Rally Archive
Barcud Road Rally
Sponsored by Feathers Hotel, Aberaeron
Barcud Motor Club
12th/13th July 2025
Winners: Arwyn Jones/Mathew Pryce (Subaru Impreza)
Photograph: © Adrian Convery Photography
Organiser: Barcud Motor Club
Date: 12th/13th July 2025
Clerk of the Course: Paul Jones & Holly Evans
Route: 82 Miles (Map 146)
Base: Tregaron
Starters: 66
Round Seven of the Welsh Championship, the Barcud Rally, had a demanding 82 mile route. Before crews began that, there were two tests to tackle, one immediately after the 21:45 start, and then, after generous plotting time, the same track was run again.
Sixty-six cars took the start after top seeds Kevin Morgan/Marc Hughes failed Scrutineering; amongst the issues was that their Escort lacked much of its interior trim.
The test was a 1.3 mile climb up a farm track. PK Memorial winners, Stefan 'DR' Davies/Kieran Price (Ford Escort) were fastest on both tests, no doubt helped by being the first car on the road, dust was a problem for those behind.
Davies/Price left the test venue with a lead of 18 seconds over Adam Jones/Jac Roberts (VW Golf), who, in turn, were 11 seconds in front of Gareth Rhys Jones/Deio Rhys Jones (Toyota Corolla). However, none of these three were to get very far on the road section. The leaders had the gearbox fail on their Escort, while for Jones/Roberts a failed heater matrix stopped their Golf; a broken exhaust halted the third placed Corolla.
The first road section was an intricate affair running around Llangeitho, including through a number of fields. The majority of the leading runners made their time at TC3S, which was situated north of the village, but all were late at TC4M, which followed the run through the fields. Due to the lengthy off road segment, the control was timed to the minute.
No one got away with being less than three minutes late at TC4M. Amongst the quickest were Arwel Hughes-Jones/Dylan John Williams (Escort) who now led Gareth Wyn Jones/Ryan Griffiths (Escort) by 25 seconds. Gareth Price/Liam Evans (BMW 318Ti) were in third, one second in front of Arwyn Jones/Mathew Pryce (Subaru Impreza).
Welsh Champions, George Williams/Cadog Davies (Escort), had been in fifth place after the tests, but were penalised five minutes for failing to record the first code board of the night correctly. It was not the best night for the pair as they lost further time on the third section, which was cleaned by their rivals.
Joining the retirement list at this early point was the Escort of Jonathan Davies/Jamie Mills, which broke a shaft at RCD. A similar fate caused the withdrawal of Mici Lloyd-Jones/Dave Thomas in their Honda Civic.
Another tight section, this one around Rhyd-y-pandy, had almost everyone drop further time. The exception to the rule were Kevin Kerr/Alan James (Escort); they were clean at TC6S and this moved them to within two seconds of the leaders, who had dropped 30 seconds. Jones/Pryce were one second faster than Price/Evans, so the two crews were now sharing third place.
After a splash 'n dash fuel stop at Stags Head, the next section ran from Llanio to Llangybi. Hughes-Jones/Williams, Jones/Griffiths and Jones/Pryce were clean at TC10S, but Price/Evans were 15 seconds late and this not only allowed Jones/Pryce into a clear third place, it permitted Kerr/James to move up to fourth, with Price/Evans now in fifth.
The next sector was to have a critical affect on the final results. It started at Olmarch and ran via Gogoyan to finish at Llanfair Clydogau. There was a lengthy farmyard section at the mid-point, which had a time control, TC12M, timed to the minute immediately after it. Both Hughes-Jones/Williams and Jones/Griffiths had difficulty locating the entrance to the farm, the former lost a minute, while the latter dropped two minutes.
With Jones/Pryce being 12 seconds late at TC13S, having been clean at TC12M, it caused a major reshuffle of the lead positions. Kerr/James now led Price/Evans by four seconds, Jones/Pryce were one second further back. Hughes-Jones/Williams were in fourth, 23 seconds off the lead, while Jones/Griffiths dropped to sixth, behind Gareth 'Sheds' Edwards/Shaun Richards (Escort).
The following section used the lanes south west of Llandewi Brefi, finishing near Llanycrwys. The second timing point, TC16S, proved to be the most important of the four TCs on the sector. Kerr/James arrived ahead of time at the control and booked in 12 seconds early; with double penalties for early arrival, this added 24 seconds to their total. In contrast, both Hughes-Jones/Williams and Jones/Pryce were clean here; this put the Subaru into an 18 seconds lead ahead of the Escort. Kerr/James were 19 seconds off first place in third.
The rally ended with a section than ran beside Llyn Brianne, before taking the Abergwesyn Pass to finish just outside Tregaron. All dropped time at a TC, timed to the second, after the climb up the Devil's Staircase. Kerr/James were fastest of the leaders here and moved past Hughes-Jones/Williams for second place. Jones/Pryce were only one second slower, maintaining their lead and, with all cleaning the run down the finish, took a surprise, but well deserved maiden win for a crew who in 2023 had started the Barcud at Car 82.
Kerr/James held on to second place, 17 seconds off first place; they were left ruing the unnecessary 24 second early penalty. Third fell to Hughes-Jones/Williams, 30 seconds behind the leaders, they ended over a minute ahead of a recovering Jones/Griffiths.
George Williams/Cadog Davies put in the best performance of any crew over the second half of the Barcud and, despite their earlier mishaps, they finished in eight place.
On the final run down in to Tregaron, the brakes of Gethin Dafis/Dion Lewis' Escort locked on and this blocked the road for a number of following cars. Worst affected were Max Hughes/Trystan Leyshon (Peugeot 206), who lost five minutes, and dropped from sixth to tenth in the final standings as a result.
The Semi-Expert Class was won by Andrew Davies/Callum James (Proton Satria GTi), who finished one place ahead of second in class Thomas Jones/Emyr Evans (Peugeot 206 Cup). Phillip Jenkins/Lewis Jenkins (Escort) had held a four minute lead in the category at the midway point, but retired in the second half.
Russell Price/Joe Jones (Ford Escort RS2000) won the Novice Class, finishing over two minutes ahead of their nearest class rival.
RESULTS
- Overall Positions
- Award Winners
- Class Positions
- Time Penalty Details
- Fail/PC/RC Penalties
- Test 1 Times
- Test 2 Times
- Overall Positions after Test 2
- Overall Positions at TC10S
- Non-Finishers
- List of Starters
- Unofficial WAMC Points