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: Eurig Evans, Tony Davies & Dyfan Davies
Route: 150 Miles
Maps: 145
Starters: 90
Winners: Mark Williams/Rob Richardson (Ford Escort)
Mark Williams/Rob Richardson made it two Rali Cilwendeg victories in a row as they repeated their 1995 success on Teifi Valley MC's clasic road rally. On a night of very slippery conditions in the lanes of Carmarthenshire they kept their ex-Ron Beecroft Escort on the road while a large number of their rivals retired. At the finish they were almost two minutes clear of their nearest opposition, the Peugeot 205 of Alan Gaunt/Maurice Leach.
The rally started and finished as ever at Newcastle Emlyn. The 90 car entry had been full weeks in advance, testifying to the popularly of the 'pre-plot' format prevalent in West Wales. From the start control competitors were sent to a holding area where they had 45 minutes to plot the 150 mile route. The event was split into just five sections, the first being 46 miles in length taking crews south to Llandissilio, the second was a comparatively short eleven mile test which ended near the petrol halt at Glandy Cross.
There had been four Intermediate Time Controls on the first section however the majority of crews remained penalty free in the first half. The main talking point at Petrol was the large number of potential winners who had fallen by the wayside in the first quarter of the event, these included Dave Davies/Owen Dodd (broken engine mounting), Eilir Morris/Phil Pugh (engine maladies), Richard Lewis/Deian Rees (clutch failure), Graham Evans/Ian Mills (electrical problems) and Arwyn Thomas/Shaun O'Gorman (alternator failure).
Malcolm Walters/Dave Pitchford seemed to have joined this list when they had both throttle cables break on their Escort only 20 miles from the Start, however they managed, by cutting the route, to limp to Petrol, where they acquired a replacement and went on to complete the rally in 28th place. Also suffering mechanical problems were Cyril Crook/Chris Ware whose Sunbeam picked up an electrical problem just prior to the halfway halt, this meant that the engine was down on power. They struggled on to finish in 16th place, a result which gave them useful Welsh Border CC Championship points as most of their rivals failed to finish.
The second half opened with an eleven mile section which was split after two miles by an ITC; this two mile segment used two whites as well as a not-as-map farmyard and was to be the event's tie decider. Williams/Richardson completed it almost a minute quicker than anyone else, thus ensuring their win. Jon Gwillym/Phil Clarke could have challenged for the lead but at the first passage control on the section discovered that their time card had gone missing, it was eventually found but by then so much time had been lost that they trailed in a disappointing 11th.
The last two sections, 15 and 33 miles respectively, used the lanes in the centre of Map 145 either side of the A478. On their completion Williams/Richardson found themselves the winners by almost two minutes over Gaunt/Leach, while Dennis Quinn/Andrew Thomson brought their Escort 2.2 home in third. The Semi-Expert class was won by the North Wales crew of Arwel Griffiths/Carwyn Evans who had a comfortable lead of almost four minutes over their nearest class challengers.
The well supported novice class had a shorter route, finishing at the end of the fourth section. The winners were the local crew of Iwan Rees/Heulyn Phillips who were just a minute ahead of the Golf of Horace Jones/Gethin Edwards. These two had been challenged in the first half by Emyr Jones/Mark Jones, unfortunately they joined the list of retirements when a halfshaft failed on their Escort just prior to Petrol.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Mark Williams | Rob Richardson | Ford Escort | 2m 49s | |
