Rally Archive
Merfyn Hughes Memorial Rali Llyn
Sponsored by Motorsport Tools UK
Harlech & District Motor Club
21st/22nd March 2026
Winners: Arwel Hughes Jones/Dylan John Williams (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © Cyril Williams Photography
Organiser: Harlech & District Motor Club
Date: 21st/22nd March 2026
Clerk of the Course: Emyr Jones
Route: 110 Miles (Map 123)
Base: Pwllheli
Starters: 89
Based once again at the Plas Heli sailing club at Pwllheli, the Rali Llyn offered competitors an intricate 110 mile route on the eponymous peninsula.
With two on-the-day withdrawals and only one reserve crew appearing at the start, there were 89 starters for Round Three of the Welsh Championship.
After almost two hours plotting time, competitive motoring started near Llanbedrog. The opening section had a complex trail around Gallt y Beren, immediately after which there was a control timed to the second. Arwel Hughes Jones/Dylan John Williams (Ford Escort) set out their stall by being over 20 seconds faster than the remainder of the field to the TC.
Immediately in trouble were the top seeds, the 2025 Rali Llyn winners George Williams/Cadog Davies; they planted their Escort on a bank and lost nine minutes before they could get going again. They continued but were forced out of the contest just before Petrol when a transmission breakage stopped the car.
Also out at this early stage was the Escort of Kevin Kerr/Dylan Jenkins; they had been the last car to sign on after clutch problems at Scrutineering, but it was a sticking throttle that put them out of the rally.
After Gallt y Beren the section continued on a track across the Cors Geirich to a control timed to the minute. Hughes Jones/Williams were amongst a half dozen crews who only dropped a single minute at the finish control, so finished the section with a comfortable lead.
There was then another challenging five minute section, timed to the second, from Boduan to Ceidio. Hughes Jones/Williams were fastest again, being only one of three crews to drop less than a minute. Carwyn Evans/Tomos Wyn Shakespeare (Ford Escort) moved into second, but were 45 seconds off the lead.
There was then a long section that ran from near Tudweiliog, continued parallel to the coast, to finish at Aberdaron. There were five timing points, all timed to the second, but they posed no problems for the leaders as they cleaned the lot. Behind them things weren't going so smoothly. Firstly, Gareth Wyn Jones/Ryan Griffiths (Ford Escort) rolled and blocked the road for the cars behind. The stricken Escort went no further.
Delayed by the blockage were Arwyn Jones/Marc Hughes (Ford Escort), Gareth Edwards/Kieran Price (Ford Escort) and Richard Jerman/Alan James (Ford Escort). The latter pair were to retire shortly afterwards when the alternator failed on their car. Jones/Hughes lost three minutes in the incident; they went on to finish in ninth place, but would probably have been fighting for fourth place without the delay, similarly Edwards/Price were held up for a minute; they finished fifth; the blockage possibly costing them an overall place.
Evans/Shakespeare, had reinforced their second place, they had only added four seconds to their total time on the section. However they then booked in six seconds early at the finish control; on the Llyn any early arrival, however small, was penalised by a fail per minute. From what should have been a clear second place, the pair dropped to fiftieth. This became immaterial in the start of the second half as they were another car to end their rally in the scenery.
The route moved back up the peninsula for the next two sections. The first was in the Bryncroes and Rhiw area, while the second started at Trefaes and finished at Nanhoron. Hughes Jones/Williams kept up their pace and arrived at the petrol halt with a lead of over four minutes. Guto Ifan/Jamie Mills (Ford Escort) lead the chase; they were a minute ahead of Steven 'Bach' Roberts/Rhys Wills (Peugeot 206 GTi), who were in third. In turn, the Peugeot was a minute ahead of fourth placed Sion Hardy/Peredur Davies (Ford Escort).
The leading Semi-Expert crew at Petrol were Iwan Bowness/Gwion Bwtch (Ford Escort), who were in fifth place overall, but were they were to retire in the second half. Martin Chidley/Cian Jones (Peugeot 206 GTi) were the leading Novices, one place but almost two minutes ahead of their nearest class rivals Rhys Edwards/Richard Owen (Toyota Corolla). However, over the latter sections Edwards/Owen reeled in Chidley/Jones and came through to claim the Novice Class Award.
Hedges and banks had claimed a number of victims during the first half, these included Gareth Rhys Jones/Deio Rhys Jones (Toyota Corolla) and Iwan Roberts Jnr/Daniel Jones, they had damaged their Puma's steering after hitting a hedge.
Action in the second half was all to the north of Pwllheli with the demanding nature of the route being sustained, even Hughes Jones/Williams dropped time at seven of the remaining nine competitive timing points. To add to the challenge was patchy fog, which appeared for some, while others, only a few minutes behind, encountered clear conditions.
The leaders continued to pull away from the field and finished the event with a victory margin of over six and a half minutes, giving them their second successive Welsh Championship win. They were the only one of the top eight starters to make the Finish.
The focus was now on the fight for the runner up spot. Roberts/Wills dropped out of the battle when they lost ten minutes on a section immediately after the restart. It was Hardy/Davies who came charging through to claim second place, finishing 39 seconds ahead of Ifan/Mills. The father and son team of Robin Jones/Huw Jones (Ford Escort) moved up from seventh at Petrol to claim the Semi-Expert Class Award and fourth overall.
Once again the top places were dominated by Ford Escorts with Mici Lloyd-Jones/Aron Jones in their Honda Civic being the only non-Escort in the top ten.
RESULTS
- Overall Positions
- Award Winners
- Class Positions
- Time Penalty Details
- Fail Penalties
- Overall Positions at Petrol
- Non-Finishers
- List of Starters