Mewla Rally

Mewla Rally was the 8th round of the Welsh Tarmac Championship, we had a dry and warm start to the day and were seeded at car 12.

To start the event there was a 4 mile stage which we were happy to come away with 12th for that stage, followed by another good stage ending us in 13th place. The 3rd stage was a longer stage at 11 miles. Upon entering the german village section the rear of the car seemed to lose all grip which I though was a rear puncture. After stopping to check we dropped over a minute which put us down to 28th place.

Returning to service and changing the rear tyres we repeated the 3 stages again with no problems which moved us up into 22nd over all and 1st in class. Stage 7 was a 13 mile stage again with a good run which moved us up into 18th overall staying 1st in class. We then returned to the service area for a lunch break.

Stage 8 was in the opposite direction over the ranges which we were 7th quickest over. Stage 9 was a short stage which again we were 7th quickest over moving us up to 14th overall. Stage 10 was a repeat of stage 8 which this time we were 4th quickest over. Stage 11 was a repeat of stage 9 which we were 3rd quickest over moving us up to 11th overall and staying 1st in class also collecting 3rd Welsh Tarmac contender.

Very happy with the result considering loosing time on stage 3.
Thank you to Barrie Jenkins, Karl Davies, Richard Bebb, Neil Jones, Richard Roberts and no to forget another excellent event from Kath Curzon in the co-driver seat.
Also thank you to JMS photography and MJ Photography.

Harry Flatters Rally

Harry Flatters was the 7th round of the Welsh Tarmac Championship. It had been raining heavily overnight so it was a damp start to the day. We had been seeded car 110 on the day.

To start the event there was a loop of three stages and on stage 1 we were cautious due to the damp conditions. Stage 2 was another cautious run but on stage 3 we had a brake binding problem causing the front brakes to overheat. When we returned to service after these three stages we fixed the brake problem and went onto dry tyres as the road had now dried up. We had a good stage on stage 4 pushing hard which continued onto stage 5 although we had a small moment over one of the jumps. On stage 6 we lost first gear exiting a chicane this dropping us a handful of seconds. On returning to service the crew removed the damaged tooth from the gearbox and we decided to carry on without the first gear.

Stage 7 was a wet stage and as we were on slick tyres still missing first gear we dropped further down the field. We decided to use intermediate tyres for the next stage and the roads had dried up which left us loosing more time. Stage 9 we returned back onto slick tyres only to be caught in heavy downpour whilst waiting on the stage start. As we had dropped out of the class positions we decided we had to push for the last stage to try and salvage a result from the day. It was a very good stage and we finished in 11th overall and 2nd in Class 3 and took 3rd as a Welsh Tarmac contender. We were very happy with the result considering the problems on the day.

Thank you to Barrie Jenkins, Neil Jones, Richard Roberts and John Curzon. Not forgetting another excellent event from Kath Curzon in the co-drivers seat.
Also thank you to JMS Photography and Alan Jones for the images.

Mid Summer Caerwent

It was back to Caerwent for round 5 of the Welsh Tarmac Championship. We had been seeded at car 9 and the weather was on our side being dry.

Stage 1 was a good stage coming away with a fastest stage time but we lost the breaks towards the end of the stage. The service crew cleaned the discs and pads before stage 2 and we changed onto a harder rear tyre it was a good stage going 15 seconds quicker. Stage 3 we bent the suspension bracket. after hitting a curb 1/2 way around and dropped around 10 seconds but we were still in 2 place overall. Stage 4 we collected a puncher around 3/4 of the way around the stage and buckled the wheel and that was the rally over for us

I would like to thank Barrie Jenkins, Karl Davies, Neil (Central) Jones and John Curzon for the help and support. Also a big thank you to Kath Curzon for an excellent job done in the co-drivers seat.

Big thank you to Forresters Motor Club for a well run event!

On a positive note we still hold a 5 point lead on the Welsh Tarmac Championship!

Dale Stages Rally 2013 In Car

Mini Epynt Stages

We decided to compete in the Mini Epynt stages although it is not a round of the Welsh Tarmac Championship. We were seeded car 1 which brought extra pressure but weather was on our side.

We were happy to be in second place after the first loop of stages 1 and 2. We also had a fastest time on stage 4 we pushed into the lead of the event. Going into the last loop of two stages we were 7 seconds down on Bryan Davies and Alun Lewis. We had two good stages which saw us come away with the overall win being our best result today after a very enjoyable day.

I would like to thank Barrie Jenkins, Neil Jones, Richard Roberts and a massive thank you to Kath Curzon.
Also thank you to Herefordshire Motor Club for a very well run event and JMS Photography and Wayne Turner for the pictures.

Dale Stages

Dale stages was the 5th event of the 2013 Welsh Tarmac Championship. As we had never been to this venue before we did not know what to expect. We were seeded car 5 and on the day it was warm and dry.

The first stage went well resulting in an early lead. We also picked up fastest stage time on stage 2. Stage 3 saw a change in the route which caught us out which dropped us to second behind Bob Fowden/Paul Wakely.

We dropped another couple of seconds to Bob on stage 4 holding us at second. Everything went well up to stage 6 where we decided to push for the win but we spun then came across a chicane that was blocked after the tyres has been hit dropping us down to 3rd place. Stage 7 was a better stage followed by a fastest stage time on stage 8 resulting in us getting up to second overall and first in class.

A big thank you to Barrie Jenkins, Karl Davies, Neil Jones and John Curzon. Another top job done by Kath Curzon. 

Also thank you to JMS photography and Red Dragon Images for the photos.

Bob Shaw Memorial Stages - Talbenny

Talbenny was our 4th event of the season in the Welsh Tarmac Championship and we were happy to be seeded Car 3. Kath Curzon was back in the co-driver seat after missing the last event. On the day we were very nervous as the weather was atrocious with a lot of standing water on the stages.

Stage 1 was a cautious start as I have never been on the Michelin full wet tyres before and a 720 degree spin on the long and fast straight dropped us down to 11th place after this stage. Stage 2 was a lot better as the confidence grew in the tyres, we collected a puncture 100 meters from the finish but still took the fastest stage time which moved us up to third overall. Stage 3 was another good stage where we set the fastest stage time again moving us up to 1st over all. Stage 4 was another fastest stage time extending our lead. We started stage 5 after a midday break we were undecided on what tyres to use as the rain has stopped and the roads were starting to clean but still held a lot of water in places. We went back out on the wets and struggled with under steer on the softer tyres resulting in a overshoot and therefore a drop in time. Stage 6 we made the mistake of staying on the same tyres ending up with two overshoots and more dropped time resulting in our lead being shortened to 17 seconds. Stage 7 we changed to Dunlop intermediates and put in a fastest stage time. On stage 8 we set another fastest stage time resulting in the win by 29 seconds overall. We also collected top Welsh Championship points extending the lead.

We were very happy with the result in the wet conditions.

A big thank you to Barrie Jenkins, Karl Davies, Chris Davies and John Curzon. Another top job done by Kath. We would also like to thank JMS Photography and John Curzon for the photographs.
I would also like to thank Pembrokeshire Motor Club for an excellent event despite the conditions.