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Holrus Road Rally 2002

Newtown & District Auto Club

30th November 2002



Clerk of the Course: Wayne Jones

Route: 100 Miles

Venue: Epynt

Starters: 74

Winners: Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort)




Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies demonstrated once again that they are the crew to beat on road rallies that use the Epynt Ranges as they took a comfortable win on the Holrus Rally. The Newtown & District AC event saw crews tackle a 100 mile route, with all its competitve sections on the Ranges.

Holrus Road Rally 2002
Winners: Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort)
Photograph: M&H Photography

Jones/Davies always looked in command of the rally, puling out a fifty second lead on the first loop of Epynt and extending that on the second loop to come home over three minutes clear of the opposition. Second place went to the leading Semi-Expert crew Martin Leonard/Kevin Chaffey, Mark Appleton/Anthony Preston were a further three minutes behind in third.

Paul Tod/Iestyn ap Daffydd had held second at halfway but went off the road on a forestry section near the end of the event.

Top seeds Wayne Morris/Paul Middleton finished in eighth after being delayed for five minutes by a puncture early on in the proceedings. While Hefin George/Dilwyn John also lost time due to a puncture, theirs happening just a mile from the end of the final competitive section. They lost three minutes and were classified in 12th place.

Holrus Road Rally 2002
Runners Up: Martin Leonard/Kevin Chaffey (VW Golf GTi)

Anthony Gluyas/Richard Preece were looking for their third win of the year, but lost three minutes when their Escort stalled and wouldn't restart. They finished in 14th place.

Jon Stobbs/Gary Robbins failed to make the Finish after they rolled their Corolla at Edmonds Bend on the first circuit of the Ranges.

The Novice Class was being led at Petrol by Tony Stiling/Clive Meredith but they retired their Lancia Delta in the second half after the fuel pump failed, this allowed Geraint Jones/Phil Ralphs through to take the class win.




NON E-MARKED TYRE CONTROVERSY

A number of crews failed scrutineering after the offical in charge of the checks decided that cars fitted with tyres that did not have ‘E’ markings should not be allowed to start. The crews affected included Martyn O’Connor/Peter Collins, Steve Webster/Paul Holmberg, Alun Evans/Mike Jones and Stew Dale/Jez Harries.

After the rally the matter was raised with the MSA by both the organisers and competitors.

In response, John Symes of the MSA issued the following statement:

A certain amount of confusion has recently occurred in respect of what tyres are acceptable for road rallying. Regulation K22.3.1 states “Wheels and tyres are free but must fit within the standard unmodified wheel arch”. Regulation K22.3.2 states “Be fitted with tyres that are always legal for use on the Public Highway”. Thus under section K the requirement is that tyres must be road legal and fit within standard unmodified wheel arches.

Regulation R1.1.2 details some notes for production tyres and lays down specific requirements for Production Saloon Car and Sports Car Racing. It also gives some advice as to the legal situation concerning the sale of ‘E’ or ‘e’ marked tyres for road use.

The legal requirement concerning tyres is that they should have a minimum of 1.6mm depth of tread over 75% of the tread width for the full circumference of the tyre and that the tyres should be “Fit for purpose”. There is no laid down requirement for a minimum percentage of void area for the tread pattern but as a point of information the FIA refers to a figure of 17% minimum. The term “fit for purpose” is open to interpretation and any individual case is going to be subject of assessment ultimately by a court of law. There is an argument that if a car is participating in a road rally then this is a competition and thus tyres marked “For Competition Purposes Only” are “Fit for Purpose”. This may or not be so and if you are involved in an accident on your way to the start of such a rally a court may deem that the tyres were not fit for purpose. It is very much a grey area although we suggest that whatever the circumstances tyres marked “For Racing Only” are unlikely to be accepted as being fit for purpose if used on the public highway.

It is to be noted that whereas in many countries the legal requirement is that cars must be equipped with “e” marked tyres, in the UK the only limitation extends to the sale of tyres for highway use. Thus to use non “e” marked tyres on the public highway is not illegal provided they are fit for purpose and meet the minimum tread requirements as noted above.

Scrutineers’ responsibilities extend only to carrying out such checks as are reasonably practicable concerning compliance with MSA regulations. Whether or not the car is road legal is entirely the competitors’ responsibility.

