rally results service
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Gremlin Rally 2003
Sponsored by Old Forge Garage
Brecon Motor Club
1st/2nd March 2003
Clerk of the Course: Denis Cardell & Ken Owen
Route: 200 Miles
Maps: 146 147 160 & 161
Starters: 102
Winners: Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort)
Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies once again dominated a road rally over the Epynt Ranges when they won the Gremlin Rally.
The Brecon MC rally, Round Three of the Welsh Road Rally Championship, was split into four parts; an opening Jogularity section, followed by a double loop of Epynt, then a traditional road rally section to the west of Llandovery, before a final visit to the Ranges.
Jones/Davies demolished the opposition by dropping just forty seconds on the Jogularity and then cleaning the rest of the event. Despite lighting problems with their Escort, they came home almost eight minutes clear of the field.
At first petrol, after the first tour of Epynt, the chase was led by Paul Webb/Paul Morris with Jamie Turner/Graham Raeburn and Martin Leonard/Phil Jones close behind. By the Finish these positions were reversed. Webb/Morris lost four minutes with a wrong slot, while Turner/Raeburn suffered a severe misfire and a puncture in their Metro.
Marc James/Anthony Davies, who were a late entry, finished in fifth, although a worrying vibration, that suggested a failed shaft on their Sierra XR4x4, caused concerned over the latter part of the rally.
The Gremlin was in fact two rallies, a modern and an historic running together. The historic rally was won by the Mini of Worth Birkhill/Dave Harris, who were classified sixth in the overall standings. They were one of a number of crews who reported having wrong slotted and got stuck. This incident, on the first loop of Epynt, cost them twelve minutes. They also picked up a rear wheel puncture in the forestry on the second loop of the ranges, but they kept going and didn't lose any time.
Seventh place was taken by Pete Johnson/Rob Watson (Vauxhall Astra), who had spent six minutes looking for the entrance to the car park near Dixies.
Rali Bro Ddyfi winners, Garry Preston/Mike Sones, took their Mini to eighth, one place in front of the Cooper S of Dick Appleton/Richard Dix, who lost ten minutes with a wrong slot on the Jogularity section.
It was the third disasterous rally in a row for Dennis Quinn/Pat Gadsby (Ford Escort). The pair wrong slotted, got stuck and took 30 minutes to regain the tarmac - they retired. Gareth 'Gog' Jones/Carl Williamson went out in spectactular fashion, rolling their Escort near Dixies on the first visit to Epynt.
Winners: Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort)
Photograph: M&H Photography
Roger Hunt/Graham Dance retired their Peugeot 205 with a broken steering rack on the opening section. This was further than Carpet Bagger winners Terry Pickering/Paul Robinson achieved; their Triumph TR3 blew its diff in the Start car park.
Gavin Braddick/Chris Hill (Vauxhall Belmont) were heading for fourth overall when they collected a wrong approach at the final competitve timing point. They dropped to 16th overall. Chris Smith-Bowen/Nigel Nelson (Ford Escort) ended two places further back after having lost 15 minutes when they went off on the Burma Road.
Gary Jones/Andy Oakes also collected a wrong approach, theirs was on the opening Jogularity. Later they lost their maps after they blew out of the car when the door was opened. They trailed home in 48th place.
One place in front of Jones/Oakes were Wes Massam/Bernard Northmore; they had overshot a slot and then got stuck while turning their Volvo Amazon around.
The last car away Martin Astley/Simon Mills were competing on only their second rally. They spent some time in a ditch on the road section west of Llandovery, but were pulled out by the Escort of James Swan/Dean Flowers, who had earlier spent 15 minutes in a similar situation.
