Brecon Motor Club News

BULLDOG & CAERWENT

2010-03-31T21:23:00.002+01:00

Brecon Motor Club crews were flying the flag at two different events last weekend, on the Saturday Jason Pritchard was debuting his new Subaru and did what he set out to do, finish. Not only did he finish but he finished well, coming home in seventh overall. It appears to have been a trouble free run and he can now look forward to the delights of Keilder where Sara Williams will also be later in April.

Meanwhile, at Caerwent mixed fortunes abounded and Mike Jones ,guided by Robin Moses in the usual Peugeot were back with reliability and finished best of the bunch in 38th overall. Phil Jones and Ian Jury had the Audi Quattro back out but electrical failure ruled out a finish. Mark and Alan Hatton were hoping for great things in the revitalised Clio but driveshaft failure on stage one was a bitter pill to swallow. Jamie Vaughan sat in with Andy Murphy in a Pug and came home a few places behind Mike and Robin in 41st overall.

WILL'S FIRST WIN - RALI ELLI 2010

2010-03-22T19:20:00.002Z

Will Arrowsmith claimed his first rally win at the weekend on Llanelli Motor Clubs Rali Elli. With a day section at Pembrey and a 60 mile night section, it was a real challenge of man and machine. With the excellent services of Dylan Jenkins in the navigators seat, lots of seat time including a good run on the Tour of Epynt last weekend and a well bolted together car the result was always coming. Congratulations from Brecon Motor Club.

TOUR OF EPYNT 2010

2010-03-14T19:09:00.004Z

The 2010 Tour of Epynt proved to be a happy hunting ground for the sole BMC representative on the event, Will Arrowsmith applied himself well to win the road rally class and come in 25th overall. His Ford Escort didn't miss a beat all day and was a credit to his preparation.

Away from the stages BMC were hard at work manning service 'in' and 'out' controls. Morale was kept high by the culinary skills of Nigel who excelled himself yet again as the official motor club chef! Additional help was also had from 'Roger', who can be seen in the dayglo coat in the bottom picture, he tested a few of Nigel's creations and gave top marks each time before disappearing into the sunset on his faithful steed................................

GREMLIN RALLY 2010

2010-03-09T14:49:00.003Z

This years Gremlin Rally was a somewhat fraught affair as Denis struggled with less helpers than usual, 2011 looks as if it might be a different kettle of fish as a number of members have expressed a desire to take it on.

On the night two BMC crews were looking for a glory, Mike Jones & Robin Moses scented a podium place and had their Peugeot right up there in fourth at the Llandovery petrol halt. Unfortunately Robin gave Mike a sniff of something else later in the rally, the resultant stop dropping them to eleventh place at the finish. Phil Jones & Ian Jury gave their Nissan Micra an airing and came in a respectable second in the novice class.

SARA'S SUNSEEKER

2010-02-28T16:49:00.003Z

Sara Williams' ANCRO attack started badly on Saturday on the Sunseeker Rally when her Subaru lost all drive once again. Before this however Sara and Dai Roberts had hauled themselves well into the top twenty despite problems from the start with the centre differential. A decision will be made now as to whether to go to the Pirelli Rally in Cumbria. The event would give good experience and possibly line up another assault on the ANCRO series. With the following 3 events relatively local it would be good to take the gamble.

Despite coming home empty handed from Poole, Sara was a winner at the Brecon Motor Club annual awards dinner and will receive a cheque and an award for her efforts in 2009.

DINNER 2010

2010-02-28T12:13:00.005Z

The Brecon Motor Club annual dinner went off very well again in 2010 and with Tony Mason telling some really good tales from the past, making it an enjoyable evening. The Usk Inn catered very well for the numbers and the food was very good. Award winners on the night were: Best Driver - Sara Williams. Second Driver - Will Arrowsmith. Third Driver - Mike Jones. Best Co-Driver - Jamie Vaughan. Second Co-Driver - Stuart Cardell. Third Co-Driver - Robin Moses. Best Marshal - Jamie Vaughan Runner Up - Nigel Chappelle. The Autosolo Championship was won by Phil Jones and class winners were, Mark Bufton, Iuean Roberts and Mark Hatton.

