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The Malky Rally 2004

Sponsored by Brace's Bakery

Blackwood & District Motor Club

30th/31st October 2004

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Seventy crews started a demanding Malky Rally, which roads in the Heads of the Valleys and the Black Mountains region. There were 13 regularity sections, with numerous three metre controls to tax the navigators.

The event was the penultimate round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship. Four drivers were still in contention for the series win. John Davies was in the strongest position, with Dennis Quinn and Steve Wood being in the best position to unseat him. Gremlin winner Marc James needed top two finishes on both the Malky and the final round, the Greenleaves.

In contrast, there were ten navigators who could still take their title. Paul Holmberg led the championship before the Malky and had Andy Oakes close behind. Neil Bevan, who had only scored on five rounds, with six to count out of the eight round series, was still in with a realistic chance.

The Malky was based at the Traveller's Rest at Pen-y-fan, this allowed for competition to start immediately from the start car park. The opening section ran staight down to the main road at Cwm.

Fastest over the section were Roger Holder/Mark Appleton (Ford Sierra 4x4); they were one second up on John Davies/Neil Bevan (Vauxhall Astra). The same margin separated Davies/Bevan from Gary Jones/Andy Oakes (Toyota Corolla) in third, while Steve Wood/Aled Richards (Vauxhall Astra) were a further second down in fourth. Eight crews were within ten seconds of the lead at this point.

The next section ran over the mountain road from Beaufort to Llangynidr. Davies/Bevan dropped least time here and took the lead. They were 13 seconds faster than second quickest, Car 28 Andrew Card/Carl Davies (Ford Escort), who were now in second place overall, four seconds ahead of Jones/Oakes.

Holder/Appleton picked up a fail on this section, missing PC2. They went on to finish in 17th place, which would have been sixth without the fail. Mark Robinson/Garth Powell (Ford Capri) missed the same PC and finished a position ahead of Holder/Appleton.

The third section was a short affair, running up and down Cwm Crawnon; it was timed to the minute. Most of the top crews cleaned it, although Dennis Quinn/Paul Holmberg (Ford Escort) and Glyn Price/Iwan Jones (Ford Escort) dropped a minute. Meanwhile Steve Wood/Aled Richards were two minutes late at RF3; they were struggling with a down-on-power engine. They were to retire between the two petrol halts with a failed head gasket.

The fourth section ran alongside Talybont and Pontsticill Resevoirs, but had to cancelled from the results.This meant that the order at the first petrol halt at Dowlais Top was Davies/Bevan 1m 56s; Card/Davies 2m 13s; Jones/Oakes 2m 17s and Andrew Sheppard/Justin Brooks (Ford EScort) 2m 29s.

In fifth place at this point were Owain Beaman/Nigel Nelson (Peugeot 205 GTi), who were on 2m 44s. However, they were to retire soon afterwards when they went off the road and broke a drive shaft as they regained the tarmac.

Regularity Five started just off the A470 at Llwyn-onn Resevoir and used forestry tracks immediately after the start. Davies/Bevan drew away from the field as they were 50 seconds faster than the rest of the field. Jones/Oakes moved into second as they were 11 seconds quicker than Card/Davies. Sheppard/Brooks also passed Card/Davies, taking third place by one second.

A easily cleanable run from Ystardfellte to the Cray Resevoir caused no problems for most runners. Regularity Seven was more challenging with a opening section through the edge of Glasfynydd Forestry. Sheppard/Brooks were fastest, as a result they were tied for second place with Jones/Oakes. Davies/Bevan now led by almost a minute and a half.

There were no changes to the leader board up to the second petrol halt, which was at Bronllys. It was the last three sections of the night that were to be decisive.

The tenth section was a short one, but it ran through the Llanwenarth White. Jones/Oakes closed the gap to the lead as they were more than 30 seconds faster than their rivals. They were now 29 seconds behind Davies/Bevan. Sheppard/Brooks were over a minute from the lead.

