Rally Archive
E Roberts (Ffestiniog) Memorial Rali Meirion
Sponsored by John Roberts (Ffestiniog) Ltd + R E Jones Ltd + AUTOMAX
Harlech & District Motor Club
28th/29th September 2024
Winners: George Williams/Cadog Davies (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © Joseph John Gilbertson
Organiser: Harlech & District Motor Club
Date: 28th/29th September 2024
Clerk of the Course: Emyr Jones & Rob Mason
Route: 109 Miles (Map 124)
Base: Dolgellau
Starters: 61
The Rali Meirion returned to the Welsh Championship for the first time in eight years, but received a disappointing entry of 63 cars, which was reduced to 61 starters. One of the non-starters was the Escort of Owain Dixon/Sion Busson which developed a fuel pump fault after going through Scrutineering.
If the entry was smaller than expected, it was of a high quality, with almost all the leading Welsh Championship contenders taking part.
The event was based at the Dolgellau Rugby Club, allowing for extensive use of the lanes surrounding the town. The route started with an intricate journey through the infamous Maze and other testing local roads, before looping up, via the Trawsfynydd petrol halt, as far as Maentwrog, and then returning on the coastal side of Cader Idris for further complex sections near the Finish.
The Best Presented Car Award was given to the Escort of Dafydd Iwan Jones/Roger Evans, which then failed to reach the start of the first competitive section as fuel problems brought the car to a halt.
SS1S was located at the north-eastern end of the Dolgellau Maze at Carleg and used almost all the roads in the complex. There was a Time Control, timed to the minute, after two miles and then the Finish control six miles later.
Almost all crews were clean at the MTC, but everyone were late at the Finish, which was timed to the second. Arwel Hughes Jones/Dylan John Williams (Ford Escort) were quickest, four seconds ahead of top seeds and 2023 winners Iwan Roberts Jnr/Daniel Jones (Toyota Corolla).
The roads in the Maze have claimed many victims over the years, quite often due to the stone walls that line the narrow lanes. Deion Atkinson/Jamie Mills were added to the role call when a rock broke the bottom arm of their Civic at PC3; they were out.
A Neutral taking the route up the main road towards Bala, brought crews to SS4S at Dolddeuli. The three and a half mile section ran parallel to the A road, going through Esgairgawr and Esgeiriau before the finish at Pont Llanrhaiadr.
Everyone was late at SS4F. George Williams/Cadog Davies (Ford Escort) were fastest on the section and moved into the lead; they were now two seconds ahead of Roberts/Jones, while Kevin Kerr/Kieran Price (Ford Escort) were 11 seconds off first place in third. Hughes Jones/Williams had lost time with overshoots and were now 44 seconds behind the leaders. These four crews had already pulled away from the remainder of the field.
SS5S to SS5F was in the lanes from Dolserau Hall Hotel to Cross Foxes. Hughes Jones/Williams were fastest and moved into third, passing Kerr/Price, who had suffered a wrong slot. Williams/Davies maintained their lead, but were just a single second ahead of Roberts/Jones.
The next section circled to the immediate south of Dolgellau, using the white through Gellilwyd and Maes Angharad. Williams/Davies lost their spotlights and their lead here, they clung on to second, but were 42 seconds behind Roberts/Jones by SS8F. Kerr/Price were fastest and moved back into third, six seconds ahead of Hughes Jones/Williams.
The route then moved northwards, the next section starting just off the A470 at Dolrhyd and going through Coed-yr-Brenin and Pont Aber-Geirw to finish above the Holiday Village at Bronaber. Crews then took on fuel at Trawsfynydd.
Roberts/Jones dropped just a single second over the section and arrived at Petrol with a lead of over a minute. Williams/Davies, struggling in the gloom, were still in second place, but had Hughes Jones/Williams just nine second behind them. Kerr/Price were in fourth, 37 seconds further back.
Richard Jerman/Alan James (Ford Escort) were in fifth, but almost three minutes behind Kerr/Price.
At the break Iwan Bowness/Tomos Shakespeare (Peugeot 206) had a clear lead in the Semi-Expert Class and at the Finish won the class award by four minutes. Similarly, Dyfan Williams/Liam Jones (Toyota Corolla) were comfortably ahead in the Novice category and went on to win the class, ending seven minutes ahead of the nearest opposition.
Iwan Roberts Jnr/Daniel Jones extended their lead as the route looped around to the north, however their rally came to an end on the Harlech Hairpins when their Corolla suffered a gearbox failure.
The three way battle for second place, therefore became the fight for victory. Williams/Davies had made a partial repair to their spotlights at Petrol, but still had to contest the second half with just one of them working. This meant that they were unable to hold off a charge from Hughes Jones/Williams, who passed them for the lead on the Maentwrog section. The two crews were separated by seven seconds as the route headed back toward Dolgellau, with Kerr/Price 40 seconds further back.
Jones/Williams had extended their lead to over half a minute when they slid off the road into a muddy field where they got stuck. By the time that they had finally extracted the car, they had gone OTL. This left Williams/Davies to hold off a strong late challenge from Kerr/Price to come home to claim their second successive win in the Welsh Championship. Their victory margin was 24 seconds at the Finish.
The leading Expert crew. Dewi Jones/Sion Rowlands (Mazda MX5), finished in third place, having been in eighth at Petrol. They had been particularly quick on their home ground around Maentwrog, where they had beaten Hughes Jones/Williams by 40 seconds. They were four minutes behind second placed Kerr/Price in the final standings and 23 seconds ahead of fifth placed Carwyn Evans/Jac Wyn Roberts (Ford Escort).
Richard Jerman was teamed up once again with Alan James, after the latter had acted as Clerk of the Course on the Autumn, they finished in sixth, which was sufficient to maintain Jerman's lead in the Welsh Drivers' table, although both George Williams and Kevin Kerr could challenge for the title if they finish strongly on at least two of the remaining three series counters.
The fight for the Navigators' title is currently a teenage affair between Moi Williams, who guided Iwan Roberts Snr to eighth on the Meirion, and Rali Mon winner Deio Rhys Jones, who, with driver Gethin Eifion Jones, finished in seventh.
Forty-two crews were classified as finishers, with all but three of these being fail free.
RESULTS
- Overall Positions
- Award Winners
- Class Positions
- Time Penalty Details
- Fail Penalties
- Overall Positions at MC2
- Non-Finishers
- List of Starters
- Unofficial WAMC Points