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Rali Mynydd Ddu 1996
Sponsored by Park Garage Ltd
Amman & District Motor Club
28th/29th September 1996
Clerk of the Course: Malcolm Walters
Route: 110 Miles
Maps: 159 & 160
Starters: 59
Winners: John Evans/Eurig Evans (Hillman Avenger)
John and Eurig Evans emerged as winners of Amman & District MC's Rali Mynydd Du on a night that would have made Noah think twice before venturing out. Competitors were met with a night of rain, wind and fog which made it hard work for the valiant marshals but meant that competitors dropped time on most of the event's eight sections.
There were 59 starters for the eighth round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship which took in a 110 mile route in South Wales. Of the eight sections three were plot 'n bash, while the route for the remaining five was issued at the start. The eight standard sections were connected by quasi-regularity sections intended to keep competitors under pressure as any time delays would be penalised; it was a system used on the Red Dragon earlier in the year.
There were a couple of significant non-starters, firstly the 1995 winning driver, Jonathan Gwilym, had damaged his car on the Wexford Rally, while championship contenders Paul Holmberg/Maurice Leach withdrew their entry after a family bereavement.
From the start at Ponterdawe, crews went north for the first section, this was to see the first retirement of the night, that of Dave Davies/Owen Dodd who lost all the electrics on their Cavalier SRi. Also in trouble were Dennis Quinn/Nick Darkin who picked up a fail at the first three metre control, they completed the event and would have won by almost two minutes but for this early indiscretion.
After five sections in the Llangadog/Llandovery area, crews arrived at the petrol halt, with the Golf of Tony Davies/Ieuan Thomas leading from the Corolla of Mark Jukes/Jon Stobbs. However neither were to take the spoils at the finish. Davies/Thomas dropped back but secured third place despite losing almost three minutes towards the end as they backed off suspecting that a drive shaft was about to fail. Jukes/Stobbs moved into the lead on the longest section of the night immediately after the halfway halt and would have taken the victory but for the fact that they were among a number of crews who missed a bedraggled code board near the end. Dai Bevan/Bernard Hill also failed to spot the route check as well.
Thus it was left to John and Eurig Evans to take their first ever road rally victory. They had been third at the petrol halt. They had had a big moment on a tight right hander on the first selective, then lost a small amount of time with a few minor overshoots. After a steady run in the second half, they emerged in front at the finish with a comfortable two minute winning margin.
Second overall was taken by Wyn Jones/Phil Clarke, they had been fourth at petrol, but then had a fright as their Escort became stuck in fourth gear on a non-competitive section, however the problem cleared and they came home to a result which put them in pole position to take the Welsh title. Their two main challengers both hit problems; Baron Glaze/Dave Pitchford eventually finished in eighth after losing seven minutes on the second section with a major wrong slot. They were more fortunate than early championship pace setters Richard Lewis/Phil Pugh, the Dovey Valley pairing lay fourth at the halfway halt but then came to grief in a flooded ford on the last section, they eventually got going again but by that time they were OTL.
With Paul Holmberg's absence, Baron Glaze broke clear at the head of the drivers' section of the Welsh Championship. However, while Glaze had scored on eight rounds and would have to start dropping points in subsequent rounds, it was Wyn Jones who was in the strongest position with three rounds remaining. In the Navigators' Table, Phil Clarke had extended his lead over Dave Pitchford to 22 points; both of them had scored on seven rounds.
In the Novice Class of the Welsh Championship, Carl O'Grady/Gwyn Williams had built up a healthy lead. On the Mynydd Ddu they broke a spotlight after nudging a bank and then indulged in a 360 degree spin, but finished 16th and third Semi-Expert.