WYEDEAN 2010

2010-02-14T08:08:00.004Z

A number of BMC members made an appearance on this years Wyedean Rally, a rare occurrence as club members are more tar orientated but good to see. Sara Williams was out for a warm up before the Sunseeker which is part of the ANCRO series that she will be contesting this year and was up to 14th overall when the diff gave up the ghost in stage 4, Chepstow Park. With new co-driver, Dai Roberts form Carmarthen, they were not too many seconds off the top ten as well.

Martin Jones took a last minute ride with Sean Edwards in a very nice Mk2 1600 BDA Escort and duly finished a good second in the class. Wayne Palmer made his first forest foray with Martin Leonard in the Peugeot 106 Cup car but it refused to pull cleanly all day and was prone to cutting out for no reason. Eventually it refused to start at Speech House and that was the sports over. Rob Jenkins chose the Wyedean as his very first rally ever and finished, ably assisted by Epynt MC member Cliff Jones in his 1600cc Peugeot 205 GTI. They managed to get through scrutineering after a couple of minor problems and despite a cracked exhaust manifold early on they enjoyed their day and Rob probably learnt lots!

PEMBREY PANDEMONIUM

2009-12-30T13:59:00.004Z

Left, Jamie Vaughan enjoying his first RWD experience!
A variety of club members had a go at Carmarthen Motor Clubs WWRS Christmas Stages but few returned home with that warm glowing feeling!

The only club member to uphold the honour was Will Arrowsmith who finished a tremendous 12th overall.

Craig, left, ventilated the engine block........................

Disaster struck for everyone else, Mike Jones & Robin Moses broke the clutch on the 205, Mark Hatton &

Alan Hatton broke the differential on the Clio which means more time off from the wife for Robin! Wayne Palmer and Stuart Richards ended up stuck in 2nd gear in the newly acquired Peugeot 106 and Craig Jones blew the motor up in his 205. Jamie Vaughan had a spin out in an Escort and they finished despite a few problems along the way.

Mark and Alan (left) in the flying Clio.
Mike and Robin heading for an early bath.

Will was the only one to find reliability this time.

Wayne, plenty of idea, no gear!

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER HAPPENINGS

2009-10-18T12:42:00.003+01:00

Yet again apologies for the late news, the next twelve months is going to be a bit like this as another book project is going to take over! That being the case I would appreciate any news you have sending to me or any photos as well, I need the information to be able to write this up and it does take quite a bit of time.

Brecon Motor Club members have been very active over the last couple of months, Jason Pritchard has gone all international on us and after the Trackrod in Yorkshire where he finished 15th despite problems he went on to compete in Flanders, Le Touquet and right down in the South of France at Antibes. (Where he is as I write). Things have not swung Jason's way completely and Martin McCormack has had the edge but the experience gained competing against the foreign Citroen crews has been invaluable.

Sara Williams has had a good season but the last 2 events could have been better, the Subaru was not right for the Woodpecker but some fettling in between meant it was A1 for the Cambrian. The times reflected the improvement in the car but an excursion which lasted 5 minutes ruined a good result. Martin Jones partnered Sara on these 2 rallies and the pair have struck up a good working relationship. On the plus side Sara has won her class in the Welsh National Championship, is 1st under 25 in the national and the clubmans and also finished 4th in each series. Looks like it will be BTRDA for 2010, watch this space.

The Peter Lloyd Rallying Pembrey Stages is always popular with BMC crews and this year was no exception, Jonathon Williams and Wayne Palmer dusted the Honda Civic off and finished 12th overall, the loss of 2 gears losing them a top ten finish. Mike Jones and Robin Moses had a good day and finished a very good 24th overall, Robin tells me it could have been better as they were heavily baulked. Nevertheless a great result for the ever reliable Peugeot, a credit to Robin's prepping skills! He just needs to spend more time on Mark Hatton's Clio now as his bad luck continued with early head gasket failure. Also in the dumps were Phil Jones and Ian Jury who debuted the new Audi Quattro only for the engine to let loose in a big way. Jamie Vaughan was out co-driving but also took an early bath! Dai Block and Glyn Price are on the finishers list but there must have been a problem with the BMW as they are well down the order. James Chappelle and Lisa Price wheeled out the 205 Rallye for James' first stage event in some time and were award winners in 40th place.

