Rally Archive
Rali Cilwendeg
Sponsored by FORGE Aberaeron
Teifi Valley Motor Club
26th/27th October 2024
Winners: Richard Jerman/Alan James (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © Adrian Convery Photography
Organiser: Teifi Valley Motor Club
Date: 26th/27th October 2024
Clerk of the Course: Dyfan Davies & Steffan Davies
Route: 105 Miles (Map 145)
Base: Newcastle Emlyn
Starters: 90
The 2024 Rali Cilwendeg lived up to the fierce reputation of the West Wales Classic. It had a tight demanding route, all within close proximity of the event's traditional base at Newcastle Emlyn. The rally was the penultimate round of the Welsh Championship, with a number of competitors still in with a chance of taking the titles.
The entire 105 mile route was south of the start/finish venue, with the fuel halt being taken at around the two-third mark at Cynwyl Elfed.
A full ninety car entry lined up for the start, with three reserves getting a last minute opportunity to compete, filling spots left vacant by eleventh hour withdrawals. However, although 90 cars lined up in the start car park, only 89 took the flag as a heated disagreement broke out between the driver and navigator of Car 9, Gareth Edwards and Andrew Lowe, and the car did not start.
At the off occasional light showers were falling, these were to stop and the night, for the most part, was largely dry and cold. The rain, plus the recent heavy fall of leaves, made the conditions slippery throughout.
The opening section was to the immediate south of Newcastle Emlyn, starting at Penbruarth and finishing near Bwlchmelyn. There were three three-metre controls, plus a loop on to farm tracks at Pentop. As the section was run before Midnight, it was timed to the minute, this made it critical to make your time, as any amount late would add at least a minute to your penalty total.
There was a TC just immediately after the off road track. Most of the top crews made their minute, but a number didn't, these included previous multi-Cilwendeg winners John Davies/Eurig Davies and 2022 victors Arwel Hughes Jones/Dylan John Williams. The former crew were not going to make the finish, they went out with a broken drive shaft before Petrol.
The second section contained three controls that caught everyone for time; one of these was timed to the minute, so was critical. Part of the route used the forestry at Cwm-blaen.
Ironically, it was Davies/Davies and Jones/Williams that were fastest to the first 'dropper', however the minute they'd picked up on the first section, meant that they weren't amongst the leaders. Top seeds Chris Richmond Hand/Shaun Richards established a lead, one second ahead of Richard Jerman/Alan James. Critically, with the next TC timed to the minute, Hand/Richards stopped the clock at 59 seconds late, while Jerman/James were exactly a minute late. This gave the latter pair 59 seconds more to make the next TC than Hand/Richards had.
The route to that next TC was through the Cwm-blaen forestry and everyone was late at it. It was inevitable that Hand/Richards dropped a minute more than their nearest rivals. Jerman/James now led, with a total of 3m00s, while George Williams/Cadog Davies were on 3m01s, and Ieuan Evans/Dafydd-Sion Lloyd were one second further back. Hand/Richards were on 3m59s.
However, the challenge for that section wasn't over as all were late at TC5, which was at Bwlchygroes. Williams/Davies were fastest here and moved into the lead as they took 50 seconds out of Jerman/James.
Two of the top ten starters retired in an incident on this section. Kevin Kerr/Dylan Jenkins had a stub axle break and the wheel broke loose, the wheel was then hit by the Impreza of Andy Davies/Owain Davies. Both cars were out. Also out at this stage was the Vauxhall Astra of Ethan Davies/Owen Rowcliffe; this made it two retirements in one day for the driver, who had broken down on the first test of the Exmoor Targa.
It was on the second section that Rob Stephens/Moi Williams wrong slotted and got stuck on a white; they lost over 20 minutes. They were to retire soon afterwards. This was significant for the Welsh Championship, Williams having led the Navigators' table prior to the Cilwendeg; the non-finish put him out of the running for the series win.
The third section had a 32 minute target and there were seven TCs within it, with six timed to the second. It started near Llanfyrnach, snaked its way to Cwmorgan, before heading back towards its starting point near Henfeddau Fawr.
Jerman/James were back into the lead as they were quickest to both TC6 and TC8, the latter by a significant margin over their rivals, although the time was matched by Gethin Dafis/Dion Lewis, who had moved themselves up to third place by the end of the section. By that point Jerman/James held a lead of 19 seconds over Ieuan Evans/Dafydd-Sion Lloyd, who had been quickest to the final timing point on the section. Williams/Davies were now in fourth, 36 seconds off the lead.
One section now remained before Petrol, this contained seven TCs, six timed to the second. It was more open that the previous parts of the route; it looped from Trelech, to finish at Bwlchnewydd. It saw the demise of second placed Evans/Lloyd, their Escort suffering an alternator failure.
Jerman/James moved away slightly from their rivals over the section and arrived at the fuel halt with a lead of 42 seconds. Williams/Davies had passed Dafis/Lewis and, with the retirement of Evans/Lloyd, they were now in second place. Hand/Richards were in fourth, but not making any progress in reducing the gap to the leaders.
Steffan Davies/Kieran Price, who had started badly, put in the best performance over the fourth section, dropping just ten seconds, compared to the leaders' 44 seconds. They were in fifth place at Petrol.
Two sections remained, the first of which ran roughly inside the loop of the fourth section, to finish at Bryn Iwan; there were a number of off road sections. There were two TCs where all the leaders were late, but all set similar times, in total all within 15 seconds of each other.
The final section ran very close to the area used on the opening section, immediately south of Newcastle Emlyn, bounded on the West by Cwmorgan and Capel Iwan.
Jerman/James lost a little time to their adversaries, but still came home with a victory margin of 31 seconds over Williams/Davies. Hand/Richards were best over the final test and moved up to third, exactly a minute behind first place. Their Toyota Starlet was the only non-Escort in the top ten. Davies/Price continued their progress and passed Dafis/Lewis for fourth place. Dafis/Lewis finished in fifth and were easy winners of the Expert Class.
As usual on the Cilwendeg, the Semi-Expert and Novice classes were combined and this category was won by Alan Gaunt/Ioan Thomas, who finished one second in front of second in class Chris Hedley/Carwyn Roberts.
Exactly half the field finished the tough challenge that the organisers had laid out.
Despite the win, with George Williams finishing in second, Richard Jerman is now out of contention for the Welsh Championship. The title fight will go down to the final round, the Powys Lanes, with Williams' only rival now being Kevin Kerr. Even though Kerr failed to finish the Cilwendeg, his early season results mean that he can still win the Championship, but must finish in the top two scorers on the Powys Lanes.
The Navigators' fight is also now a two horse race, with Alan James and Cadog Davies both still in contention, the final placings are dependent on how the two do on the Epynt MC event.
RESULTS
- Overall Positions
- Award Winners
- Class Positions
- Time Penalty Details
- Fail Penalties
- Overall Positions after SF3
- Overall Positions at Petrol
- Non-Finishers
- List of Starters
- Unofficial WAMC Points