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E Roberts (Ffestiniog) Memorial Rali Meirion

Sponsored by John Roberts (Ffestiniog) Ltd

Harlech & District Motor Club

24th/25th September 2005

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The Rali Meirion was the sixth round of the Welsh Championship and offered competitors a 120 miles route in southern Snowdonia.

A full 75 car entry lined up at Porthmadog for the start. From there crews moved to a holding area at Minffordd where 85 minutes was allowed for plotting.

There was then a long Neutral that took the route down to the Dolgellau area. The opening section ran around the southern edge of Coed-y-Brenin Forest, finishing at Cymer Abbey. This caused no problems for most of the field, although Steve Head/Stewart Merry ruined their run when they booked in a second early at STC2 in the middle of the section; without the fail they would have been classified in 12th place at the Finish.

The Dolgellau Maze was the next challenge and all dropped time in the mass of narrow tracks. Fastest were John Davies/Neil Bevan (Vauxhall Astra), they were 24 seconds ahead of Steve Wood/Aled Richards (Vauxhall Astra), who were second quickest. Top seeds Howard Price/Alan Williams (Ford Escort) and Merfyn Hughes/Graham Dance (Subaru Impreza) were equal third fastest, another seven seconds behind.

Gerallt Davies/Owen Dodd (Ford Escort) were 46 seconds off the lead after suffering alternator problems and completing the section on dipped headlights. John 'Mark One' Thomas/Gwawr Hughes (Ford Escort) were suffering from gearbox maladies, eventually the car got stuck in third gear and they retired before the petrol halt. Thomas' retirement was a blessing for Davies/Dodd as they were able to scavenge a replacement alternator from the stricken Escort; the new unit was fitted at Petrol.

Eifion Thomas/Paul Roberts became victims of the Maze's solid walls when they planted their Peugeot 205 into the undergrowth; the subsequent damage caused their withdrawal. Dewi John/Eilir Jones (Peugeot 205 GTi) struggled with too soft of tyres and had difficulty with some of the gravel ascents in the Maze.

The long run from SS7S to SS11F took the route from Parc to Maentwrog; the critical section was the one through Arenig Quarry. Only Tony Davies/Darren Garrod (Subaru Impreza) were clean at STC9, which was just after the quarry.

After the section, which was when petrol was taken, Davies/Bevan still led, but were now only 14 seconds in front of Wood/Richards. Price/Williams had moved into a clear third place, but were just two second ahead of Mei Jones/Steve Herbert, who had only dropped a single second at Arenig Quarry.

The top ten positions at Petrol were:
John Davies/Neil Bevan (Vauxhall Astra) 1m31s
Steve Wood/Aled Richards (Vauxhall Astra) 1m45s
Howard Price/Alan Williams (Ford Escort) 1m54s
Mei Jones/Steve Herbert (Vauxhall Astra) 1m56s
Merfyn Hughes/Graham Dance (Subaru Impreza) 2m01s
Tony Davies/Darren Garrod (Subaru Impreza) 2m02s
Baz Green/Rob Jones (Peugeot 205 GTi) 2m03s
Simon Harrison/Paul Holmberg (Ford Escort) 2m04s
Gerallt Davies/Owen Dodd (Ford Escort) 2m06s
Owen Llwyd Edwards/Eurig Davies (Vauxhall Astra) 2m19s

Harrison/Holmberg were to withdraw at Petrol with the driver unwell. The 2003 Welsh Champions, Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies, were hampered by their Escort suffering from a misfire throughout the night. They were in eleventh place at Petrol and went on to finish in tenth place.

The second half opened with three short sections. SS12S to SS13F ran from Rhyd to south-west of Croesor. Action then moved towards the coast, with SS14S to SS15F being to the west of Morfa Bychan. SS16S to SS18F crossed the Porthmadog to Caernarfon main road twice as it traversed from Penmorfa to Dolbenmaen.

