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Night Owl Rally 1997

Sponsored by Packaging Plus

Aberystwyth & District Motor Club

26th/27th April 1997

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Elgan and Byron Jones, in their Astra GTE, won the 1997 Night Owl Rally, the fifth round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship. The Aberyswyth Motor Club organised event proved to be a tough test of competitors, this became evident by the petrol halt when 21 of the 63 starters were found to be OTL, these included a number of the expected front runners.

The 130 mile route started north of Aberyswyth then generally worked its way south, via Tal-y-Bont, Pendam, Trebenter and Llangeitho before returning to the Finish at the Ceredigion seaside resort. The organisers used most of the devices available to them to gain a result; these being an intricate route, continual plot 'n bash, the use of numeroud of whites and a large number of controls. When foggy conditions on the long third section were added, it was to lead to mayhem as crews dropped large amounts of time and were beyond their time limit before reaching the start of the fifth section and a time recovery point.

The most notable casualties were Dennis Quinn/Andrew Thomson, they were unfortunate enough to suffer a puncture on their Escort on the fourth section, they dropped nine minutes and went OTL at the next time control. They were not alone, Des Phasey/Paul Middleton, Dave James/Emyr Jones and Nick Broadway/Andy Oakes were among a large number to join them.

Some crews did avoid this fate however by either cutting route, as Sarah Harmer/Pat Gadsby did, or by regaining time by refusing to take times at controls where they were OTL and then being free to book in at an earlier time at subsequent controls - Dave Davies/Owen Dodd used the latter method. Both strategies meant that the crews involved picked up fails but it did mean that they were able complete the event and be classified in the results.

At the petrol halt Elgan Jones/Byron Jones led the survivors but their lead was only 13 seconds over the RS2000 of Huw Evans/Patrick Walsh. Both crews went on to drop two minutes in the less demanding second half and therefore at the Finish the positions remained the same. Two crews who may have featured in the top results retired while in good positions; the Sunbeam of Cyril Crook/Chris Ware succumbed to alternator failure while the Sierra of Hefin Lewis/Deian Rees suffered a broken wheel.

Peter Zjalic/Richard Preece had been in third at the halfway point in their Corolla, however they dropped 11 minutes in the second half as Preece began to feel unwell; they eventually finished sixth. The Standard Production Award went to 1996 winners Graham Evans/Ian Mills, they finished fifth after surviving a small electrical fire in their Corolla as they waited to start the second half.

The Semi-Expert class was won in dominant style by the Escort of Tim Evans/Ceri Davies; the Epynt Motor Club crew were returning to road rallying after an 18 month layoff. They found themselves in a very creditable sixth place overall at the halfway point, they fell back a little in the second half but were eventually classified tenth. There were no finishers in the Novice Class; three cars had completed the first half within maximum lateness but all were to retired in the latter stages.

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OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Elgan Jones	Byron Jones	Vauxhall Astra GTE	22m 45s
	2	Huw Evans	Patrick Walsh	Ford Escort	22m 58s
	3	Mark Williams	Phil Clarke	Ford Escort	22m 58s
	4	Gareth Lloyd	Dorian Evans	Ford Escort	29m 22s
	5	Graham Evans	Ian Mills	Toyota Corolla	32m 11s
	6	Peter Zjalic	Richard Preece	Toyota Corolla	32m 54s
	7	Gethin Lewis	Aled Jones	Ford Escort RS	25m 20s
	8	Pete Cotton	Dave Pitchford	Ford Escort	34m 29s
	9	Paul Webb	Sarah Preece	Toyota Corolla	36m 22s
	10	Tim Evans	Ceri Davies	Ford Escort	39m 37s
	11	Gerwyn Evans	John Hands	Ford Escort	41m 13s
	12	Simon Stock	Alun Probert	Ford Escort RS	41m 34s
	13	Dai John	Paul Bevan	Toyota Corolla	45m 25s
	14	Simon Maczack	Dai Richards	Ford Escort	1F 26m 39s
	15	Dave Davies	Owen Dodd	Vauxhall Cavalier SRi	1F 32m 00s
	16	Baron Glaze	Pete Davies	Ford Escort	1F 39m 11s
	17	Toby Adam	Mark Robinson	Ford Escort	2F 31m 00s
	18	Gareth Owens	Mark Jones	Ford Escort	2F 39m 00s
	19	Hefin George	Dilwyn John	Nissan Sunny	2F 43m 00s
	20	Sarah Harmer	Pat Gadsby	MG Maestro	3F 30m 00s
	21	Karl Hancocks	Steve Durbin	Ford Escort XR3i	3F 43m 00s
	22	Bob Gibbons	Stuart Cardell	Ford Escort	3F 52m 19s
	23	Carwyn James	Dalis Ifans	Ford Escort RS	5F 20m 00s
	24	Gary Marshallsea	Dave Howell	Mini Cooper	9F 53m 00s

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