                It was Meirion Evans and Jonathon Jackson that were the pace setters on the opening stage as they opened a slim lead of 0.3 seconds with a time of 3 minutes and 57.6 seconds in their Skoda. An excellent start to their day. John Dalton and Gwynfor Jones were next among club members with a time of 4 minutes and 18.4 seconds in the Darrian so held twenty-fifth. Rhys Wyn Davies and Gerwyn James were thirty-sixth after the opening stage with a highly respectable 4 minutes and 25.1 seconds with a damaged clutch which made going tricky. Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans were in forty-first overall on 4 minutes and 26.3 seconds. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams fifty-first after the opening stage with a time of 4 minutes and 32 seconds after Dylan had overcooked the harpin at the spectator point which had cost them some time. 0.6 seconds off their time were Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones in their Peugeot 206 on 4 minutes and 32.6 seconds. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths were in fifty-seventh with 4 minutes and 35.0 seconds. Emyr and Edryd Evans were in seventy-third on 4 minutes and 44.1 seconds in their escort. Christian and Mark Coleman were behind them in seventy-fourth on 4 minutes and 46.0 seconds in their BMW. Dafydd and Andrew were in eighty-sixth overall on 4 minutes and 55.9 seconds. Unfortunately, there were already names on the retirements list with Justin Jones and Nia Hughes had retired in their escort.

                With the first stage cleared it was over to Nant-y-moch for stage 2. It was a longer stage with a length of around 9 miles and was a tight and twisty affair in some of the most stunning countryside available, not that any competitor had time to admire the views with bend after bend appearing in the roads and many a navigator ending the stage with a dry throat from all the bend calling! Unfortunately, the rally leaders Meirion Evans and Jonathon Jackson retired in this stage as did Rhys Wyn Davies and Gerwyn James who didn’t start as the beginning of the stage included an uphill section which became impossible to negotiate in a car with no clutch. Christian and Mark Coleman had also retired with mechanical issues on their BMW.

Those that were still running included John Dalton and Gwynfor Jones who held ninth overall after the second stage after setting an excellent time of 9 minutes and 8.9 seconds, a time that was in fact the fifth fastest over the stage. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams had climbed up to twenty-seventh overall with a time of 9 minutes and 34.6 seconds with Dylan becoming more familiar with his new car over every mile they travelled. Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans climbed up to fortieth after the second stage with 10 minutes and 5.7 seconds. Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones also climbed up the leader board to forty fifth after setting a very good time of 10 minutes 3.6 seconds. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths broke into the top 50 as they held forty-ninth overall with a time of 10 minutes and 7.2 seconds. Emyr Evans and Edryd Evans were now lying in sixty fifth following a stage time of 10 minutes and 32.5 seconds. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies climbed up to seventy-seventh after setting a time of 11 minutes and 5.7 seconds on the second stage.

Stage 3 followed, located at Ystumtuen, for this stage the event organisers had organised a park and ride service that meant spectators could go and view the stage safely. The spectator location was at near the end of the stage where competitors approach a right-hand junction bend from a crest before heading over the stage finish. John Dalton and Gwynfor Jones heald on to their ninth overall position in this stage after setting the tenth fastest time over the stage. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams climbed five positions on this stage which meant they now stood in twenty-second overall. Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans were another pair to climb, as they gained three positions to lay in thirty-seventh overall. Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones were still going strong in their Peugeot 206 and climbed two places up to forty-third overall. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths dropped down the leader board to fifty-fourth due to gearbox damage over the third stage. Emyr Evans and Edryd Evans also climbed the leader board and now lay in sixty-third. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies now lay in seventy first overall so they had also climbed.

