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Night Owl Rally 2004

Sponsored by E&M Motor Factors

Aberystwyth & District Motor Club

24th/25th April 2004

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Steve Wood/Aled Richards took a clear victory on Aberyswyth MC’s Night Owl Rally. They finished the event over a minute clear of their only real challengers of the night, John Davies/Steve Herbert.

The 110 mile rally was the fourth round of the Welsh Championship and attracted a capacity 75 car entry.

The first half consisted of a single regularity section, which had eleven timing points. It started with a run around virtually every lane in the Ystumtuen area. From there it used the rough track to drop down into and then across the Rheidol Valley. It reached its most southern point at the tracks at Llanafan Forest, before finishing on the B-road just outside Devils Bridge.

Petrol was taken at Ponterwyd. The second half opened with the tight lanes of Pendam. A short non-competitive through Penrhyncoch moved the action back to a long run through Taliesin Forest. The fourth and final test was a short standard section to the south of Borth.

John Davies/Steve Herbert (Vauxhall Astra GTE) were the fastest crew to ITC2. Top seeds Howard Price/Dorian Evans were competing in the car that Huw Evans had taken to victory on the two previous Night Owls, and were two seconds behind. Their event began to go wrong at ITC4, where they booked in 35 seconds early. They then bent a wheel and the clutch started to slip; this latter problem, plus a bent stub axle, caused their retirement in the second half.

Dai John/Paul Bevan (Toyota Corolla) were third fastest to ITC2, five seconds behind Davies/Herbert. Kevin Morgan/Deian Rees (Subaru Legacy) were fourth at this stage. These two crews had swapped positions by ITC5, and, although closely matched throughout the night, Morgan/Rees held on to take third place at the Finish, with John/Bevan in fourth.

Already in trouble early on were Kevin Jones/Dilwyn John (Ford Sierra), Hefin George/Daniel Thomas (Nissan Sunny GTR) and Mark Price/Roger Evans (Ford Escort), who all picked up a fail for a wrong approach to the time control at ITC3. None made it to the Finish. Jones/John picked up more punctures than they had spare tyres, while an off put George/Thomas out.

Also out at an early stage were Martyn O'Connor/Peter Collins, whose Vauxhall Astra GTE suffered a ignition problems.

Steve Wood/Aled Richards (Vauxhall Astra GTE) had been sixth fastest to ITC2, but were the quickest crew to ITC4, this moved them up to second place, two seconds behind Davies/Herbert. By the time that competitors had reached the Rheidol Valley, Wood/Richards had taken the lead.

At Petrol Wood/Richards were on 1m 32s, while Davies/Herbert had penalties of 1m 56s. Morgan/Rees were almost a minute further back in third place on 2m 45s.

Wayne Morris/Paul Middleton (Ford Escort) were in fourth at the halfway halt on 3m 26s. However they were destined to finish in thirteenth place after losing time with punctures in the second half.

Welsh Champions, Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies (Ford Escort), lost over three minutes searching for a PC located on a small loop near Ystumtuen. They finished in 16th place.

Davies/Herbert grabbed a second back on the leaders over the Pendam section, then, at the start of the third section, which used the track through Penycefn in SQ 6585, they retook the lead. They were on time at ITC18, while Wood/Richards dropped 44 seconds.

However Wood/Richards were over a minute faster to ITC22, near Furnace, and then took another 29 seconds off Davies/Herbert at the next control above Tre'rddoll. With the last section being easily cleanable, this performance took them to a convincing win.

Their was a notable performance from the top Semi-Expert crew, Tomas Davies/Huw Jones (Ford Escort), who finished in fifth place. Gareth Morgan/Ceredig Morgan (Vauxhall Nova) were the leading Novices, they finished three minutes ahead of their nearest class rivals.

With his second place, John Davies led the Welsh Championship after the Night Owl, but Steve Wood had now joined a number of others amongst his main challengers. Andy Oakes, who navigated Gary Jones to sixth on the Night Owl, led the Navigators' table, but numerous others were still in the running for the title at the series's halfway point.

