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Pacemaker Rally 1997

Sponsored by Border Carpets

Knighton Motor Club

10th/11th May 1997



Clerk of the Course: Alan Jones & Mike Hart

Route: 110 Miles

Maps: 137

Starters: 58

Winners: Peter Zjalic/Richard Preece (Toyota Corolla)




For a number of events Peter Zjalic/Richard Preece have been threatening to achieve a top three finish and on this promise was more than fulfilled when they took victory on the Pacemaker Rally, Round Six of both the Welsh and West Midlands Road Rally Championships. The win was particularly impressive as it was only on this event last year that Preece won the Novice Class.

Pacemaker Rally 1997

Knighton MC had attracted 58 starters to its 110 mile event. The rally used a plot and bash format throughout. The first half consisted of four sections all of which used the narrow band of lanes between the western edge of Map 137 and a line formed by Knighton, Clun and Bishop's Castle. The second half used the lanes between Lientwardine and Presteign. The recent wet weather continued with heavy showers throughout the night which led to two sections being abandoned. Despite the conditions 48 crews made it to the finish.

The rally was decided on the second and third sections, which were the only ones on which the eventual top finishers dropped time. A number of crews missed a tricky slot midway through the second test and picked up wrong approaches at the subsequent time control, these included the top two seeds, Dennis Quinn/Andrew Thomson and Huw Evans/Patrick Walsh, also caught out were David James/Maurice Leach and Wyn Morgan/Paul Middleton.

A little earlier Pete Cotton/Dave Pitchford had wrong slotted and had become stuck dropping three minutes in the process, while Andrew Powell/Eurig Evans had a similar experience when they missed a slot in a farmyard. This section also saw the demise of Sarah Harmer/Pat Gadsby, one of the few retirements among the top crews, their MG Maestro suffering a heavy landing on a double yump which caused damage to the electrics and exhaust.

By the petrol halt three crews were clear of the field; Zjalic/Preece had dropped 4m 20s, with local crew Des Phasey/Steve Price on 4m 37s and Graham Evans/Ian Mills a mere seven seconds further back. The rest of the field were over two minutes behind. Zjalic/Preece and Phasey/Price were to complete the second half without further penalty and so took the top two positions at the Finish. Unfortunately Evans/Mills booked in early at the penultimate time control, picking up a fail, and dropped to 18th overall.

Fourth place was enough for Baron Glaze to consolidate his position at the head of both the Welsh and West Midlands Championships. Aled Jones remained at the top of the Welsh Navigator's title race after finishing sixth. In the equivalent West Midlands table Richard Preece's victory meant he'd narrowed the gap to leader Andrew Thomson.

Kevin Hesketh/Alan Mellings were the leading Semi-Expert crew at the halfway point on the Pacemaker, but they only got a few hundred yards into the second half before their Escort cried enough. The class award then went to Alan Warburton/Matt Pearce in a Metro. The event proved a tough test for novice crews; Chris Bolver/Denny Harris led the class in their Anglia after the second section, but they dropped time after becoming stuck on a grassy track and went OTL just prior to the petrol halt. Warren Lucas/Gareth Davies, also in a Metro, led the surviving novices home in 41st place overall.



OVERALL RESULTS

Pos Driver Navigator Car Penalty
1 Peter Zjalic Richard Preece Toyota Corolla 4m 20s
2 Des Phasey Steve Price Ford Escort 4m 37s
3 Geraint Davies Sarah Preece Toyota Corolla 6m 45s
4 Baron Glaze Peter Davies Ford Escort 7m 09s
5 Chris Wilson Roger Fildes Vauxhall Astra 7m 30s
6 Gethin Lewis Aled Jones Ford Escort 8m 06s
7 Andrew Powell Eurig Evans Ford Escort 9m 58s
8 Pete Cotton Dave Pitchford Ford Escort 10m 37s
9 Cyril Crook Chris Ware Talbot Sunbeam 11m 01s
10 John Jones Chris Rowlands Renault 11 16m 59s
11 Paul Pritchard Brian Jenkins Ford Escort 16m 59s
12 Andy Sheppard Chris Froom Toyota Corolla 17m 24s
13 Ian Evans Deian Rees Ford Escort 24m 41s
14 Huw Jones Aneurin James Ford Escort 28m 55s
15 Wayne Edwards Sharon Jarvis Vauxhall Astra 29m 08s
16 Alan Warburton Matt Pearce Austin Metro 36m 20s
17 Nick Onions Jane Powell Talbot Sunbeam Ti 38m 49s
18 Graham Evans Ian Mills Toyota Corolla 1F 4m 44s
19 Dave James Maurice Leach Ford Escort 1F 9m 29s
20 Dennis Quinn Andrew Thomson Ford Escort 1F 10m 30s
21 Huw Evans Patrick Walsh Ford Escort 1F 13m 17s
22 Alyson Acreman Byron Jones Vauxhall Astra 1F 23m 12s
23 Stephen Bishop Tim Kear Ford Escort 1F 28m 23s
24 Aled Davies Clive Selby Ford Escort 1F 34m 09s
25 Tony Watkin Medwyn Evans Mini 1275GT 1F 42m 13s
26 Jon Ross Dave Stocking Ford Escort 2F 15m 59s
27 Nick Broadway Andy Oakes Ford Sierra 2F 17m 36s
28 Chris Hughes John Gilbey Ford Escort 2F 37m 39s
29 Will Morris Paul Middleton Ford Escort 3F 7m 42s
30 Gareth Jones Iestyn ap Dafydd Toyota Corolla 3F 14m 11s
31 Steve Worton Matt Barker Ford Escort 3F 20m 08s
32 Tim Mannings Matt Mannings Ford Fiesta 3F 22m 45s
33 Richard Howells Ben Innes Ford Escort 3F 35m 16s
34 Kevin Nunns Nigel Roberts Toyota Corolla 5F 16m 01s
35 Will Parry Iestyn Leyshon Ford Escort 5F 24m 24s
36 Keith Pashley John Thornton Toyota Corolla 5F 26m 54s
37 Stephen Davies Chris Jones Ford Fiesta 5F 53m 06s
38 Neil Griffiths Dai Bevan Ford Escort 6F 47m 32s
39 Gary Moult Craig Parry Ford Escort 7F 20m 19s
40 Simon Kennedy Steve Kolley Ford Escort Van 8F 58m 51s
41 Warren Lucas Gareth Davies MG Metro 8F 72m 30s
42 Leigh Davies Jayson Brown Vauxhall Astra Van 10F 12m 43s
43 Charles Evans Andrew Davies Ford Escort 10F 82m 12s
44 Martin Bradley Martin Harrison Ford Escort 12F 51m 17s
45 Dave Millichap Will Hicks Ford Escort RS 13F 45m 57s
46 Malcolm Hoskins Mark Thomas Ford Escort 13F 52m 37s
47 Andrew Hardiman Richard Connolly Ford Fiesta 14F 30m 56s
48 Alen Ridge Simon Ridge Opel Manta 17F 58m 29s