With lighting fully restored, Davies/Dodd were fastest to SS13F, seven seconds ahead of tenth placed Edwards/Davies. These performances moved Davies/Dodd to second place, 16 seconds off the lead, and Edwards/Davies to eighth.

Price/Williams, who had dropped four places on the Rhyd section, were the only crew to reach SS15F on time. Davies/Dodd were second quickest here and Davies/Bevan were third; this closed the gap between the two to 14 seconds. All the leading crews, with the exception of Wood/Richards, who were suffering from braking problems, were on time at SS18F.

The event then moved onto the top of the Llyn Peninsula, starting with a short section from Muriau to Llanystumdwy, which included the tricky loop near Pen-y-Bryn. It caused no difficulty for most crews, although Dafydd Edwards/Rhun Ellis (Subaru Impreza) picked up a fail for booking in early at SS20F, missing out on a top 15 placed finish as a result.

The final section of the night started to the west of Chwilog, then looped around through Llanarmon, after which there was an intermediate time control (STC22) timed to the second. The section then continued up as far as Mynachdy Gwyn, before heading back down to Pencaenewydd and finishing with a tight section, timed to the second, using the white in 4039. Everyone dropped time at the first control timed to the second, and most were late at the second one.

Davies/Dodd were best to STC22, but Davies/Bevan were only a second behind, and so maintained a lead of 13 seconds. However, the challengers cleaned the final section leading up to SS25F, while Davies/Bevan were 25 seconds late at the control. This gave victory, on the line, to the Escort crew, who finished 12 seconds clear.

Hughes/Dance completed the top three, having held that position since just after Petrol. Price/Williams recovered from their poor start to the second half to finish in fourth. Like the winners, Davies/Garrod cleaned the final section and this moved them past Green/Jones for fifth place.

Despite losing out at the last moment, the result was a good one for Davies/Bevan in their quest for a second successive Welsh Championship; they strengthen their lead in the series as their main rivals, Wood/Richards, could only finish in ninth place.

Stephen Kerr/Gwyn Jones (Ford Escort RS) finished in 13th position overall and took the Semi-Expert Class win; they finished 30 seconds ahead of category rivals Arwel Hughes-Jones/Andrew Baines (Ford Escort). Matthew Griffiths/Tom Henderson (Peugeot 205) won the Novice Class by almost two minutes.

