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Holrus Road Rally
Sponsored by Nigel Pugh Motor Engineering + Richard Yorke Commercial Services
Newtown & District Auto Club
20th/21st November 2004
Clerk of the Course: Wayne Jones
Route: 120 Miles
Venue: Epynt
Starters: 75
Winners: Andy Sheppard/Justin Brooks (Ford Escort)
Two thousand and four was the third time that Newtown & District AC had run the Holrus as a road event on the Epynt Ranges.
Last Placed Finishers: Nigel Phillips/James Morgan (Peugeot 309 GTi)
Photograph: rallyroots.com
An intricate route had been laid out. It used two loops of Epynt, split by a fuel halt at the rally's base in Builth. The first section started at the top of the Mabion Way, ran down through the forestry, past the Rifle Range and finished at the Quarry.
After a time recovery section, the second section opened with a run through Halfway, Route 60, Burma Road, Copse, the Cilieni Track and the New Road. A second time recovery at the New Road Straight, preceded the last test, which used the remainder of the New Road and then the tracks around the Concrete Road.
The second loop was slightly shorter, but used the same basic layout. This provided a 120 miles route, using numerous three metre controls.
It proved a tough test, made more difficult by foggy conditions. This led to only 25 of the 75 starters being classified as finishers; many went OTL as they struggled to follow the route.
Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies, winners in 2002 and 2003, led through the first section, but Andy Sheppard/Justin Brooks (Ford Escort) took the lead halfway through the second test on the first loop, Jones/Davies having been delayed when they caught the course car.
Sheppard/Brooks took the lead at a time control at the bottom of Bamfords; at that point they were four seconds ahead of Jones/Davies. They extended their advantage to over a minute at the Finish.
Newly crowned Welsh Champions, John Davies/Neil Bevan (Vauxhall Astra) took third, four minutes behind the winners, while fourth place Alyson Acreman/Byron Jones (Honda Civic VTi) were a similar distance from the Astra crew.
Martin Leonard/Phil Jones (VW Golf GTi) had been runners up on the 2003 Holrus; they had a difficult run in 2004. Jones was feeling unwell and they had lost time when they stalled; the car wouldn't restart and they had to be bumped started. More time was lost when they realised that they had lost their time cards in the incident.
Steve Southall/Chris Webber (Toyota Corolla) were the leading Semi-Expert crew, finishing in eleventh place overall. Meanwhile Malcolm Thorne/Mark Lampert (Ford Escort Mexico) won the Novice class.
The Holrus Novice Rally, which used only one loop of Epynt, was won by Fred Harris, who was navigated by his 12 year old grandson Craig Pendry.
Des Phasey/Martin Phasey got their car wedged on a tree stump after they had wrong slotted. They got going again with the help of a passing troop of Gurkhas.
OVERALL RESULTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
| 1 | Andy Sheppard | Justin Brooks | Ford Escort | 13m 25s | |
| 2 | Gerwyn Jones | Ceri Davies | Ford Escort | 14m 33s | |
| 3 | John Davies | Neil Bevan | Vauxhall Astra | 17m 52s | |
| 4 | Alyson Acreman | Byron Jones | Honda Civic VTi | 21m 25s | |
| 5 | Tim Evans | Alun Probert | Nissan Micra | 22m 25s | |
| 6 | Martin Leonard | Phil Jones | VW Golf GTi | 29m 30s | |
| 7 | Owen Turner | Graham Raeburn | Hillman Imp | 31m 56s | |
| 8 | Brian Jones | Gwawr Hughes | Ford Escort | 32m 44s | |
| 9 | Mark 'GT' Roberts | Denny Harris | VW Golf | 40m 36s | |
| 10 | Martyn O'Connor | Peter Collins | Vauxhall Astra | 41m 31s | |
| 11 | Steve Southall | Chris Webber | Toyota Corolla | 45m 24s | |
| 12 | Andy Groom | Carl Darby | Peugeot 205 GTi | 46m 30s | |
| 13 | Gareth Jones | Iwan Jones | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 47m 35s | |
| 14 | Gary 'Shonky' Jones | Andy Oakes | Toyota Corolla | 48m 38s | |
| 15 | Garyl Evans | Michael Hardwick | Vauxhall Astra | 50m 19s | |
| 16 | Rob Price | Alan Pemberton | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 54m 21s | |
| 17 | Gareth Reed | David Bradley | Toyota Corolla | 57m 21s | |
| 18 | Steve Head | Michael Valentine | Vauxhall Nova | 57m 46s | |
| 19 | Andrew Lewis | Ian Cooke | Peugeot 205 GTi | 62m 23s | |
| 20 | Malcolm Thorne | Mark Lampert | Ford Escort Mexico | 65m 05s | |
| 21 | Neil Roberts | Dale Furniss | Peugeot 205 | 65m 45s | |
| 22 | Geraint Jones | Phil Ralphs | Vauxhall Nova Sport | 81m 49s | |
| 23 | Hywel Greves | Michael Hughes | VW Polo | 82m 05s | |
| 24 | Alan James | Edwin Venville | Peugeot 205 GTi | 1F 56m 37s | |
| 25 | Nigel Phillips | James Morgan | Peugeot 309 GTi | 1F 59m 56s | |
| NOVICE RALLY | |||||
| 1 | Fred Harris | Craig Pendry | Ford Fiesta | 124m 09s | |
| 2 | Darren Pugh | Gareth Thomas | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 2F 52m 24s | |
| 3 | Jason Thomas | Christopher Spry | Ford Sierra | 4F 79m 59s | |
| 4 | Ian Kenvin | Andrew Dickinson | Peugeot 205 GTi | 8F 298m 03s | |
| 5 | Ben Davies | Gareth Davies | Peugeot 205 XS | 13F 106m 36s | |