George Williams and Cadog Davies on route to second overall on the PK memorial (Joseph John Gilbertson)

The PK memorial rally, organised by Bala and District motor club took place on the 27th and 28th of June, making up the fifth round of the welsh road rally championship as well as a round of the club’s own road rally championship. Once again the Rhug estate would be rally HQ, and a route of some 80 miles over OS maps 116 and 125 would greet the competitors. 

A handful of club members would make the trip up North in a bid to add to their scoresheets, with Andy Davies taking the number 1 spot in his familiar Subaru Impreza, he would have last year’s winning navigator Kieran Price with him. George Williams and Cadog Davies would start at 3 in their Mk2 Ford escort, now with some miles under their belts with the new car having finished fifth on the recent classic lanes. Arwyn Jones and Mathew Pryce would start at 5 in their Honda powered Mk2 Ford escort, Arwyn is currently second in the welsh road rally championship and Mathew is also doing very well currently, they were both hoping for a strong finish here to keep their tally up. Arfon Jones would start at 23 in his Subaru Impreza, once again with Chris Hill on the maps they were another crew out for a strong result. Right behind them at 24 were Phillip and Lewis Jenkins in their Mk2 Ford escort, here was another pair capable of a big result, having had a number of strong finishes over the past few events.

In novice class Liam Regan and Jason Thomas would once again be out in the mighty Nissan micra, they have so far achieved a one hundred percent finishing record with the car so far and were looking to keep it that way on this event. Arthur Jones would pair up with Christian Coleman for this event in Arthur’s Ford Fiesta ST, it would be the first time for them on this event and Arthur would be hoping to add some extra points in his Welsh championship bid.

The organisers would put on a very tight and compact route, all within a few square miles of the start venue, meaning a tough night for the navigators as accurate map reading would be crucial. The route would be made up of 9 sections, all of them in the lanes between the Rhug estate and Cerigydrudion. 

The events opening section would be at the most westerly part of the route using the lanes to the South and West of Cerigydrudion, with a couple of whites thrown in for good measure. There would be one dropper in the middle of this section with time control 1C. Everyone would drop time here, except for Andy and Kieran who would clean it, Andy really making the most of the Subaru’s four wheel drive grip. George and Cadog would be next best with 12 seconds dropped, and they were followed by Arwyn and Mathew with 19 seconds. 

The second section would be a short one that would see everyone drop, beginning at Llangwm and finishing at Ystrad bach farm. George and Cadog pushed hard through here and managed 1 minute 2 seconds, Andy and Kieran would manage 1 minute 8 seconds so they would golf on to the overall lead. Phillip and Lewis did well and managed 1 minute 10 seconds, and they were followed by Arwyn and Mathew who would have 1 minute 12. Arfon and Chris were on 1 minute 16, Liam and Jason would manage 1 minute 23 seconds, Arthur and Christian would have 2 minutes 34. 

It was already becoming an eventful event, Liam and Jason losing some time with a puncture after cutting a corner, and Arfon and Chris would suffer the same problem in the next section too. 

There would then be a short drive up to Llanfihangel Glyn Myrfyr to the start of the third section. The first part of this section would be relatively straightforward with a run down to Bettws Gwerfil Goch, picking up a couple of code boards along the way. A tight section would follow on in the maze of lanes just to the North of the A5. This section was cleaned by most crews. Section 4 would be another relatively short one taking place between the A5 and the A494. This would be another one which Andy and Kieran would clean. Phillip and Lewis would have a great run through it and only drop 4 seconds, and then it would be George and Cadog and Arwyn and Lewis who would tie with 13 seconds. Arfon and Chris would have 16 seconds, Arthur and Christian would manage 48 seconds, and Liam and Jason would have 51 seconds. Liam and Jason would have a moment during the night where they found themselves facing the wrong way heading down a hill, they would manage to correct themselves without losing much time or causing damage to the car.

The petrol halt, taken at Glan-yr-Afon followed, as things stood Andy and Kieran were holding a narrow lead with 1 minute 8 seconds dropped. George and Cadog followed in fourth place with 1 minute 27 seconds, they would have Phillip and Lewis right behind them in fifth on 1 minute 38 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew would hold seventh with 1 minute 44 seconds dropped, and Arfon and Chris would hold thirty-sixth with 5 minutes 59 seconds, good going considering their puncture cost them 4 minutes. Arthur and Christian would be forty-second with 6 minutes 56 seconds.

The second half would begin with the fifth section, using the lanes between Glan-yr-Afon and Cynwyd, before crossing the A5 and heading North, passing by the Rhug estate and finishing at Nant erw Haidd farm. The battle for the lead would really tighten here, with Geroge and Cadog dropping 10 seconds and Andy and Kieran dropping 16. Arwyn and Mathew were going well too with 22 seconds dropped, sadly Arfon and Chris would have an eventful half with their Subaru overheating throughout the second half, this would see Phillip and Lewis catch them. They would lose some time as dust would reduce their visibility down, having a slight moment on a white where Phillip would have to make a tight 90 left. Arfon and Chris would drop 1 minute 22, whilst Phillip and Lewis would have 36 seconds. Arthur and Christian would have 2 minutes 15 seconds, and Liam and Jason would have 2 minutes 59.

Section six would run on the lanes parallel to the A494. Timed to the minute many of the front runners would manage to this clean section but those running down the order would have the odd minute. The following section would be a real tricky one with a clockwise loop in the lanes to the West of Bettws Gwerfil Goch. This section would catch out a few competitors with both Arwyn and Mathew and Arthur and Christian wrong slotting, Arwyn and Mathew getting away with losing only a minute or so but sadly Arthur and Christian would lose some 15 minutes here, dropping them a few places.

The eighth section would go from Llanfihangel Glyn Myrfyr back down to the A5. This would be another cleanable section so competitors would cross the A5 once again for the final section. This would be another challenging section which would catch many out, with a very tricky junction located at the very start of the section. Andy and Kieran would get caught out here, putting them out of contention for a win. Arwyn and Mathew would be another to get this junction wrong. 

With the competition complete everyone would head back to the estate for breakfast and results. It would be George and Cadog that would do best among club members as they would end their event in an excellent second overall, with their total time penalty being 3 minutes 32 seconds. Andy and Kieran would end their night in fifth overall with 4 minutes 28 seconds, and right behind them in sixth were Phillip and Lewis with 5 minutes 34 seconds. Arwyn and Mathew ended their night in eleventh overall with 7 minutes 33 seconds, and Arfon and Chris would end their event in twenty-eighth with 11 minutes 44 seconds, great going considering their troubles. Liam and Jason would keep their hundred percent finishing record intact as they would finish in thirty-ninth overall having dropped 15 minutes 52 seconds, and Arthur and Christian would end their night in fifty ninth overall with 26 minutes 2 seconds dropped. It had been a challenging but enjoyable event and it was great to see all club members make it round.

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