Arfon Jones and Chris Hill on their way to a class win on the Cilwendeg (Joseph John Gilbertson)
The weekend of the 18th and 19th of October would once again see the running of one of the most famous road rallies in the calendar, the Cilwendeg. This event organised by Teifi Valley motor club would consist of 103 miles of competition over OS maps 145 and 146, giving a demanding challenge for the competitors entered. Naturally being a fairly local event and a penultimate round of the club's road rally championship it would attract a healthy number of club members. As well as this it would be the tenth round of the Welsh road rally championship.
First club members on the entry list would be in car 4 with current welsh champions Cadog Davies once again with George Williams in George’s Mk2 Ford escort. At 6 was Autumn winning driver Daniel “lwni” Jones, who would have Gerwyn Barry with him on the maps. They were another crew using the ever popular Mk2 Ford escort. Stefan Davies and Kieran Price would take the number 7 slot in Stefan’s Mk2 Ford escort, and they would be followed by Andy Davies, who for this event would have Marc Hughes sitting with him, they would be in Andy’s Subaru Impreza. At number 23 were Arwyn Jones and Mathew Pryce out in their Honda power Mk2 Ford escort, Arwyn recently switching to a Ford having competed at the wheel of a Subaru. At 26 would be a Subaru, this one belonging to Sam Woodcock, who would have Mark Rodway on the maps with him. Navigating in car 62 was Richard Hughes, he would be on the maps for Tudor Griffiths in a Mk2 Ford escort. At 66 was Arfon Jones in his Subaru impreza, he would again have Chris Hill on map duties. At 69 were Ryan Dabner and Sion Busson in Ryan’s Peugeot 306 GTI, and another navigator would be in car 78, Griffin Tweedale would be sitting with Aled Jenkins in another Mk2 Ford escort. Rounding off club members were car 90, the Mk2 Ford escort of Phillip and Lewis Jenkins.
The atmosphere at the start car park in Newcastle Emlyn was electric, with vast crowds who would not let the rain showers dampen their spirits, gathered round all the cars. With signing on taken care of and routes handed out the car park slowly emptied as all of the enthusiasts made their way into the lanes for a night of spectating.This year's route would focus more to the North and East of Newcastle Emlyn this year, although the first section would be South of the event’s hometown.
The first section of the event would take place on the lanes around Capel Iwan and Cwmorgan, before passing through the woods at Cwmblaen, and included 7 Time controls as well as the section finish, and many of them would see crews drop time at them, with Time control 2 being the first, with four 3 meter controls being undertaken on the approach. It was Stefan and Kieran who did best among club members with 41 seconds, and right behind them on 42 seconds were Daniel and Gerwyn. Arfon and Chris got off to a great start with 56 seconds dropped, and then it was Arwyn and Mathew with 1 minute 1 second. George and Cadog followed with 1 minute 2 seconds, and they were followed by Andy and Marc with 1 minute 4 seconds. Phillip and Lewis managed 1 minute 29 seconds, and Ryan and Sion managed 2 minutes 13 seconds. Sadly it would be a short night for a few of our members with Sam and Mark, Tudor and Richard, and Aled and Griffin all retiring in the first half.
Time control 3 was cleaned by the majority of the field, it would be timed to the minute as would the following Time control, 4. Some of the front runners would manage to clean this control, but those later down the order would drop the odd minute or 2. Time control 5 would follow, and due to them dropping a minute at Time control 4, Andy and Marc would have a clean minute going into the next clock, where others would already be in their minute, so Andy and Marc would only drop 30 seconds at Time control 5. It would be the other subaru following them, as Arfon and Chris would drop 49 seconds here. Daniel and Gerwyn would be behind them with 51 seconds, and then it was Stefan and Kieran with 1 minute 12 seconds. George and Cadog would be next with 1 minute 18 seconds, and Arwyn and Mathew followed them with 1 minute 32 seconds. Ryan and Sion managed 1 minute 46 seconds, and Phillip and Lewis had 2 minutes 32 seconds.
Time control 7 would be the next dropper, and here it would be Arwyn and Mathew that would do best with 59 seconds dropped. Arfon and Chris would be next with 1 minute 3, and they would have Phillip and Lewis right behind them on 1 minute 4 seconds. Following them would Stefan and Kieran who managed 1 minute 19 seconds and then it would be a tie between Daniel and George and Cadog who both had 1 minute 21 seconds. Andy and Marc managed 1 minute 33 seconds, and Ryan and Sion would manage 2 minutes 10 seconds. The section finish would be timed to the minute and would see pretty much everyone drop a minute here.
The next section would be to the West of Abercych, and finished by Llechryd, and was cleaned by everyone so it would be Time control 8, which was in the third section which, began at Llandygwydd, and would again use the harpins just off of the A road, before using the tracks at Penlanfach. Here almost everyone would drop time, although Andy and Marc however, would clean it. Stefan and Kieran would be next best with 13 seconds dropped, and behind them it was Daniel and Gerwyn with 17 seconds, following them were George and Cadog with 22 seconds, and then Arwyn and Mathew with 36 seconds. Arfon and Chris had 43 seconds, and Ryan and Sion managed 1 minute 14. Sadly we would lose another crew with the escort of Phillip and Lewis retiring in this section. Everyone would clean the section finish.