PC19, near the start of Regularity Eleven, proved to be critical to the final results. It was on a triangle on the climb up to The Tumble. Davies/Bevan managed to roll their Astra at the control and lost eight minutes before they got going again. This should have left Jones/Oakes in the lead, but they missed the triangle and received a fail for a wrong approach.

These dramas allowed Sheppard/Brooks to inherit first place, a position they maintained through the last two sections. They came home over two minutes ahead of Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort), with Card/Davies taking third, 15 seconds behind the runners up.

David Howells, with young James Morgan on the maps, took the Semi-Expert class and Alan Alford/Ted Williams led home the sizeable entry of Novice crews.

Davies/Bevan recovered from their time loss to claim fourth place. This was enough for Davies to secure the Welsh Championship. In the Navigators' table, the results reduced the number of contenders to three. Bevan moved to the top of the title race, but a maximum score on the final round would allow either Paul Holmberg or Anthony Davies a chance to deny Bevan the crown.

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OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Andy Sheppard	Justin Brooks	Ford Escort	14m 16s
	2	Gerwyn Jones	Ceri Davies	Ford Escort	16m 20s
	3	Andrew Card	Carl Davies	Ford Escort	16m 35s
	4	John Davies	Neil Bevan	Vauxhall Astra	16m 51s
	5	Alyson Acreman	Byron Jones	Honda Civic	16m 56s
	6	Glyn Price	Iwan Jones	Ford Escort	19m 14s
	7	Mike Biss	Cath Woodman	Vauxhall Corsa SRi	19m 21s
	8	Dennis Quinn	Paul Holmberg	Ford Escort	19m 28s
	9	Gary Jenkins	Eric Tong	Peugeot 205 GTi	21m 31s
	10	Kevin ‘KJ’ Jones	Anthony Davies	Ford Sierra	22m 04s
	11	Timothy Evans	Alun Probert	Nissan Micra	25m 59s
	12	Grant Parker	Meirion Rees	Toyota Corolla	27m 14s
	13	Roy Pesticcio	Simon Lannon	Ford Escort	29m 39s
	14	Granville Cottle	Matthew Farr	Toyota Corolla	30m 49s
	15	Ian Orford	Peter Barnard	Proton Compact	31m 48s
	16	David Howells	James Morgan	Peugeot 309 GTi	33m 23s
	17	Gary ‘Shonkey’ Jones	Andy Oakes	Toyota Corolla	1F 12m 16s
	18	Mark ‘ATFF’ Robinson	David ‘Garth’ Powell	Ford Capri	1F 16m 32s
	19	Roger Holder	Mark Appleton	Ford Sierra 4x4	1F 18m 08s
	20	David Jones	Glyn Price	Peugeot 205 GTi	1F 30m 46s
	21	Shaun Davies	Philip Tedstone	Toyota Corolla	2F 34m 25s
	22	Steven Powell	Robin Moses	VW Polo	2F 41m 37s
	23	Chris Bowen	Robert Jones	Ford Escort	2F 55m 42s
	24	Alann Alford	Ted Williams	Peugeot 205 GTi	3F 39m 14s
	25	Dai John	Paul Bevan	Toyota Corolla	3F 23m 36s
	26	Paul Edwards	Phil Crisp	Peugeot 205 GTi	4F 43m 38s
	27	Thomas Henderson	Matthew Wood Griffiths	Audi Quattro	5F 30m 24s
	28	Kevin Powell	Mike Kimber	VW Golf GTi	7F 27m 33s
	29	David Evans	Rhys Watkins	Peugeot 205 GTi	10F 53m 32s
	30	Anthony Williams	Peter Chappelle	Ford Escort	11F 45m 18s
	31	Mark Burns	Michael Amos	Ford Fiesta	15F 43m 32s
	32	Mike Jones	Kevin Tweedy	Peugeot 205 GTi	20F 29m 02s
	33	Jason Thomas	Christopher Spry	Ford Sierra	27F 38m 15s
	34	Steven Knibbs	Lee Davies	Peugeot 205 GTi	38F 30m 12s

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