RallyRoots Rally Results Service

Gremlin Rally 2002

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Brecon Motor Club

2nd/3rd March 2002

Clerk of the Course: Denis Cardell & Ken Owen

Route: 200 Miles

Maps: 146 147 & 160

Starters: 102

Winners: Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort)

Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies have always performed well on road rallies which use the Epynt Ranges and this form continued when they took their Ford Escort to an outright win on the Gremlin Rally.

The Brecon MC event opened with a regularity section before taking crews onto the Ranges for the first of two visits. This was followed by a run over Abergewsyn, with a return to Epynt for the final sections.

The Gremlin comprised three rallies, a modern event which was the third round of the Welsh Championship, a Post-Historic and an Historic rally. Thus a bumper entry of 102 cars started from the Brecon Leisure Centre, with 55 making it through the 200 mile route to return there in the morning.

Despite the length of the rally Jones/Davies dropped just 1.03 and all these penalties were picked up on the opening regularity section. Similarly the runners up and winners of the historic rally Peter Valentine/Michael Valentine cleaned the standard sections and so were just 33 seconds behind the winners at the Finish. Pete Johnson/Andy Berry took third in their Astra, while Mike East/Andy Juniper were fourth in a Peugeot 205.

The organisers had placed a sting in the tail by putting a tricky approach to TC41, only twelve crews got the correct route and avoided a 30 minute penalty for a wrong approach. Toby Adam/Andrew Card, Phil Stroud/Dave Harris and Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford all missed out on top five finishes because of the error. Stroud/Harris had the consolation of being the first Post-Historic crew home in Mark One Escort RS.

Historic Winners: Peter Valentine/Michael Valentine (Mini Cooper S)

Welsh Championship leaders Huw Evans/Patrick Walsh were another crew to fall foul of TC41; they also dropped a further three minutes when they picked up a puncture on Abergwesyn. However their eventual thirteenth place was enough for them to retain their series lead.

Jason Stone/Paul Holmberg strengthen their respective championship positions as they were the second registered competitors home in fifth place. Rali Gogledd winners Howard Price/Carl Williamson spent eight minutes searching for the correct way into TC41, their persistence being rewarded with sixth place.

Brynli Thomas/Gareth Price retired their Escort after damaging the propshaft on a heavy landing, while Paul Edward/Nick Bloxham withdrew after damaging the sump on their Maestro.

Ceri Richards/Aled Jones suffered gearbox problems on their Escort from the first run over Epynt to the Finish; they ran with just first, second and fifth for most of the night.

Post Historic Winners: Phil Stroud/Dave Harris (Ford Escort RS)

Nick Broadway/Andy Oakes put their Escort Mark Six into a ditch and a similar fate befell the Merecedes 280 SL of Ian Crammond/Peter Ward. Wayne Elliot/Nigel Nelson broke a strut on their Toyota Celica GT4.

The first Semi-Experts home in the modern rally were Len Giles/Tim Jones, while the corresponding category in the historic event was taken by the Volvo PV444 of Wesley Massam/Bernard Northmore.

The two Novice categories were won by Ashley Morris/Michael Hardwick (Modern) and Andi Crellin/Mark Kelly (Historic). The Under 1300cc Award went to the VW Polo of Steve Rogers/Paul Jones, who were fifteenth overall.

OVERALL RESULTS