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: Steve Roderick & Roger Holder
Route: 140 Miles
Maps: 161 170 & 171
Starters: 66
Winners: Mark Robinson/Steve Durbin (Toyota Corolla)
Since its first running in 1996 the Malky Road Rally had always run in atrocious weather conditions, 2002 was no exception with gale force winds and rain making life difficult for competitors and marshals alike.
Over the preceding years the rally had in a large part used the tracks on the top of the mountains above the Gwent vallies, the fact that the mapping of these tracks was often vague had led to the Malky becoming an event won by local crews. For 2002 a new organising team had moved away from the tracks and found a route 99% of which was on tarmac. Despite the change the win was taken by a local crew.
The Malky continues to enjoy support from Brace's Bakery, its sponsor since its inception six years previously.
Mark Robinson/Steve Durbin put in a blistering display to finish the rally with only twenty-seven seconds penalties, almost six minutes clear of their nearest rivals. In fact they may well have cleaned the event but for a mishap as they regained the tarmac road after a three metre control. They chose the wrong exit and hit a rock damaging the driver's front wing and the lights. This meant that they did the second half of the rally without the lights, but this didn't seem to cut their speed.
Ceri Richards/Aled Jones finished in second despite the navigator suffering from flu and only having decided to do the rally on the afternoon of the event.
Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford were third, they had been closest on time to the winners but incurred a ten minute penalty for recording an incorrect code at a route check. They had also been delayed by fog on the opening section over the 'British', the mist having lifted slightly after the top ten had been through.
Grant Parker/Owen Dodd were fourth, they had also been penalised ten minutes for an incorrect code. There was a high incidence of such penalties as the organisers had utilised some code boards on which parts of letters and numbers had been covered and crews had to accurately record the partial number or letter.
With the cancellation of the Peak Revs the Malky had become the final round of both the Welsh and West Midlands Championships. All titles within the Welsh series had been settled prior to the Malky, with only the destination of the Semi-Expert navigator's crown in doubt; this was settled in favour of Wyn Davies after Aled Richards failed to make the finish.
Howard Price had already secures the Welsh Driver's Championship and added the West Midlands title by simply finishing the Malky. Partnered by Nigel Roberts, Price had a difficult night, incurring a fail for missing a secret check and accumalting a number of time penalties for incorrect codes.
The West Midlands Navigator's title was won by Richard Edwards who finished fifth on the Malky, his driver, Lee Bartlett won the Semi-Expert Class in the Championship and took the runner up spot in the overall table.
Owian Beman/Nigel Nelson had been expected to feature in the top placings but they had a short rally. They put their hired Subaru Impreza off the road, puncturing both front tyres in the process and causing electrical damage which meant that the car would not fire up.
Alyson Acreman/Byron Jones also failed to make the first petrol halt, their Honda Civic ground to a halt when water leaked into the distributor via a loose screw; by the time they'd identified and rectified the problem, they were OTL.
Paul Tod/Iestyn ap Daffydd continued their run of bad luck when they overshot a code board and then put their Peugeot 205 into a ditch as they reversed back.
Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies started the rally with the possibility of taking the runner up spot in the Welsh Championship, however they got no further than the first section when the throttle stuck open on their Escort, the engine over revved and blew.
Julian Smith/Chris Short finished in seventh place overall to claim the Semi-Expert Class, Michael Kimber/Jerry Jones and Paul Price/Nick Bloxham took the other class awards and were also in the top ten overall.
The Novice class award was won by Peter Ryan/Richard Banks who were twenty-fifth overall. The Standard Production Award went to the Mazda 323 of Iain Orford/Bob Jones, who finished in thirteenth place after being delayed by a puncture on the fourth section.
The Under 1400 award was won by the Peugeot 106 Rallye of Richard Tuckey/Steve Herbert.
