results@rallyroots.com

rally results service

Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest

Night Owl Rally 2005

Sponsored by E&M Motor Factors

Aberystwyth & District Motor Club

30th April/1st May 2005

---

---

Seventy-five cars took the start of the Night Owl Rally, the fourth round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship. The event started and finished at the Llety Parc on the outskirts of Aberystwyth. The entire route was south of the organising club's home town.

Competitive motoring started with a demanding section using the familiar tracks at Carrog Farm and then Blaencarrog, just outside Llanddeiniol. There was an intermediate Time Control after these challenging whites, with a target of four minutes. All crews dropped time here.

Fastest to ITC2R were Huw Evans/Patrick Walsh (Ford Escort), they were three seconds faster than Andrew Phillips/Martin Griffiths (Mazda 323), this was a superb performance from the latter pairing, who were seeded at Car 40. Steven Woods/Aled Richards (Vauxhall Astra) and Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort) were one second further back.

ITC2R to ITC3R was a relaxed section to take the route down the B-road to Llangwyryfon, but from ITC3R, which was just outside the village, the course took crews through Llwyn-derw to ITC4R, which was at Maesllyn.

Once again, Evans/Walsh were quickest here, taking another five seconds off Woods/Richards, although the latter crew passed Phillips/Griffiths for second place, despite the Mazda pair being third fastest to ITC4R.

Rali Bro Teifi winners, Kevin 'KJ' Jones/Dilwyn John (Ford Sierra) had a disasterous time on the section, they dropped two minutes to the leaders, and then failed to get a counter signature for a code board, giving them a fail.

One of the first retirements of the event was the Astra of Martyn O'Connor/Peter Collins, which developed a severe oil leak. The same problem halted the similar car of John Gilbey/Michael Gilbey at an early stage as well.

On the approach to ITC5R the Escort of Gareth Thomas/Edwin Venville got out of shape and they retired due to the resultant off. Also out due to damaged steering, after hitting a ditch, were John 'Mark One' Thomas/Gwawr Hughes (Ford Escort).

A fuel relay problem caused Steven Roberts/Darren Garrod (Peugeot 205) to lose 10 minutes on this part of the route.

Evans/Walsh, along with a number of other crews, including Phillips/Griffiths, were on time at ITC5R, but Woods/Richards dropped a second. This put Evans/Walsh ten seconds ahead of the Astra, with Phillips/Griffiths three seconds further back in third.

The section ended at Ardgrange; Woods/Richards, along with Phillips/Griffiths, cleaned this, but Evans/Walsh were eight seconds late, cutting their lead to just two seconds.

The second regularity was 25 miles in length and included four ITCs, plus the finish control. It started at Llanrhystud, headed east to Trefenter, before moving back towards the coast near Llanon. Despite the challenge Evans/Walsh cleaned it, as did Jones/Davies and John Davies/Neil Bevan (Vauxhall Astra). Meanwhile Woods/Richards were a second late at one ITC. However, Phillips/Griffiths dropped 15 seconds at two successive controls.

Petrol was taken at Aberaeron and at this point Evans/Walsh led Woods/Richards by three seconds, while Davies/Bevan had overtaken Phillips/Griffiths and were now in third, 25 seconds off the lead. The Mazda crew were ten seconds further back in fourth, and were now just ten seconds ahead of Jones/Davies, who were fifth.

The second half started with a run inland as far as Bronnant, before heading north, via Lledrod, to finish at Capel Bangor. For the leading crews the only difficult section was around Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, which was the only control at which all lost significant time.

The battle for the lead lost two of its main protagonists soon after the restart. Firstly, Phillips/Griffiths went out when a brake pipe broke on their Mazda. Evans/Walsh also didn't make the finish after their Escort's diff failed.

This left Davies/Bevan in an attempt to chase down Woods/Richards; initially the gap between them widened as Davies/Bevan dropped a total of three seconds at two controls, but at the vital ITC21R, they were six seconds faster than the leaders. However, despite Woods/Richards being a second late at the final control, the 2004 winners came through to secure their second successive Night Owl victory, finishing 18 seconds ahead of Davies/Bevan.

Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies maintained their pace in the second half and, as on the Bro Teifi, claimed the final podium place.

The Semi-Expert Class was won by Gareth Edwards/Andrew Edwards (Suzuki Swift), while the leading Novices were Patrick Crowley/Ricky Pearce (Vauxhall Nova), who finished just two seconds ahead of category rivals Abi Summerfield/Tom Henderson (Peugeot 205).

Ian 'Dude' Roberts/Steve Herbert (VW Golf) had a troubled first half, clutch problems saw them cut a huge chunk of the route; they cured the problem at Petrol and were on the leader’s pace throughout the second half, despite this they still finished in last place.

