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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.

Rali Bro Caron 1997

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