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OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Steve Wood	Aled Richards	Vauxhall Astra GTE	6m 31s
	2	John Davies	Steve Herbert	Vauxhall Nova GTE	7m 49s
	3	Kevin Morgan	Deian Rees	Subaru Legacy	9m 19s
	4	Dai John	Paul Bevan	Toyota Corolla	10m 10s
	5	Tomas Davies	Huw Jones	Ford Escort	10m 16s
	6	Jason Hardy	Alan Jôs	VW Golf	10m 35s
	7	Gary Jones	Andy Oakes	Toyota Corolla	11m 22s
	8	Marc James	Anthony Davies	Subaru Impreza	11m 47s
	9	Owen Edwards	Mark Lloyd	Vauxhall Astra	13m 16s
	10	Aled Jones	Andrew Phillips	Vauxhall Astra	13m 32s
	11	Huw Myfyr	Gwawr Hughes	VW Golf GTi	13m 35s
	12	Dennis Quinn	Paul Holmberg	Ford Sierra 4x4	13m 49s
	13	Wayne Morris	Paul Middleton	Ford Escort	13m 59s
	14	Timothy Evans	Alun Probert	Nissan Micra	14m 51s
	15	Dafydd Lewis	Dalis Ifans	Ford Escort	15m 58s
	16	Gerwyn Jones	Ceri Davies	Ford Escort	17m 41s
	17	Robert Pardoe	Delyth Brown	Toyota Corolla	18m 00s
	18	Wayne James	Jenny James	Peugeot 205	18m 28s
	19	Simon Chandler	Dave Manning	Ford Exscort	19m 07s
	20	Gareth Harries	Carwyn Jones	Honda Civic	20m 42s
	21	Mike James	Richard Evans	Vauxhall Astra GTE	20m 46s
	22	Paul Jenkins	Brian Thomas	Ford Escort	21m 09s
	23	Mark Daniel	HYwel Ifans	Ford Escort	21m 49s
	24	Jason Jaer	Eurig Davies	Ford Escort	22m 58s
	25	Richard James	Chris Wheeler	Vauxhall Astra	25m 44s
	26	Gary Brown	Geraint Wright	Peugeot 205 GTi	29m 01s
	27	Alan Hands	Melanie Hands	Vauxhall Chevette	30m 32s
	28	Alan James	Rhydian George	Vauxhall Astra	34m 39s
	29	Gareth Morgan	Ceredig Morgan	Vauxhall Nova	35m 29s
	30	John Gilbey	Michael Gilbey	Ford Escort	38m 20s
	31	Simon Bevan	Alex Crowley	Ford Escort	39m 00s
	32	Gavin Roberts	Gareth Edwards	Vauxhall Astra	1F 26m 53s
	33	Kevin Regan	Irfon Richards	VW Golf	1F 31m 23s
	34	Max Jones	Geraint Mayes	Ford Sierra	1F 37m 22s
	35	John Williams	Jack Fowler	Vauxhall Astra	1F 56m 51s
	36	Gavin Lloyd	Gavin Perry	Ford Escort	1F 57m 48s
	37	Rob Chell	Clive Phillips	VW Golf	2F 34m 01s
	38	Matthew Griffiths	Tom Henderson	Peugeot 205 GTi	3F 38m 35s
	39	Mark Andrews	Edwin Venville	Peugeot 205 GTi	4F 13m 48s
	40	Keith Daniels	David Roberts	Vauxhall Nova	4F 20m 05s
	41	Arwel Davies	Llinos Jones	Ford Escort	4F 49m 43s
	42	Rhys Jeremiah	Leyton Perry	Vauxhall Astra	5F 49m 14s
	43	Huw Morris	Laura Morris	Proton Compact	6F 48m 57s
	44	Wedros Jones	Emyr Evans	Ford Sierra	7F 54m 36s
	45	David Howells	James Morgan	Peugeot 309 GTi	15F 30m 58s

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