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Valley Services Road Rally 1997

Sponsored by Valley Services (Llandysul) Ltd

Llandysul Motor Club

16th/17th August 1997



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.

Valley Services Road Rally 1997

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