Time control 9 would be located in the fourth section of the event, which was in the lanes between Penparc and the coast, and it would be George and Cadog that would do best here, dropping 41 seconds at this clock, Andy and Marc would be behind them on 46 seconds sadly they wouldn’t go any further as they would pull out when their Impreza’s fuel tank developed a leak.
The final section of the half would contain two more droppers at Time controls 10 and 11, as competitors travelled in the lanes between Aberporth and Brynhoffnant. Daniel and Gerwyn who were having another excellent run and managed 46 seconds. Stefan and Keran were behind them with 54 seconds, and then it was George and Cadog with 56 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew were still going very well with 1 minute 8 seconds, and behind them were Arfon and Chris with 1 minute 30 seconds, Ryan and Sion managing 2 minutes 11 seconds. Steffan and Kieran would do best at Time control 11 with 14 seconds dropped, behind them with Daniel and Gerwyn,dropping 29 seconds. Cadog and George would follow with 35 seconds.
The fuel halt would be taken at Brynhoffnant. Doing best among club members were Daniel and Gerwyn who were holding second overall with a total penalty of 6 minutes 23 seconds. Stefan and Kieran were behind them in third overall with 6 minutes 35 seconds, and George and Cadog would hold fourth with 7 minutes 15 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew were holding eighth overall despite being down on power after the engine lost vtec and they had issues with brakes which would jam on, meaning Arwyn would have to manually lift the brake pedal up with his foot. They had a penalty count of 9 minutes 45 seconds. Arfon and Chris were holding the class three lead in eleventh overall with 10 minutes 11 seconds dropped, and Ryan and Sion were forty third overall with 20 minutes 8 seconds.
The second half of the event would be as demanding as the first, with many droppers in the route, including one up the infamous Cwmtydu harpins. The sixth section of the night would contain two droppers, as well as the section finish . Daniel and Gerwyn would do best at Time control 12 with 50 seconds dropped, they would be 5 seconds ahead of George and Cadog would drop 55. Following them were Stefan and Kieran with 1 minute 1 second. Time control 13 would see competitors drop more time, with George and Cadog doing best, dropping 57 seconds, Stefan and Kieran would drop a minute here, and Daniel and Gerwyn would have 1 minute 11 seconds. At the section finish it would be Stefan and Kieran who would do best, dropping 32 seconds, it would be close behind them though with Daniel and Gerwyn dropping 37 seconds and George and Cadog drawing 38 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew were still going very well in their escort, and managed 48 seconds here, Arfon and Chris were also putting in an excellent performance and were the crew to beat in class 3, they managed 1 minute 6 seconds here. Ryan and Sion were also going well with 3 minutes 29 seconds.
The seventh section was short, and included a map change onto map 146, It involved using the lanes between Cross in and Gilfachreda, and would see competitors drop, George and Cadog came next with 19 seconds dropped, and then it would be Daniel and Gerwyn with 24 seconds, followed by Stefan and Kieran who dropped 33 seconds.
There would be two more droppers in the eighth section, at Time controls 14 and 16. It would be very tight at the top at Time control 14, with Stefan and Kieran only dropping 11 seconds, followed by Daniel and Gerwyn with 12, and then George and Cadog with 13 seconds. Arfon and Chris were next with 43 seconds dropped, and then it would be Arwyn and Mathew with 59 seconds, and then Ryan and Sion who would drop 5 minutes 9 second. The route then used the white at Henbant farm, before arriving at Time control 16, and it would be Stefan and Kieran who did best with 58 seconds dropped, sadly they would retire in the next section with a broken gearbox, a great shame as they were on course for a podium placing. George and Cadog would be right behind them on 59 seconds, they would hold third overall and were beginning to close the gap on second place.
There would be one last dropper in the event, which would be at Section finish 9 and ran in the lanes around Rhydlewis and Adpar. George and Cadog did best among club members with 1 minute 20 seconds dropped. Arfon and Chris rounded off a great night with a time of 1 minute 36 seconds which was excellent going. Daniel and Gerwyn ended their night with a time of 1 minute 43 seconds, and then it would be Ryan and Sion with 1 minute 55 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew had 2 minutes 9 seconds.
Back in Newcastle Emlyn for a well earned breakfast and the results. Daniel “lwni” Jones and Gerwyn Barry finished in an excellent second overall with a penalty count of 12 minutes 33 seconds. Third went to George Williams and Cadog Davies who had 12 minutes 35 seconds, not quite managing to close the gap fully. Arwyn Jones and Mathew Pryce finished in a very respectable eleventh overall, they had a penalty count of 19 minutes 54 seconds. Class three honours went to Arfon Jones and Chris Hill who had been setting some very respectable times all night in their Subaru, they would be fifteenth overall with 21 minutes 38 seconds. Ryan Dabner and Sion Busson would end their night in forty first overall with a total penalty of 45 minutes 55 seconds. It had been a classic Cilwendeg that was very challenging but also very enjoyable for all those who took part.
Many thanks must go to Joseph John Gilbertson for the use of his image in this report.