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: Rob Richardson
Route: 110 Miles
Maps: 159 & 146
Starters: 57
Winners: Gareth Lloyd/Ryland James (Ford Escort)
The Mel Harries Memorial Rally reappeared after a three year absence and it proved to be a great success with competitors. They tackled a 100 mile route in the Llandeilo-Carmarthen-Ammanford area.
Proceedings started with a three and a half mile section to warm crews up. This was followed by a 40 mile section with a number of ITCs which took crews to the petrol halt. The second half was just one 50 mile section, again with ITCs and finishing with a tour of farm yards, including that of the event secretary Rob Richardson. One uphill white near Brechfa had to be scrubbed prior to the start due to the heavy rain on Friday night.
The loss of the white meant that many crews arrived at Petrol with only small amounts of penalties; Ceri Richards/Aled Jones were clean, Gary Jones/Nigel Nelson had dropped just one second and Gareth Lloyd/Ryland James were on two seconds. The matter wasn't decided until the final section when Lloyd/James snatched the win with a victory margin of just nine seconds; significantly they were running on tarmac tyres, while Jones/Nelson, were running on M&S covers.
The tracks had dried a great deal since Friday night's deluge and mud tyres seem to have been the wrong choice. The win was a notable success as it was Ryland James' first road rally in five years. Richard/Jones didn't figure in the final placings as they had an altenator bolt snap which caused the fan belt to break. A replacement belt also sheared and the pair called it a night.
Other crews who failed to make it to the Finish were Mark Jukes/Dyfan Davies, who withdrew after the navigator became unwell, and Chris Davies/Ian Cooke, who were lying twelfth overall when they had an argument with a bank.
There was a dead heat on time penalties for the win of the Semi-Expert class with Alan Hands/Melanie Hands taking the class win over Mike James/Richard Evans on the furtherest clean decider.
Julian Smith/Chris Short won the Novice Class award and finished in sixth overall, in front of all Class Two contenders. Their Corolla hadn't responded well to an agressive driving style on the opening section; the clutch slipped, the brakes boiled and the tyres refused to grip. A steadier approach for the rest of the event proved ideal and they achieved their top six finish.
Paul Tod/Iestyn ap Dafydd were non-starters after their Peugeot 205 suffered an engine failure on the way to the start.
OVERALL POSITIONS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Gareth Lloyd | Ryland James | Ford Escort | 1m 52s | |
2 | Gary Jones | Nigel Nelson | Toyota Corolla | 2m 01s | |
3 | Jon Stobbs | Gary Robbins | Toyota Corolla | 3m 42s | |
4 | Daneil 'Lwni' Jones | Daniel Maclachlan | Ford Escort | 4m 15s | |
5 | Andrew James | Matthew Maidment | Vauxhall Chevette | 5m 08s | |
6 | Julian Smith | Chris Short | Toyota Corolla | 7m 16s | |
7 | Alan Hands | Melanie Hands | Vauxhall Chevette | 7m 59s | |
8 | Mike James | Richard Evans | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 7m 59s | |
9 | Andrew Thomas | Hefyn Thomas | Peugeot 205 GTi | 8m 02s | |
10 | Richard James | Eurig Davies | Vauxhall Chevette | 14m 24s | |
11 | Barry John | Paul Morris | Ford Escort | 15m 34s | |
12 | Doreen Davies | Anthony Davies | Vauxhall Astra | 16m 09s | |
13 | John Summers | Simon Summers | Ford Escort | 16m 36s | |
14 | Dafydd Walters | Ian Nicholls | Ford Escort | 16m 43s | |
15 | Garry Jenkins | Eric Tong | Peugeot 205 GTi | 18m 19s | |
16 | Richard Jones | Andrew Thomson | Ford Escort | 19m 20s | |
17 | Fred Davies | Afan Thomas | Peugeot 205 GTi | 27m 18s | |
18 | Bryan Thomas | Michael Maddox | Vauxhall Astra | 29m 51s | |
19 | Clive Bayliss | Steve Roderick | Opel Manta | 30m 20s | |
20 | Paul Roberts | Anthony Lemon | Vauxhall Astra | 46m 37s | |
21 | Adam John | Rhidian Jones | Ford Escort | 1F 10m 19s | |
22 | Ian Williams | Colin Hughes | Ford Escort RS | 1F 15m 34s | |
23 | David Wilmer | Mark Powell | Ford Escort | 1F 20m 34s | |
24 | Robert Howells | Nick Murfin | VW Golf | 1F 34m 39s | |
25 | Robert Price | Lionel Plant | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 1F 39m 57s | |
26 | Alun Cole | Euros Lloyd | Ford Escort | 1F 47m 55s | |
27 | Gerwyn Jones | Ceri Davies | Ford Escort | 2F 4m 39s | |
28 | Sion Jones | Simon Cartwright | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 2F 38m 24s | |
29 | Andrew James | Steve Jaiazial | Vauxhall Nova | 2F 39m 40s | |
30 | Gavin Lewis | Cai Ferriday | Ford Escort | 2F 39m 49s | |
31 | Alun Probert | Raymond Davies | Ford Sierra | 4F 10m 19s | |
32 | Thomas Henderson | Criss Lewis | Audi 90 Quattro | 4F 27m 37s | |
33 | Steven Richards | Nicholas Roberts | Citroen Visa | 4F 30m 43s | |
34 | Chris Williams | Adrian Brown | Peugeot 106 | 4F 43m 21s | |
35 | Mike Roberts | David Roberts | Ford Escort | 9F 46m 33s | |
36 | Carwyn Evans | Mark Andrew | Vauxhall Astra | 17F 29m 50s |