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Rali Bro Caron 1997
Sponsored by Tuf Treads
Lampeter & District Motor Club
22nd/23rd February 1997
Clerk of the Course: Aneurin James
Route: 140 Miles
Maps: 146
Starters: 90
Winners: Alan Gaunt/Maurice Leach (Peugeot 205 GTi)
Having won the Starlight Rally in January as a driver Maurice Leach navigated Alan Gaunt to victory on Lampeter MC's Rali Bro Caron. The Peugeot 205 crew completed the 140 mile event without incurring any penalty despite the demanding nature of the route. They were followed home by 1996 Welsh Road Rally Champions, Wyn 'Slim' Jones and Phil Clark, who dropped only 12 seconds over the night.
The Rali Bro Caron was the first round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship and the second of the West Midlands contest. As ever the event attracted a maximum entry of 90 cars, demonstrating the enthusiasm there is for road rallying in West Wales, not only among competitors but from the local population as well. At some points it seemed that whole villages turned out to watch the cars pass. As usual all night coverage of the rally was provided by the local radio station, Radio Ceredigion.
The route was split into just three sections, the first two prior to petrol used the lanes to the north of the rally's base at Lampeter. While the shorter second half ran from south of the town to end with a run over Farmers. Significantly the fast roads in the Brechfa area were ignored making the event much more demanding over the entire route than in previous years, when many sections had been easily cleanable.
There were to be few retirements, however among these were the top seeds, Aled Evans, who was being navigated by last year's winner Phil Pugh, his Sierra ground to a halt after only two miles with a broken engine. Another fancied crew who failed to make the finish were Gary Davies/Dorian Evans, they were left stranded when their Escort's petrol tank dried up only three miles from the halfway halt. Dennis Quinn/Andrew Thomson completed the route but were well down the results after losing 14 minutes with clutch problems on the one section timed to the second.
Gaunt/Leach were in stunning form and even the problems of a slipping clutch and failing poti couldn't stop them from keeping a clean sheet and a well deserved victory. They even cleaned the tightest section with 10 seconds to spare, their nearest rivals Jones/Clarke dropped four seconds at the same control and a further eight on a regularity section to be just 12 seconds down at the end, however second place did allow them to take away top Welsh Championship points. Third overall and first Semi-Expert were the local husband and wife team of Nigel and Karen Davies, the driver returning after a lay off of a number of years to prove that neither he nor his Escort 1300 had lost any of their speed; they dropped only 48 seconds all night.
Top West Midlands Championship points went to fourth place Baron Glaze/Pete Davies. After two rounds there was now a tie at the top of the series between Peter Zjalic/Richard Preece, who finished the Bro Caron in 19th place, and Colin Wilson/Roger Fildes, who were 14th.
In fifth place were Clive Greves/Rob Duke, who survived a puncture without any time lose as it occurred in one of the cleanable sections. Other leading contenders were less fortunate dropping significant amounts of time after sustaining punctures. With the closeness of the competition such incidents sent the victims tumbling down the order, thus Nigel James/Eurig Evans finished 17th and John Evans/Pete Collins 23rd.
Paul Holmberg/Ian Vale were sixth but were left ruing a wrong slot which cost them a minute and a half and two places on the tie breaker section.
Several other top crews dropped significant time with wrong slots. Geraint Davies/Emyr Jones lost six minutes when they took the incorrect route at a five way junction. Graham Evans/Ian Mills lost time at the same point, then, in the second half,got stuck on a track after wrong slotting again, fortunately for them Pete Cotton/Dave Pitchford made the same error and the two crews were able to help each other out of the muddy situation.
Second Semi-Expert and seventh overall went to Gethin Lewis/Alun Jones, while Emyr Morgan/Carwyn Lloyd took the Novice award.