The autosolo season has come to an end and Phil Jones has performed consistently all season to bring his Peugeot into the top spot. Well done and also well done to everyone else who has been out there this year. At the moment there are no concrete plans to run a series next year as the evenue is too expensive, Mark Bufton has approached the showground in Builth with a view to running some but organisers are needed to get them off the ground. If anyone has a good alternative then please have a go at organising.

NEWS UPDATE

2009-08-31T19:37:00.002+01:00

A late. late news update, as you can imagine the last couple of months have been a whirl with the 2 hillclimbs and the Flatters to get organised. Thanks first to the sponsors of the events, Dennis Motorsport and SGC Printing. The hillclimbs both went without too many hitches but sadly the Harry Flatters Rally was marred by an extremely unfortunate accident which resulted in a fatality involving a spectator. The inquest is due to take place within the next couple of months.

As for competing members, there have been lots and I am bound to miss someone out! Championship contenders Jason Pritchard and Sara Williams have been busy respectively, Jason was fighting for the Citroen C2 Cup with Martin McCormack on the Manx and Ulster Rallies but a brush with an Irish bank handed the title to his rival. We will report on plans for next year when we have them. Sara has continued her march in the Welsh Championship and is currently 5th overall and 1st lady and 1st under 25 year old. There was a hiccup on the recent Neath Valley Stages when she rolled on the final stage. After complaining of handling difficulties at the previous stage finish where BMC were marshalling she went on to flip it over, luckily without too much damage.

The Epynt events have seen a host of BMC crews out with Iean Pritchard and Martin Jones retiring from a certain 3rd place on the Flatters in their Subaru. Will Arrowsmith and Craig Jones did well to get in the awards for the road rally class while Dai Block and Glyn Price suffered yet again with the BMW. Mike Jones and Robin Moses recorded another finish in their Peugeot while the similar car of Phil Jones and Ian Jury met with carb problems. The Mewla saw the usual suspects lurking and this time Dai & Glyn delivered with the Beemer with 2nd in the road rally class. Mike & Robin persevered to another finish while Wayne Palmer and Martin Jones debuted the latest Escort but succumbed to gearbox failure. It's also worth mentioning that Dai & Glyn did the Neath Valley Stages between the 2 Epynts!!

The club has also been busy marshalling, we did a finish on the Neath Valley, Gerry, Jamie and James got qiute wet and the two others had dry jobs in the cars!!! The Mewla saw us spectator marshalling, not a nice job but one that has to be done, the club responded well and there was a great turnout fuelled by a Nigel Chappelle BBQ!!!!

GREMLIN RALLY & AUTOSOLO

2009-06-09T16:37:00.002+01:00

Left: Mark Bufton hauled in more points on the June autosolo.

The Gremlin Rally held on Saturday night took place in its usual wintery conditions.................despite being in June! Crews departed on a wet night from Brecon Leisure Centre and top seeds Peter Collins and Llinos Jones came through to win for the second year in their Astra with a clean sheet. Dave Harris and Mark Appleton finished second and first historic in their RS2000 with Alan Gaunt and Maichael Gilbey's Escort third.

BMC crews fared reasonably well, Will Arrowsmith and Ceri Jones were fourth overall, Mark Weller and Eric Tong twelfth in the rapidly rebuilt Golf and Phil Jones and Tim James Fourteenth in the 205. An interesting fact is that all these drivers were teamed up with Epynt Motor Club navigators promoting a good working relationship between clubs. Finally, Kevin Tweedy and Jamie Vaughan finished 23rd in Kev's Mini. It was a steep learning curve for young Jamie (!) but they persevered to record a finish but I get the feeling Jamie will be pursueing his co-driving career first!!

The autosolo was, as expected, down on numbers but 6 cars had a go. Wayne Palmer ran out winner after some dramas, firstly Wayne hit a cone bringing himself into line with Martin Leonard and Phil Jones but wrong tests by the both of them left the door wide open for Wayne to take the victory. Two new members from Blaina gamely had a go in their immaculate Fiesta's but a few wrong tests put paid to a good finish. Mark Bufton persevered in the underpowered Nova and took third place behing the Golf of Martin Leonard.