OVERALL RESULTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
| 1 | Gerwyn Jones | Ceri Davies | Ford Escort | 0m 40s | |
| 2 | Martin Leonard | Phil Jones | VW Golf | 8m 06s | |
| 3 | Jamie Turner | Graham Raeburn | Rover Metro | 13m 49s | |
| 4 | Paul Webb | Paul Morris | Vauxhall Astra | 16m 30s | |
| 5 | Marc James | Anthony Davies | Ford Sierra XR4x4 | 22m 09s | |
| 6 | Worth Birkhill | Dave Harris | Mini 1275GT | 24m 32s | |
| 7 | Pete Johnson | Rob Watson | Vauxhall Astra | 24m 41s | |
| 8 | Garry Preston | Mike Sones | Mini 1275GT | 30m 22s | |
| 9 | Dick Appleton | Richard Dix | Mini Cooper S | 30m 51s | |
| 10 | Chris Hunt-Cooke | Nigel Raeburn | MG B | 33m 32s | |
| 11 | Robert Wilson | Dylan Jenkins | Peugeot 205 | 36m 30s | |
| 12 | Grant Parker | Ian Cooke | Toyota Corolla | 37m 33s | |
| 13 | Andy Sheppard | Justin Brooke | Vauxhall Astra | 38m 55s | |
| 14 | James Chappelle | Peter Chappelle | Mini 1275GT | 39m 52s | |
| 15 | Steve Powell | Lee Vincent | Ford Escort | 43m 52s | |
| 16 | Gavin Braddick | Chris Hill | Vauxhall Belmont | 46m 20s | |
| 17 | David Jones | Glyn Price | Peugeot 205 | 46m 22s | |
| 18 | Chris Smith-Bowen | Nigel Nelson | Ford Escort | 49m 52s | |
| 19 | Peter Horsburgh | Graham Carter | Mini Cooper S | 50m 57s | |
| 20 | Hefin George | Dilwyn John | VW Golf | 56m 56s | |
| 21 | Peter Noad | Dave Kirkham | Audi 80 GT | 51m 40s | |
| 22 | Islwyn Watkins | Alun Probert | Vauxhall Astra | 58m 20s | |
| 23 | Garry Jenkins | Eric Tong | Peugeot 205 | 60m 52s | |
| 24 | Chris Jenkins | Steve Durbin | Mini | 65m 17s | |
| 25 | Stephen Wood | Wyn Lewis | Vauxhall Astra | 70m 10s | |
| 26 | Brian Thomas | Huw Mathias | Ford Fiesta | 70m 15s | |
| 27 | Dave Keen | Andy Berry | Ford Cortina | 70m 22s | |
| 28 | Martin Perris | Dean Davies | Vauxhall | 77m 15s | |
| 29 | Ben Meakin | Ian Meakin | Saab 96 | 77m 48s | |
| 30 | Owen Turner | Andrew Dadswell | Hillman Imp | 83m 31s | |
| 31 | David Wilmer | David Powell | Ford Escort | 83m 39s | |
| 32 | Steve Reed | Dave Williams | Saab | 97m 22s | |
| 33 | Andrew Lewis | Tim Samuel | Peugeot 205 GTi | 98m 14s | |
| 34 | Mike Maybne | Alun Thomas | Mini Cooper S | 111m 03s | |
| 35 | Scott Jonas | Chris Perry | Ford Escort | 119m 53s | |
| 36 | Darren Leeson | Ian Hewlett | Ford Escort | 130m 18s | |
| 37 | Tony Brooks | Shon Gosling | Saab Sonett | 141m 39s | |
| 38 | Allan Alford | Ted Williams | Ford Fiesta | 148m 38s | |
| 39 | Daniel Curtis | Christopher Shapland | Vauxhall | 150m 13s | |
| 40 | Malcolm Thorne | Richard Barnes | Ford Escort | 153m 27s | |
| 41 | Robert McClean | Susan McClean | Rover P4 100 | 220m 19s | |
| 42 | Martin Astley | Simon Mills | MGB | 313m 03s | |
| 43 | Michael Pedley | David Pedley | Ford Escort RS2000 | 383m 30s | |
| 44 | David Bennett | David Cox | Ford Escort | 389m 11s | |
| 45 | Len Smith | David Sanderson | Mini Cooper S | 418m 26s | |
| 46 | Andrew Gregory | Huw Davies | Nissan | 449m 04s | |
| 47 | Wesley Massam | Bernard Northmore | Volvo PV444 | 472m 49s | |
| 48 | Gary Jones | Andy Oakes | Toyota Corolla | 535m 32s | |
| 49 | Richard White | Richard Scott | Austin Healey | 550m 20s | |
| 50 | Len Giles | Tim Jones | Ford Escort | 1098m 00s |