OVERALL RESULTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
| 1 | Alan Gaunt | Maurice Leach | Peugeot 205 GTi | 0m 00s | |
| 2 | Wyn Jones | Phil Clarke | Ford Escort | 0m 12s | |
| 3 | Nigel Davies | Karen Davies | Ford Escort | 0m 49s | |
| 4 | Baron Glaze | Pete Davies | Ford Escort | 2m 17s | |
| 5 | Clive Greves | Rob Duke | Vauxhall Chevette | 2m 28s | |
| 6 | Paul Holmberg | Ian Vale | Ford Escort | 2m 41s | |
| 7 | Gethin Lewis | Aled Jones | Ford Escort | 3m 05s | |
| 8 | Elgan Jones | Deian Rees | Vauxhall Astra | 3m 16s | |
| 9 | Wyn Owens | Hefin Owens | Ford Escort | 3m 30s | |
| 10 | Dave Davies | Owen Dodd | Vauxhall Cavalier | 4m 07s | |
| 11 | Cyril Crook | Chris Ware | Talbot Sunbeam | 4m 14s | |
| 12 | Michael Pedley | David Pedley | Hillman Avenger | 6m 09s | |
| 13 | Des Phasey | Steve Price | Ford Escort | 6m 32s | |
| 14 | Chris Wilson | Roger Fildes | Vauxhall Astra | 6m 54s | |
| 15 | Mark Daniel | Mark Howell | Ford Escort | 6m 56s | |
| 16 | Eirwyn Davies | Mike Morgan | Ford Escort | 7m 12s | |
| 17 | Nigel James | Eurig Evans | Ford Escort | 7m 47s | |
| 18 | Adrian Evans | Jon Stobbs | Ford Escort | 8m 08s | |
| 19 | Peter Zjalic | Richard Preece | Toyota Corolla | 8m 32s | |
| 20 | Geraint Davies | Emyr Jones | Toyota Corolla | 8m 41s | |
| 21 | Pete Cotton | Dave Pitchford | Ford Escort | 9m 20s | |
| 22 | David Morgan | Pat Gadsby | Toyota Corolla | 9m 58s | |
| 23 | John Evans | Pete Collins | Hillman Avenger | 13m 12s | |
| 24 | Carl O'Grady | Gwyn Williams | VW Golf | 13m 26s | |
| 25 | Graham Evans | Ian Mills | Opel Manta | 13m 49s | |
| 26 | Dylan Parry | Dafydd Williams | Ford Escort | 15m 10s | |
| 27 | Dennis Quinn | Andrew Thomson | Ford Escort | 16m 10s | |
| 28 | Nick Onions | Steve Quine | Talbot Sunbeam | 17m 58s | |
| 29 | Dave Boucher | Stephanie Lomax | Ford Escort | 20m 15s | |
| 30 | Emyr Morgan | Carwyn Lloyd | Ford Escort | 20m 57s | |
| 31 | John Hands | Rebecca Hands | Vauxhall Chevette | 30m 52s | |
| 32 | Darren Pugh | Elgan Davies | Ford Escort XR3 | 34m 37s | |
| 33 | Kevin Ikin | Chris Rowlands | Ford Escort | 42m 16s | |
| 34 | Dai John | Paul Bevan | Toyota Corolla | 1F 2m 11s | |
| 35 | Toby Adams | Mark Robinson | Ford Escort | 1F 4m 41s | |
| 36 | Chris Hughes | John Gilbey | Ford Escort | 1F 4m 58s | |
| 37 | Gary Tobias | Gary Robbins | Hyundai Colt | 1F 12m 29s | |
| 38 | Geraint Davies | Hywel Ifans | Talbot Sunbeam | 1F 15m 35s | |
| 39 | Ian Evans | Justin Davies | Ford Escort | 1F 17m 31s | |
| 40 | Will Whitehurst | Phil Ralphs | Ford Escort | 1F 20m 53s | |
| 41 | Paul Rooke | Roddy Daniels | Ford Escort | 1F 32m 26s | |
| 42 | Tony Watkins | Medwyn Evans | Mini 1275GT | 1F 37m 37s | |
| 43 | Piers Du Pre Lance | K Aust | Volvo 2.0 | 2F 7m 54s | |
| 44 | Sion Jones | Graham Colledge | Ford Escort | 2F 8m 50s | |
| 45 | Emyr Jones | Marc Jones | Ford Escort | 2F 24m 20s | |
| 46 | Aled James | Phil Griffiths | Ford Escort | 2F 29m 52s | |
| 47 | Manfred Kampschulte | Paul Jenkins | Vauxhall Astra | 3F 7m 44s | |
| 48 | Aled Davies | Clive Selby | Ford Escort | 3F 19m 23s | |
| 49 | Wyn Lewis | Martin Evans | Vauxhall Astra | 3F 20m 35s | |
| 50 | Roger Harris | Jane Harris | Vauxhall Astra | 3F 20m 48s | |
| 51 | Neil Griffiths | Darren Miles | Ford Escort | 3F 22m 41s | |
| 52 | David Wilmer | Darren Morris | Ford Escort | 3F 39m 20s | |
| 53 | Nicholas Yates | Simon Yates | Ford Escort | 4F 15m 38s | |
| 54 | Malcolm Gregson | Lyn Thomas | Ford Sierra | 4F 37m 12s | |
| 55 | Simon Harris | Andrew Reynolds | Peugeot 205 | 4F 40m 48s | |
| 56 | Dorian Davies | Jo Williams | Ford Fiesta XR2 | 5F 13m 27s | |
| 57 | Simon Down | Steve Rodaich | Ford Escort | 5F 26m 14s | |
| 58 | Jason Harris | Huw Evans | Ford Escort | 11F 5m 42s | |
| 59 | Richard Briddon | Rees Thomas | Toyota Starlet | 14F 1h 11m 41s | |
| 60 | G Marshalsea | M Parry | Mini | 15F 35m 19s |