rally results service
Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Firefly 40 Rally 2004
Broughton & Bretton Car Club
10th/11th September 2005
Clerk of the Course: Brynmor Pierce
Route: 100 Miles
Maps: 117
Starters: 33
Winners: Dave Jones/Baz Green (Subaru Impreza)
Having competed as a driver on a stage event at the Trawsfynydd Ranges during the day Baz Green went on to navigate Dave Jones to victory on the Firefly 40 overnight.
The Broughton & Bretton MC rally was a closed to club event, it saw 33 crews tackle a 100 mile route which was basically a clockwise loop of the lanes around Wrexham. The first half was far more demanding than the second; the leading crews dropping time at virtually every control before Petrol, but at only one after it.
From the start at the Loggerheads Country Park, the first competitive section was in the lanes between Northop and Rhydymwyn. It was a five mile section, with an Intermediate Time Control at the mid-point. The run to the ITC was cleanable, but it had a significant affect on the overall result as the top seeds, Mei Jones/Gwawr Hughes (Vauxhall Astra), wrong slotted and lost three minutes. They were the quickest crew over the remainder of the event, but couldn't make up for the early error; they finished in third place two and a half minutes off the lead.
Third Placed: Mei Jones/Gwawr Hughes (Vauxhall Astra)
Photograph: © rallyroots.com
Everyone was late at RF1, with the quickest time going to Gareth Jones/Iwan Jones (Vauxhall Astra), who were a second ahead of Dave Jones/Baz Green (Subaru Impreza). In third place at this point were the novice crew of Nick Bamford/Alan Roberts (Ford Fiesta).
The second section was a short three miler to the west of Hope. It saw a change of lead as Jones/Green were three seconds faster than Jones/Jones. Already out by this point was the Renault Clio of Dan Sharpe/Andy Moore, which broke its exhaust, while ignition problems had stopped Ian Mason/David Webley in their Ford Escort RS2000.
The next section included a sector through a series of muddy recently harvested straw fields and all cars dropped considerable time at the ITC that followed the off road bits. Jones/Green extended their lead as, taking advanatge of their car's four wheel drive, they were almost a minute faster than anyone else to the ITC. This sealed the win for them as Jones/Jones cut their deficit to the Subaru by almost half over the remainder of the event, but were still 46 seconds behind at the Fnish.
The fourth and fifth sections ran the around the perimeter of the Wrexham Industrial Estate and the lanes through Marchwiel and Sontley, before petrol was taken at Rhostyllen.
It had been a long and tough first half and numerous crews found themselves over their maximum lateness; two were OTL by the end of Section 3, while another two got to RF4 before reaching their limit. Several more were OTL by the time they reached the halt - in total 13 were declared OTL by MC2; these included the Expert crew of Ralph Robson/Steve Davies (Peugeot 309).
The final two sections took in the roads of World's End, from Llangollen to Coedpoeth. Jones/Green lost some time to their rivals at the final control, but still came home with a comfortable victory margin. Jones/Jones took a clear second place, while Jones/Hughes recovered from their early mistake to claim third.
The leading Semi-Experts, Paul Gwalchmai/Dale Furniss (Peugeot 205) finished in fourth place and, despite falling down the overall order slightly, Bamford/Roberts were clear winners of the Novice Class.
OVERALL RESULTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
| 1 | Dave Jones | Baz Green | Subaru Impreza | 12m 40s | |
| 2 | Gareth Jones | Iwan Jones | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 13m 26s | |
| 3 | Mei Jones | Gwawr Hughes | Vauxhall Astra | 15m 14s | |
| 4 | Paul Gwalchmai | Dale Furniss | Peugeot 205 | 17m 19s | |
| 5 | Simon Summers | Leighton Williams | Ford Sierra | 20m 47s | |
| 6 | Nick Bamford | Alan Roberts | Ford Fiesta | 26m 52s | |
| 7 | Ben Owen | Nick Dixon | Suzuki Swift | 32m 15s | |
| 8 | Nic Morris | John Cadwallader | Ford Escort | 1F 22m 03s | |
| 9 | Dai Roberts | Ceri Hughes | Honda Civic | 1F 22m 56s | |
| 10 | Graham Davies | Kevin Whittaker | Peugeot 205 | 3F 48m 17s | |
| 11 | Simon Naughton | Gareth Thomas | Ford Escort | 4F 21m 17s | |
| 12 | Chris Yarwood | David Thomas | Ford Fiesta XR2 | 4F 22m 21s | |
| 13 | Ian Phillips | Peter Phillips | Peugeot 205 | 4F 43m 27s | |
| 14 | Keith Gush | Lyn Gush | Vauxhall Nova GTE | 5F 56m 07s | |
| 15 | Kevin Parry | Dave Davies | Toyota Corolla | 8F 32m 07s |