---

OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Steve Wood	Aled Richards	Vauxhall Astra GTE	1m 45s
	2	John Davies	Neil Bevan	Vauxhall Astra GTE	2m 03s
	3	Gerwyn Jones	Ceri Davies	Ford Escort	2m 27s
	4	Dennis Quinn	Dorian Evans	Ford Sierra 4x4	2m 44s
	5	Roger Hicks	Mark Hamilton	Ford Escort	3m 00s
	6	Gary Robbins	Dyfan Davies	Renault 5	3m 02s
	7	Delfryn Owen	Jeff James	Renault Clio RSi	3m 32s
	8	Adrian Jones	Dylan Jenkins	Subaru Impreza	3m 38s
	9	Merfyn Hughes	Graham Dance	Subaru Impreza	3m 40s
	10	Glyn Price	Iwan Jones	Ford Escort	3m 41s
	11	Kevin ‘Steaky’ Morgan	Iestyn Leyshon	Subaru Legacy	3m 45s
	12	Simon Harrison	Paul Holmberg	Ford Escort	3m 48s
	13	Mark Daniel	Hywel Ifans	Ford Escort	4m 10s
	14	Richard McLachlan	Eddie Clough	Peugeot 205	4m 17s
	15	Aled Jones	Dalis Ifans	Vauxhall Astra	4m 21s
	16	Gerallt Davies	Michael Evans	Ford Escort	4m 33s
	17	Jason Hardy	Alan Jôs	VW Golf	4m 37s
	18	Richard Evans	Mark Lloyd	VW Golf	4m 57s
	19	Dafydd Edwards	Deian Rees	Ford Sierra	4m 58s
	20	Roger Harris	Jane Price	Vauxhall Astra	5m 00s
	21	Clive Greves	Rob Duke	VW Polo	5m 05s
	22	Alyson Acreman	Byron Thomas	Honda Civic	5m 14s
	23	Arwel Davies	Anthony Davies	Ford Escort	5m 15s
	24	Darren Williams	Dylan Jones	Vauxhall Astra	5m 49s
	25	Mark 'GT' Roberts	Denny Harris	VW Golf	6m 04s
	26	Gareth Edwards	Andrew Edwards	Suzuki Swift	7m 11s
	27	Gareth 'Pasty' Harries	Carwyn Jones	Peugeot 309	8m 13s
	28	Wil Edwards	Eyrl Rees	Subaru Impreza	8m 25s
	29	Edryd Evans	Richard Briddon	VW Golf	8m 32s
	30	Steven Williams	Gerwyn Roberts	Peugeot 205	8m 34s
	31	Kevin Hesketh	Shaun O’Gorman	Ford Escort	8m 38s
	32	Geoff Williams	Delyth Brown	Vauxhall Nova	9m 11s
	33	Rob Chell	Ivor James	Peugeot 205	9m 16s
	34	Eiros Edwards	Wyn Mathias	Ford Focus	10m 00s
	35	Stephen Kerr	Gwyn Jones	Peugeot 205	10m 29s
	36	Tim Chell	Clive Phillips	VW Golf	10m 53s
	37	Rob Price	Mark Coleman	Vauxhall Astra	11m 12s
	38	Tim Evans	Alun Probert	Nissan Micra	11m 45s
	39	Rhys Jeremiah	Rhydian George	Vauxhall Astra	12m 02s
	40	Nigel Phillips	James Morgan	Peugeot 309	12m 45s
	41	Simon Chandler	Dave Manning	Vauxhall Corsa	12m 46s
	42	Nick Evans	Andy Oakes	Toyota Corolla	12m 56s
	43	Elfyn Richards	Paul Roberts	VW Golf	15m 46s
	44	Steven Roberts	Darren Garrod	Peugeot 205	19m 50s
	45	Patrick Crowley	Ricky Pearce	Vauxhall Nova	25m 49s
	46	Abigail Summerfield	Tom Henderson	Peugeot 205	25m 51s
	47	Roger Powley	Leigh Powley	Hillman Imp	30m 10s
	48	Huw Morris	Laura Morris	Proton Compact	30m 37s
	49	Alan Lloyd	Mike Evans	Ford Sierra	32m 06s
	50	Matthew Jones	Richard 'Tyson' Morris	Vauxhall Cavalier	33m 56s
	51	Paul Williams	Hefin West	Vauxhall Astra	36m 22s
	52	Dewi Williams	Jeff Williams	Peugeot 205	1F 13m 11s
	53	Rhys Jones	Alwyn Roberts	Peugeot 205	1F 13m 56s
	54	Kevin 'KJ' Jones	Dilwyn John	Ford Sierra	2F 4m 45s
	55	Alan Hands	Paul Hands	Vauxhall Chevette	2F 21m 16s
	56	Gerallt Williams	Gareth Owen	Ford Escort	2F 23m 12s
	57	Huw Mwfyr	Dai Richards	VW Golf	3F 5m 01s
	58	Rickie Walters	Huw Evans	Vauxhall Astra	4F 33m 27s
	59	Geraint Davies	Emma Davies	Mini Mayfair	22F 14m 04s
	60	Ian 'Dude' Roberts	Steve Herbert	VW Golf	25F 32m 32s

---

Copyright © 2024 rallyroots.com