Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Clerk of the Course: Andrew Thomson & Sion Jones
Route: 130 Miles
Maps: 145 & 146
Starters: 75
Winners: Gareth Lloyd/Dorian Evans (Ford Escort)
Local rally spares supplier Gareth Lloyd, partnered by Dorian Evans, achieved a comfortable victory on Llandysul MC's Valley Services Road Rally over four minutes clear of their nearest challenger. The Welsh Championship round proved once again to be a tough test for the competitors - of the 75 starters only 35 made it to the finish.
The organising team, under the leadership of Andrew Thomson, had set out a 130 mile route which was simply two competitive sections split by the petrol halt. They had used the maze of lanes in the vicinity of the club's hometown to provide a challenging test despite the event's pre-plot format. The two sections were regularities split up by intermediate time controls every couple of miles. Crews were given their due time at each control and the average speed required between them, however the exact location of the controls was not given. Penalties were applied for both early and late arrival and for stopping within site of a control.
The Valley Services was vying with the Cilwendeg for being the most popular Welsh rally, its 75 entries were filled within a week of the regulations being available in June.
A number of fancied entries came to grief early on in the proceedings. The 1996 winners, Geraint Davies/Emyr Jones, lost their Corolla's exhaust system on a white, while Huw Evans/Patrick Walsh withdrew for similar reasons. Meanwhile Tony Davies/Ieaun Thomas drowned their Golf out in ford, Elgan Jones/Byron Jones caused a road block when their Astra broke a wishbone on a narrow track and Arwyn Thomas/Phil Pugh had the clutch fail on their Escort.
Lloyd/Evans arrived at the halfway halt with a slender 17 second lead, however they attacked the second half with some success as they were over two minutes quicker than any other crew over that section. This combined with problems for their nearest challengers meant they had a healthy lead at the Finish. Alan Gaunt/Rob Richardson were second having had a better end to the rally after being fifth at Petrol.
Pete Cotton/Dave Pitchford took maximum Welsh Championship point with third place but Baron Glaze/Pete Davies finished fifth to move them closer to the title with just four rounds remaining. Glaze's closest rival is now Dennis Quinn who finished fourth despite being without third and fourth gears for three-quarters of the event.
Graham Evans/Ian Mills finished sixth and took the Standard Production, Under 1600 and Newcomers Awards. The result moved them to third position in the Welsh Championship, it also increased to their lead in the Welsh Standard Production category as their chief rivals Peter Zjalic/Richard Preece retired just before the petrol halt when the clutch on their Corolla failed.
Alyson Acerman debuted a new Nova, which replaced her Astra, which has proved somewhat unreliable. The change proved successful for, teaming up with Gwyn Pritchard for the first time, she finished ninth overall and took the mixed crew award. Colin Thomas/Owen Dodd finished in eleventh place after struggling with a broken engine mount on their Escort and then picking up a puncture.
The Semi-Expert class was won from a lowly seeding of 67 by Jason Harris/Kathryn Jones, they were tenth overall. While the Novice Award went to the Escort crew of Kevin Reynolds/Geraint Mayes.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Gareth Lloyd | Dorian Evans | Ford Escort | 8m 17s | |
2 | Alan Gaunt | Rob Richardson | Peugeot 205 GTi | 12m 41s | |
3 | Pete Cotton | Dave Pitchford | Ford Escort | 13m 02s | |
4 | Dennis Quinn | Dave Evison | Ford Escort | 14m 25s | |
5 | Baron Glaze | Peter Davies | Ford Escort | 15m 03s | |
6 | Graham Evans | Ian Mills | Toyota Corolla | 17m 37s | |
7 | Cyril Crook | Chris Ware | Talbot Sunbeam | 20m 06s | |
8 | Kevin Lewis | Dylan Evans | Ford Escort | 20m 27s | |
9 | Alyson Acreman | Gwyn Williams | Vauxhall Nova | 24m 28s | |
10 | Jason Harries | Gareth Thomas | Ford Escort | 25m 25s | |
11 | Wyn Owens | Hefin Owens | Ford Escort | 29m 53s | |
12 | Colin Thomas | Owen Dodd | Ford Escort | 30m 15s | |
13 | Gareth Jones | Iestyn ap Dafydd | Toyota Corolla | 31m 33s | |
14 | Simon Maczak | Brian Jenkins | Ford Escort | 37m 24s | |
15 | John Hands | Rebecca Hands | Vauxhall Chevette | 39m 58s | |
16 | Adrian Evans | Wayne Evans | Ford Escort | 40m 14s | |
17 | Toby Adam | Steve Durbin | Ford Escort | 45m 23s | |
18 | Martyn O'Connor | Peter Collins | Vauxhall Astra | 56m 26s | |
19 | Emyr Morgan | Dalis Ifans | Ford Escort | 58m 55s | |
20 | Kevin Reynolds | Geraint Mayes | Ford Escort | 69m 57s | |
21 | Phil Morgan | Gareth Williams | Ford Escort | 92m 56s | |
22 | Jon Stobbs | Gary Robbins | Alfa Romeo | 1F 29m 43s | |
23 | Sarah Harmer | David Chennells | MG Maestro | 1F 33m 28s | |
24 | Eirwyn Davies | Mike Morgan | Ford Escort | 1F 43m 37s | |
25 | Roy Lewis | Martin Saunders | Ford EScort | 2F 16m 42s | |
26 | Aled James | Phil Morgan | Ford Escort | 2F 60m 32s | |
27 | Richard Kruegger | Stafford Morgan | Opel Manta | 5F 57m 09s | |
28 | Dave Boucher | Stephanie Lomax | Ford Escort | 5F 62m 57s | |
29 | Michael Pedley | David Pedley | Hillman Avenger | 6F 15m 52s | |
30 | Jim Prichard | Garyl Evans | Ford Escort | 6F 34m 02s | |
31 | Dai Wilmer | Darren Morris | Ford Escort | 8F 50m 09s | |
32 | Garry Lewis | Marc Lewis | Vauxhall Nova | 8F 58m 38s | |
33 | Nick Evans | Alan Hands | Ford Escort | 10F 31m 03s | |
34 | Carwyn Evans | Peter James | Ford Escort RS | 12F 45m 33s | |
35 | Rhidian Jones | Dylan Davies | Hyundai Accent | 17F 39m 02s |