The MSA cannot advise whether tyres marked “For Competition Use Only”, or similar, are fit for purpose or otherwise. You may like to reflect on the point that should a court decide that such tyres are not fit for purpose then potentially this could result in your being awarded 12 points on your licence, a fact that may limit your driving activities.



OVERALL RESULTS

Pos Driver Navigator Car Penalty
1 Gerwyn Jones Ceri Davies Ford EScort 8m 18s
2 Martin Leonard Kevin Chaffey VW Golf GTi 11m 31s
3 Mark Appleton Anthony Preston Peugeot 106 14m 54s
4 Mike Morgan Matthew Maidment Suzuki Swift GTi 17m 04s
5 John Davies Neil Bevan Ford Escort 22m 50s
6 Garry Jenkins Eric Tong Peugeot 205 GTi 26m 36s
7 Paul Webb Justin Brooks Vauxhall Astra 26m 44s
8 Wayne Morris Paul Middleton Ford Escort 27m 29s
9 Andy Sheppard Mike Hart Vauxhall Astra 30m 54s
10 Ashley Morris Michael Hardwick Vauxhall Astra GTE 33m 17s
11 Gareth Jones Iwan Jones Vauxhall Astra GTE 33m 59s
12 Hefin George Dilwyn John Nissan Sunny GTi-R 34m 26s
13 Chris Davies Ian Cooke Peugeot 205 XS 35m 04s
14 Anthony Gluyas Richard Preece Ford Escort 35m 21s
15 Roy Presticcio Simon Lannon Ford Escort 38m 56s
16 Steve Wynn Chris Wynn Ford Escort 41m 28s
17 Carwyn Evans Mark Andrews Vauxhall Astra GTE 44m 47s
18 Martin Perris Dean Davies Vauxhall Astra 45m 14s
19 Matthew Price Huw Mathias Opel Ascona 48m 17s
20 Ian Jarman Dave Lewis Ford Escort 49m 51s
21 Hefyn Thomas Paul Morris Vauxhall Astra GTE 53m 40s
22 Geraint Jones Phil Ralphs Ford Escort 53m 59s
23 Keith Thomas Chris Froom Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 55m 37s
24 Hubert Scott Stephen Wishart Peugeot 106 58m 55s
25 James Chapelle Will Arrowsmith Morris Mini 61m 28s
26 Mike Herring Fred Harris Vauxhall Astra 62m 27s
27 Anthony Clarke Barry Phillips Ford Sierra 4x4 67m 38s
28 Tristram Pearce Dave Cox Peugeot 205 GTi 68m 31s
29 Dave Edwards Andy Edwards Ford Escort 72m 02s
30 Doug Bowkett Cliff Jones Peugeot 309 GTi 74m 35s
31 Alan James David Roberts Peugeot 205 GTi 100m 12s
32 Euros Evans Iwan Williams Peugeot 205 GTi 129m 02s
33 Chris Bolver Denny Harris Ford Anglia 1F 33m 33s
34 David Jones Glyn Price Peugeot 205 GTi 1F 49m 03s
35 Mark Lloyd Delyth Morgan Ford Escort 1F 60m 56s
36 DJ Fowler-Bishop Simon Edwards Peugeot 309 GTi 1F 61m 48s
37 Lawrence Christie Jonathan Charlesson Peugeot 106 GTi 2F 125m 26s
38 Tim Watkins N Watkins Peugeot 205 GTi 2F 134m 44s
39 Adam John Stephen Jancziac Ford Escort XR3i 3F 94m 30s
40 Mikey Davies Alan Lloyd Ford Escort 3F 137m 10s
41 Chris Green Andy Lawrence Ford Escort 4F 110m 44s
42 Andrew Dorsett Thomas Parry Peugeot 205 XS 4F 170m 16s
43 Alun Davies Anthony Davies Ford Escort 5F 133m 53s
44 Allan Alford Ted Williams Ford Fiesta XR2 6F 84m 02s
45 Alun Probert Raymond Davies Ford Sierra 6F 190m 44s
46 Roger Crump Simon Powney Ford Escort RS2000 7F 289m 35s
47 Alan Bradbury Geoff Evanson Ford Escort 8F 161m 58s
48 Paul Edwards Nick Bloxham MG Maestro 11F 168m 08s