Rally Archive
Autumn Memorial Road Rally
Sponsored by John Morgan Autoparts + Cath Williams Catering
Carmarthen Motor Club
27th/28th September 2025
Winners: Daniel Jones/Marc Hughes (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © Adrian Convery Photography
Organiser: Carmarthen Motor Club
Date: 27th/28th September 2025
Clerk of the Course: Alan James & Owain Davies
Route: 100 Miles (Maps 145, 146 & 159)
Base: Carmarthen
Starters: 79
The Autumn, Round Nine of the Welsh Championship, started and finished at its traditional venue, Carmarthen Cattle Market at Llanllwch. In 2025 it was run in memory of Aaron Jones and Dai Roberts, two club members who had died within the previous year and who had been Clerks of the Course when the Autumn Rally was revived in 2014.
With competition from the Tour of Epynt and the Trackrod, both running on the same weekend, there was a slightly lower number of starters than in recent years, but 79 crews took the flag.
The field was led away by the Escort of George Williams/Cadog Davies, who were looking for a hat-trick of wins on the Autumn.
Heavy rain fell as competitors gathered at the Start. Although it had ceased before the flag dropped, the downpour was going to make the going slippery on some sections, especially those that ran through fields. In addition, fog was to hamper progress throughout the night.
The first section was a short five-minuter just west of Bancyfelin Hospital and was cleaned by around half the field, including most of the top runners, although Ethan Davies/Ben Duke (Vauxhall Astra) were 20 seconds late at TC2.
TC3 to TC7 started at Merthyr-Fach and snaked its way to Cynwyl Elfed via a number of tracks. Unfortunately, the third car on the road, the Escort of Stefan 'DR' Davies/Kieran Price cut out on the Cwm White, blocking the track for around a dozen cars. The car got going again, but by this point following cars had been diverted around the track; given the intricate routing, this meant missing the central part of the section and all penalties were scrubbed for the TCs.
Part of the following section was also lost after a track leading to a control had become impassable; all penalties at TC11 were cancelled. However, those at TC10 did count; it was timed to the minute and almost everyone lost time as to get there a sodden field had to be traversed. Only Daniel Jones/Marc Hughes (Ford Escort) arrived at TC10 on time, their nearest challengers all dropped at least a minute.
A small number failed to find PC12, which was located in the farmyard, these included Davies/Duke and Barcud winners, Arwyn Jones/Matthew Pryce (Ford Escort).
All these dramas were immaterial to a number of competitors - Mike Roberts/Dafydd-Sion Lloyd (Ford Escort) had already retired with a failed clutch, while Iwan Davies/Andrew Lowe (Ford Escort) had withdrawn with overheating problems.
A long track through Alltgaredig caused most to be late at the final timed to the minute TC of the first half, these included leaders Jones/Hughes, in contrast Williams/Davies and Arwel Hughes Jones/Dylan John Williams (Ford Escort) did make their time.
These challenges and cancellations meant that at the Windy Corner petrol halt there was a five way tie for the lead, with Williams/Davies, Hughes Jones/Williams, Jones/Hughes, Gethin Dafis/Dion Lewis (Ford Escort) and Mathew Davies/Justin Davies (Ford Escort) all on one minute.
If TC11 hadn't been cancelled, Andy Davies/Owen Rowcliffe (Subaru Impreza) would have been leading at that point, however they dropped a minute at TC13, so were in seventh place at Petrol. They were to retire early in the second half.
Steve Knibbs/Gerwyn Barry retired at Petrol with their Suzuki Swift suffering from a severe oil leak. The Best Presented Car Award had been presented at the Start to the Escort of Gareth Wyn Jones/Ryan Griffiths, unfortunately they were to retire with a broken prop shaft.
Both Richard Jerman/Shaun Richards (Escort) and Owain Davies/Jamie Mills (Escort) were well down the order at the halfway halt, having lost four minutes in the muddy field leading to TC10. Neither crew were to make it to the end of the rally, the former broke a wheel, while the latter hit a bank in the fog.
The Autumn was proving to be a character building affair for Davies/Price; after getting their car going again when it had cut out on the Cwm White, they lost further time when their Escort's dry sump belt came off approaching TC11. As a result they were in 44th position at Petrol, but failed to make the finish after going off soon after the restart, meaning that six out of the top ten starters failed to make the Finish.
After the halt, action moved to the lanes around Llandysul, although the organisers' luck didn't improve as Davies/Duke went off just after the restart and blocked the road for the cars behind them. The penalties at TC15 were scrubbed, although this was the final cancellation, with the remainder of the route running as planned.
The Circuit of Llandysul made little change to the leading positions as all were clean until the rally arrived at a section west of Brechfa. Williams/Davies stopped the clock at TC25 one second ahead of Jones/Hughes, while Hughes Jones/Williams were seven seconds off fastest.
Time was then lost by all at both of the final two TCs in the event. Jones/Hughes took the lead at TC29, after Williams/Davies lost 25 second finding the correct route through a double triangle PC; this dropped them to third behind Hughes Jones/Williams, who had been quickest to the time control.
With only a short four minuter starting at Peniel remaining, Jones/Hughes led Hughes Jones/Williams by four seconds, with Williams/Davies 19 seconds further back. The top seeds were fastest of the trio to TC31, but this wasn't sufficient to catch the two crews in front. Hughes Jones/Williams were just a second faster than Jones/Hughes, so the latter came home with a victory margin of just three seconds, giving the driver his first road rally win since the 2019 Autumn Rally.
With the winners not being registered for the Welsh Championship, Hughes Jones/Williams took top points for the Autumn and this was enough to secure them the series title with two rounds remaining.
Gethin Dafis/Dion Lewis finished in fourth, 24 seconds off first place, they won the Expert Class. These top four cars were over a minute and a half ahead of the rest of the field at the end.
The Semi-Expert Class was won by Robert Brown/Michael Hardwick (Peugeot 309 GTi); they finished 44 seconds ahead of second placed Debbie Evans/Gethin Sollis (Ford Escort). Thomas Jones/Emyr Evans (Peugeot 206 Cup) might have challenged for the category win but for four minutes lost in the muddy field before TC10.
Craig Owen/Adam Lee Williams (Ford Fiesta) finished two minutes ahead of their nearest rivals to win the Novice Class, have led the class throughout.
RESULTS
- Overall Positions
- Award Winners
- Class Positions
- Time Penalty Details
- Fail Penalties
- Overall Positions at Petrol
- Non-Finishers
- List of Starters
- Unofficial WAMC Points