2 | Alan Gaunt | Maurice Leach | Peugeot 205 | 4m 34s | |
3 | Dennis Quinn | Andrew Thomson | Ford Escort | 5m 10s | |
4 | Clive Greves | Rob Duke | Vauxhall Chevette | 6m 12s | |
5 | Cefin Evans | Peter Collins | Ford Escort | 6m 48s | |
6 | Michael Pedley | David Pedley | Hillman Avenger | 7m 06s | |
7 | Alan Williams | Andy Bowen | Talbot Sunbeam | 7m 57s | |
8 | Arwel Griffiths | Carwyn Evans | Peugeot 205 GTi | 8m 00s | |
9 | Andrew Davies | Kevin Jones | Ford Escort | 8m 03s | |
10 | Jonathan Hands | John Hands | Vauxhall Chevette | 9m 10s | |
11 | Dai John | Paul Bevan | Toyota Corolla | 9m 25s | |
12 | Jon Gwillym | Phil Clarke | Ford Escort | 9m 26s | |
13 | Gwynfor Jones | Alan Jones | Ford Escort | 10m 47s | |
14 | Simon Stock | Patrick Walsh | Ford Escort XR3i | 10m 57s | |
15 | Gethin Lewis | Aled Jones | Ford Escort | 11m 47s | |
16 | Cyril Crook | Chris Ware | Talbot Sunbeam | 12m 22s | |
17 | Glyn Evans | Dilwyn John | Ford Escort Van | 13m 16s | |
18 | Nick Onions | Steve Quine | Talbot Sunbeam | 16m 58s | |
19 | Gwyn Jones | Bill Mexon | Talbot Sunbeam | 17m 48s | |
20 | Nick Evans | Alan Hands | Ford Escort | 22m 04s | |
21 | Gareth Owens | John Gilbey | Ford Escort | 23m 45s | |
22 | Wyn Owens | Hefin Owens | Ford Escort | 24m 41s | |
23 | Tony Michael | Paul Barrett | Ford Escort | 1F 6m 57s | |
24 | Dave James | Steve Price | Ford Escort | 1F 11m 12s | |
25 | Gareth Liles | Darren Morris | Ford Fiesta | 1F 18m 42s | |
26 | Brian Davies | Jayson Brown | Ford Escort | 1F 25m 42s | |
27 | Sion Jones | Graham College | Ford Escort | 4F 25m 24s | |
28 | Ian Wyn Jones | Alan Williams | Peugeot 205 GTi | 5F 4m 59s | |
29 | Gareth Evans | Dylan Evans | Ford Escort | 5F 17m 53s | |
30 | Adrian Evans | Nigel Davies | Ford Escort | 6F 10m 47s | |
31 | Mark Daniel | Lorian Thomas | Ford Escort | 6F 11m 02s | |
32 | Simon Price | Alan Lovett | Ford Escort | 7F 16m 17s | |
33 | Carwyn Evans | Bill Williams | Ford Escort | 8F 32m 19s | |
34 | Will Whitehurst | Phil Ralphs | Ford Escort | 10F 30m 49s | |
35 | John Jones | Chris Rowlands | Renault 11 Turbo | 13F 7m 18s | |
36 | Huw Llion Rees | Mark Lloyd | Ford Escort | 13F 23m 00s | |
37 | Malcolm Walters | Dave Pitchford | Ford Escort | 17F 12m 07s | |
38 | John Crossley | Keith Wheeler | Opel Ascona | 17F 14m 23s | |
39 | Darren Pugh | Elgan Davies | VW Golf | 21F 23m 24s | |
40 | Paul Jenkins | Richard Owen | Ford Escort | 21F 24m 00s |
CLASS 3 RESULTS - Not eligible for overall positions due to a shorter route
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Iwan Rees | Heulyn Phillips | Ford Escort | 1F 9m 32s | |
2 | Horace Jones | Gethin Edwards | VW Golf GTi | 1F 10m 04s | |
3 | Paul Williams | Mark Jones | VW Golf GTi | 1F 43m 03s | |
4 | Aled Davies | Clive Selby | Ford Escort | 3F 16m 04s | |
5 | Owen Llwyn Edwards | Dylan Jones | Peugeot 205 | 5F 23m 40s | |
6 | Will Parry | Roger Harris | Ford Escort RS | 6F 9m 04s | |
7 | Kevin Reynolds | Chris Davies | Ford Escort | 7F 23m 54s | |
8 | Gordon Howells | Daniel Thomas | Ford Escort | 7F 24m 51s | |
9 | Martyn Williams | Nigel Williams | Vauxhall Nova | 8F 14m 31s | |
10 | Gary Davies | Dylan Davies | Ford Escort | 9F 19m 00s | |
11 | Meirion Evans | Paul Davies | Ford Escort | 9F 44m 09s | |
12 | Richard Reynolds | Gerwyn Davies | Ford Escort | 10F 31m 14s | |
13 | Iwan Jones Davies | Phillip Evans | Ford Escort | 11F 12m 20s | |
14 | Jason Harries | Huw Evans | Ford Escort | 11F 15m 44s | |
15 | Emyr Morgan | Carwyn Lloyd | Ford Escort | 13F 20m 30s | |
16 | Marc Jones | Peter James | Mazda 323 GT | 14F 11m 49s | |
17 | Jonathan Wigley | Ian Pope | Opel Kadett | 16F 40m 46s | |
18 | Richard Krueger | S Morgan | Opel Manta | 20F 6m 00s | |
19 | Julian Thomas | Dylan Williams | Ford Escort | 20F 11m 16s |