Of the sixty-six starters, forty-five were classified as finishers.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Mark Robinson | Steve Durbin | Toyota Corolla | 0m 27s | |
2 | Ceri Richards | Aled Jones | Ford Escort | 6m 09s | |
3 | Gary Jones | Dave Pitchford | Toyota Corolla | 11m 09s | |
4 | Grant Parker | Gwyn Williams | Toyota Corolla | 13m 15s | |
5 | Lee Bartlett | Richard Edwards | Peugeot 309 GTi | 15m 05s | |
6 | Andrew James | Neil Bevan | Ford Escort | 20m 08s | |
7 | Julian Smith | Chris Short | Toyota Corolla | 20m 49s | |
8 | Richard Tucky | Steve Herbert | Peugeot 106 Rallye | 23m 40s | |
9 | Michael Kimber | Jerry Jones | Peugeot 205 | 24m 30s | |
10 | Paul Price | Nick Bloxham | Vauxhall Nova | 26m 00s | |
11 | Islwyn Watkins | Martin Jones | Vauxhall Astra | 27m 25s | |
12 | David Wilmer | Mark Powell | Ford Escort | 27m 57s | |
13 | Ian Orford | Bob Jones | Mazda 323 | 28m 33s | |
14 | Gary Evans | Iestyn Leyshon | Ford Escort | 30m 16s | |
15 | Steve Reed | Dave Williams | Ford Escort | 34m 44s | |
16 | Glyn Price | Huw Jones | Ford Escort | 38m 03s | |
17 | Mike Morgan | Matthew Maidment | Suzuki Swift | 34m 44s | |
18 | Steve Wynn | Chris Wynn | Ford Escort | 39m 35s | |
19 | Delfryn Owens | Jeff James | Renault Clio | 45m 51s | |
20 | Ashley Morris | Michael Hardwick | Peugeot 205 GTi | 46m 39s | |
21 | Garry Jenkins | Erik West | Peugeot 205 GTi | 47m 33s | |
22 | Criss Lewis | Bryan Thomas | Ford Escort | 56m 22s | |
23 | Andy Sheppard | Mike Hart | Vauxhall Astra | 59m 53s | |
24 | Mark Harris | Nathan Parry | Peugeot 205 GTi | 1h 10m 58s | |
25 | Peter Ryan | Richard Banks | Ford Escort RS | 1h 53m 58s | |
26 | Clive Barry | Philip Williams | Ford Sierra 4x4 | 1h 55m 20s | |
27 | Shaun Davies | Phillip Tedstone | Toyota Corolla FWD | 7h 59m 54s | |
28 | Chris Davies | Gordon Bradley | Peugeot 205 XS | 1F 33m 02s | |
29 | Andrew Williams | Wyn Davies | Vauxhall Astra | 1F 38m 02s | |
30 | Chris Rooney | Anton Du Croq-Slip | Ford Escort XR3i | 1F 40m 51s | |
31 | Howard Price | Nigel Roberts | Toyota Corolla | 1F 48m 30s | |
32 | David Goodlife | Mick Wilcox | Mazda 323 | 1F 54m 27s | |
33 | Lee Vickers | Geraint Hughes | Opel Manta | 1F 56m 32s | |
34 | Darren Morris | Alec Morris | Ford Escort | 1F 1h 00m 04s | |
35 | Allan Alford | Ted Williams | Ford Fiesta XR2 | 1F 1h 05m 39s | |
36 | Len Giles | Hellen Marks | Ford Escort | 1F 1h 24m 26s | |
37 | Jonathan Harrison | Jonathan Jones | Toyota Starlet | 1F 2h 20m 19s | |
38 | Nathan Watkins | Martin Lambeth | Peugeot 309 | 1F 5h 03m 49s | |
39 | Mike Herring | Fred Harris | Vauxhall Astra | 2F 2h 19m 17s | |
40 | Darren Draper | Robert Jones | BMW 325 | 2F 5h 22m 14s | |
41 | Malcolm Thorne | Mark Lampert | Ford Escort | 3F 1h 39m 05s | |
42 | Douglas Griffiths | Chris Walters | Ford Sierra | 3F 5h 07m 45s | |
43 | Andy Oakes | Chris Oakes | Toyota Corolla | 5F 3h 43m 49s | |
44 | Bernard Elliott | Huw Davies | Ford Sierra 4x4 | 5F 4h 11m 12s | |
45 | James Swann | Dean Flowers | Peugeot 205 GTi | 6F 6h 37m 34s |