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OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Gerallt Davies	Owen Dodd	Ford Escort	2m 27s
	2	John Davies	Neil Bevan	Vauxhall Astra	2m 39s
	3	Merfyn Hughes	Graham Dance	Subaru Impreza	2m 53s
	4	Howard Price	Alan Williams	Ford Escort	3m 08s
	5	Tony Davies	Darren Garrod	Subaru Impreza	3m 21s
	6	Baz Green	Rob Jones	Peugeot 205 GTi	3m 45s
	7	Owen Llwyd Edwards	Eurig Davies	Vauxhall Astra	4m 03s
	8	Mei Jones	Steve Herbert	Vauxhall Astra	4m 05s
	9	Steve Wood	Aled Richards	Vauxhall Astra GTE	4m 50s
	10	Gerwyn Jones	Ceri Davies	Ford Escort	5m 26s
	11	Jason Hardy	Alan Jôs	VW Golf GTi	5m 48s
	12	Carwyn Evans	Elfyn Richards	Ford Escort	6m 11s
	13	Stephen Kerr	Gwyn Jones	Ford Escort RS2000	6m 22s
	14	Dewi John	Eilir Jones	Peugeot 205 GTi	6m 24s
	15	Mark 'GT' Roberts	Iwan Jones	VW Golf GTi	6m 34s
	16	Glyn Price	Iwan Jones	Ford Escort	6m 39s
	17	Arwel Hughes-Jones	Andrew Baines	Ford Escort	6m 56s
	18	Steve Guest	Andrew Guest	VW Golf	8m 03s
	19	Garyl Evans	Matthew Maidment	Vauxhall Astra	8m 05s
	20	Edryd Evans	Richard Briddon	VW Golf	8m 13s
	21	Emyr Jones	Roger Evans	Toyota Corolla	8m 41s
	22	Alan Parry	Mike Todd	Ford Escort	8m 46s
	23	Bryn Jones	Rob Guest	Ford Sierra	8m 48s
	24	Arwel Thomas	Ceri Hughes	Vauxhall Nova	8m 55s
	25	Edrian Monk	Llinos Jones	Vauxhall Astra	9m 02s
	26	Rhys Jones	Dilwyn John	Peugeot 205	9m 28s
	27	Tim Evans	Alun Probert	Nissan Micra	9m 29s
	28	Rhys Roberts	Phil Todd	Toyota Corolla	9m 59s
	29	Simon Summers	Leighton Williams	Ford Sierra	10m 19s
	30	John Jones	Stephen Davies	Renault 11 Turbo	10m 40s
	31	Eiros Edwards	Mark Lloyd	Ford Focus	11m 17s
	32	Aled Owen	Gareth Jones	Seat Ibiza	11m 20s
	33	Iwan Williams	Gwion Pryderi	Ford Escort	11m 40s
	34	Gwynfor Jones	Christopher Jones	Vauxhall Astra	11m 44s
	35	Andrew Williams	Dai Richards	Vauxhall Corsa	12m 05s
	36	Dewi Roberts	Katie Briddon	Peugeot 205	12m 06s
	37	Gareth Edwards	Andrew Edwards	Suzuki Swift GTi	12m 07s
	38	Ian Orford	Peter Barnard	Proton Compact LSi	12m 09s
	39	Rhys Roberts	Dafydd Roberts	Peugeot 205	12m 32s
	40	Gruffydd Parry	Sion Matthews	Vauxhall Nova	13m 10s
	41	Richard James	Eric Tong	Vauxhall Astra	14m 00s
	42	Roger Powley	Leigh Powley	Toyota Corolla	14m 08s
	43	Endaf Wilson	Barry Griffiths	Peugeot 106 Rallye	14m 55s
	44	Rob Thomas	Jenny James	Renault Clio	14m 58s
	45	Nigel Phillips	James Morgan	Peugeot 309	15m 45s
	46	Matthew Griffiths	Tom Henderson	Peugeot 205	16m 40s
	47	Matthew Jones	Richard 'Tyson' Morris	Vauxhall Astra GTE	16m 43s
	48	Peter Feucht	Elwyn Pritchard	Vauxhall Astra	17m 33s
	49	Abigail Summerfield	Rhydian George	Peugeot 205 GTi	18m 38s
	50	Gwynfor Jones	Dylan Jones	Ford Escort Mk5	19m 57s
	51	Janet Jones	Huw Manion	Peugeot 205 GTi	22m 06s
	52	Chris Wheeler	Robert Wheeler	VW Golf GTi	26m 11s
	53	Steve Nash	Chris Cooper-Jones	Morris Mini 1275	34m 52s
	54	Steve Head	Stewart Merry	Vauxhall Nova	1F 5m 50s
	55	Dyfydd Edwards	Rhun Ellis	Subaru Impreza	1F 7m 02s
	56	Alyson Acreman	Byron Jones	Honda Civic VTi	1F 10m 59s
	57	Alwyn Roberts	Ilid Japheth	Peugeot 205 GTi	1F 11m 01s
	58	Rhys Jones	Phil Haines	Peugeot 205 GTi	1F 30m 17s
	59	Geraint Davies	Emma Davies	Mini Mayfair	1F 31m 01s
	60	Evan Jones	Elfed Roberts	Vauxhall Nova	2F 18m 30s
	61	Trefor Roberts	Steve Roberts	Peugeot 205 GTi	2F 18m 39s
	62	Alwyn Hughes	Garyl Thomas	Ford Sierra	2F 46m 24s
	63	John Williams	Wyn Lloyd	Peugeot 205	3F 31m 39s
	64	William Owen	John Evans	Peugeot 205 GTi	6F 33m 35s
	65	Ashley Jones	Trefor Jones	Peugeot 205 GTi	10F 44m 49s

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