OVERALL RESULTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
| 1 | John Evans | Eurig Evans | Hillman Avenger | 8m 25s | |
| 2 | Wyn Jones | Phil Clark | Ford Escort | 10m 48s | |
| 3 | Tony Davies | Ieuan Thomas | VW Golf GTi | 11m 31s | |
| 4 | Dai John | Paul Bevan | Toyota Corolla | 12m 18s | |
| 5 | Alan Williams | Andy Bowen | Talbot Sunbeam | 13m 27s | |
| 6 | Gareth Morgan | Carl Williamson | Skoda 120RS | 15m 39s | |
| 7 | Des Phasey | Steve Price | Ford Escort | 17m 34s | |
| 8 | Baron Glaze | Dave Pitchford | Ford Escort | 18m 01s | |
| 9 | Alison Acreman | Byron Jones | Vauxhall Astra | 18m 58s | |
| 10 | Peter Zjalic | Richard Preece | Toyota Corolla | 21m 02s | |
| 11 | Nigel Lloyd | Iestyn Leyshon | Ford Escort | 21m 41s | |
| 12 | David Wilmer | Darren Morris | Ford Escort | 24m 40s | |
| 13 | Kevin Jones | Mark Kehrein | Ford Escort | 32m 36s | |
| 14 | Steve Griffiths | Ian Cooke | Ford Escort | 36m 39s | |
| 15 | Nigel Gardner | Tim Samuel | Peugeot 205 GTi | 38m 24s | |
| 16 | Carl O'Grady | Gwyn Williams | VW Golf | 39m 28s | |
| 17 | Justin Hayward | Nick Rodgers | Vauxhall Nova | 47m 53s | |
| 18 | Dennis Quinn | Nick Darkin | Ford Escort | 1F 6m 44s | |
| 19 | Mark Jukes | Jon Stobbs | Toyota Corolla | 1F 8m 20s | |
| 20 | Dai Bevan | Bernard Hill | Ford Escort | 1F 10m 28s | |
| 21 | Pete Cotton | Matt Barker | Ford Escort | 1F 17m 55s | |
| 22 | Sarah Harmer | Pat Gadsby | MG Meastro EFi | 1F 22m 56s | |
| 23 | Jonathan Hands | Rob Duke | Vauxhall Chevette | 1F 29m 10s | |
| 24 | Jason Rees | Steve Durbin | Talbot Sunbeam | 1F 31m 11s | |
| 25 | Andrew Lewis | Dave Howells | Ford Escort | 1F 34m 08s | |
| 26 | Brian Usher | Jonathan Usher | Ford Escort | 2F 30m 35s | |
| 27 | Neil Griffiths | Darren Miles | Ford Escort | 2F 31m 40s | |
| 28 | Gethin Lewis | Aled Jones | Ford Escort | 2F 36m 02s | |
| 29 | Dylan Parry | Dafydd Williams | Ford Escort | 2F 37m 46s | |
| 30 | Toby Adams | Iestyn ap Dafydd | Ford Escort | 3F 23m 07s | |
| 31 | Robert Fearn | Brian Jenkins | Ford Escort | 3F 44m 45s | |
| 32 | Nick Evans | Alan Hands | Ford Escort | 4F 24m 58s | |
| 33 | John Davies | Garyl Evans | Ford Escort | 4F 29m 51s | |
| 34 | Dylan Thomas | Mark Crisp | Vauxhall Cavalier | 4F 47m 06s | |
| 35 | Kevin James | Tony Bowen | Austin Metro | 5F 47m 11s | |
| 36 | David Morgan | Charles Gill | Toyota Corolla | 7F 29m 21s | |
| 37 | Nick Charles | Gavin Davies | Ford Escort | 12F 1h 18m 52s | |
| 38 | Nicholas Yates | Simon Yates | Ford Escort | 16F 50m 08s | |
| 39 | Gareth Liles | Rhian Liles | Ford Fiesta | 20F 50m 38s | |
| 40 | Paul Hill | Jane Harris | Ford Escort XR3 | 22F 49m 57s | |
| 41 | Martin Ellaway | Matthew Farr | Ford Escort | 32F 40m 49s | |
| 42 | Chris Lewis | John Williams | Ford Escort | 49F 1h 22m 38s |