Pendam was the final stage of the first loop and again the organisers had put on a location for spectators that even included a mini food festival which was kept busy all day with hungry fans. Spectators could line up along the hillside and look down onto the road where competitors negotiated a tricky crest before a quick right hand bend. Here John Dalton and Gwynfor Jones climbed further into the top ten as they lay in eighth overall following another excellent time of 6 minutes and 5.8 seconds. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams were pushing hard and managed to climb another four places as they set an excellent time of 5 minutes and 52.2 seconds Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans now lay in thirtieth overall after setting a time of 6 minutes and 12.5 seconds over Pendam. They had climbed seven places. Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones were also doing well and were now in thirty-sixth overall with a time of 6 minutes and 15.5 seconds over the stage. Emyr Evans and Eryd Evans were another pair climbing a number of places as they ended the stage seven places higher than they began as they held fifty-sixth overall. Their time over Pendam was 6 minutes and 29.6 seconds. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies set another very respectable time of 6 minutes and 41.5 seconds so they climbed five places up to sixty-sixth overall. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths missed this stage as they attempted to solve their damaged gearbox problems. They eventually sourced a spare gearbox from another competitor which fitted Gari’s car so they were able to re-join the rally for the second half.

The service halt followed at university campus before competitors returned to the stages for a second loop. It was back over to Bontgoch for stage five. Unfortunately, John Dalton and Gwynfor Jones went off on this stage and retired from the event, a great shame as they were on course for an excellent result. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams become the highest placed club members who after the end of the fifth stage lay in sixteenth overall. Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans also continued to climb up the leader board and now held twenty-seventh overall. Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones held on to their position of thirty-sixth overall. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies dropped two positions due to incurring a minute penalty for entering the service control early. They now lay in sixty-eighth overall. Emyr Evans and Edryd Evans received a nominal time due to a delay on the stage so they dropped down the leader board to eighty-first overall. Gari Evans and Afron Griffiths were in eighty-fourth overall following a 15-minute penalty for non-starting stage 4.

Back to the incredibly picturesque Nant-y-moch stage for the sixth stage of the event, Dylan Davies and Llion Williams were now knocking on the door of a top ten result as they climbed another three places so now held thirteenth overall after setting the eighth fastest time of 9 minutes and 20 seconds over the very demanding stage. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies set out to make up time after the penalty they received and managed to claw back seven places with an excellent time of 10 minutes and 38.6 seconds. Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans had a mis firing engine so they were down on power and dropped down to sixty-seventh overall. Their time over the stage was 14 minutes and 43.3 seconds. Emyr Evans and Edryd Evans climbed an impressive eight positions and held seventy-third overall following an excellent time of 10 minutes and 20.6 seconds. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths climbed five more positions after setting a great time of 10 minutes and 23.4 seconds. Unfortunately, Malcolm Jones and Rhys Jones retired from the rally on this stage due to damaged brakes.

Ystumtuen was the seventh stage of the rally and once again Dylan and Llion managed to climb up the leader board, they now lay in an impressive twelfth overall after once again following a time well inside the top ten. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies were doing very well in their Sunbeam and climbed a further three places up to fifty-eighth overall. Emyr Evans and Edryd Evans climbed another seven places up to sixty-sixth overall. Gari Evans and Arfon Griffiths also climbed five places and were now in seventy-fourth. Sadly, Carwyn Ellis and Dorian Evans joined the retirements list with the mis fire on their escort’s engine forcing their retirement.

Pendam was the final stage of the history making event, and here Dylan Davies and LLion Williams made one final push to break into the top ten. Their effort paid off and after setting the sixth overall best time over the stage with 5 minutes and 40.5 seconds they finished their rally in an excellent ninth overall. An excellent result for them, especially it was the first time Dylan had driven the car any distance. Their total time was 47 minutes and 19.7 seconds. They also finished third in their class. Dafydd Williams and Andrew Davies set another highly respectable time of 6 minutes and 29.5 seconds so they finished their day in a very respectable fifty-sixth overall and second in their class. Their total time was 54 minutes and 40.5 seconds. Emyr Evans and Edryd Evans ended their day with a time of 6 minutes and 29.6 seconds so they finished in sixty-first overall and sixteenth in class. Their total time for the day was 55 minutes and 50.8 seconds. Gari Evans had a time of 6 minutes and 18.5 seconds on the final stage so they finished in seventy-second overall and eleventh in class with a total time of 1 hour 11 minutes and 3.4 seconds.

At the end of the rally everyone agreed that it had been a great success and everyone wanted it to be a regular feature in the rallying calendar. The organisers had held an excellent event breaking new ground and no doubt creating many new rally fans who discovered the rally out on Aberystwyth prom.