SEVERN VALLEY & WELSH MARCHES RALLY

2009-06-01T20:39:00.003+01:00

Sara Williams and Martin Jones unsettled the dust on Saturday when they flew to 9th overall on the well subscribed Severn Valley Clubmans Rally. After retiring on the last round with gearbox failure Sara used a standard 'box but drove well and finished with good championship points to aid her bid for class victory.

Meanwhile on Sunday a plethora of BMC crews were out on the Welsh Marches Stages, a mini Epynt event organised by Hereford Motor Club. It was a good day overall, Jason Pritchard was very fast all day and was up there with the leaders but a broken driveshaft on the last stage ruined everything. He and Martin Jones just had to be thankful that it broke on Epynt and not on the next BRC round. Wayne Palmer finished 7th overall and 1st in class but another stint in safe mode meant a certain 4th overall was lost in the ex McRae Honda. Will Arrowsmith and Craig Jones went very well in the 4 door Escort and finished 13th overall and 1st in the road rally car class. Brian Dennis suffered on the long stages with age related problems but still won his class and finished 28th overall in his faithful Mini ABX. Mike Jones and Robin Moses came home in a respectable 32nd overall and beat their stablemates Dai 'Block' Jones and Glyn Price by one place. Stuart Cardell was out in the red Anglia with Peter Lewis and they trod carefully to record 43rd overall. Mark Hatton has no luck and water pump failure put them out on the first stage, I'm told they fixed the car and won the trophy rally, hope that's true!! Well done to all, a good all round performance.

MAY HILLCLIMB

2009-05-26T19:51:00.003+01:00

Below: Peter Kukainis

The May Dennis Motorsport Epynt Hillclimb went off very well and a huge thanks must go to the members who worked very hard to make it so and to Brian Dennis for supporting it. The marshalling was outstanding and Bob Long, our chief marshal, deserves praise for that.

Left: Josh Burton.

Despite a small entry the weather helped to make the day and entertainment from Graham Hollis and Terry Brown maintained its usual standard in the clash of the Escorts. That's not to take anything away from FTD holder Peter Kukainis who drove his very special Westfield to a new hill record of 56.38 seconds. Icing on the cake was a couple of runs by Josh Burton in the Peugeot Cosworth (?) officiating by clearing the course of any errant sheep. Don't forget June, we'll need lots of help again, pray for good weather!

JIM CLARK RALLY 2009

2009-05-26T19:27:00.003+01:00

Jason Pritchard and Andrew Edwards headed north at the weekend for the Jim Clark Rally and came away with points for second in his class taking 17th overall into the bargain. The event wasn't trouble free for the pairing and after a promising start, where they finished the first day on exactly the same time as main rival Martin McCormack, things went a little pear shaped when the intercom failed and time was lost as the pace notes stopped flowing. A fifth gear moment on the final stage put the class win totally out of sight but it was encouraging to see Jason on the winners pace. Next outing will be on Epynt for the Welsh Marches event when Martin Jones will return to the passenger seat. Photo: Gavin Lodge.

PLAINS RALLY & THE LEUKAEMIA

2009-05-22T19:44:00.003+01:00

Last weekend a couple of BMC crews were out and about in the Welsh countryside doing their best to beat the clock. Sara Williams was out on the Plains Rally in Mid Wales seeking Welsh Championship points in her Subaru but a rare mechanical failure brought her to a halt on the way back to a service halt when the gearbox gave up the ghost.

Further south in the Gwent valleys Bob Gibbons and Stuart Cardell debuted Bob's 'new' Mk2 Cortina on the Leukaemia Rally. Despite a few problems with a trip that didn't work and a high combined age and weight the duo came home in 14th position overall. Look out for the Cortina on the Gremlin! Photo: Brian Gilbert.

RDP Welsh pics

2009-05-05T20:22:00.003+01:00

One of the Golf taken by Jamie Vaughan. The Blogger won't let me upload any more at the moment!

RDP WELSH RALLY

2009-05-05T19:58:00.003+01:00

Photos above by Ben Gilbert.

Two and a half BMC crews had a crack at the weekends RDP Welsh Rally and all made it to the finish. Martin Jones was the half as he accompanied Tim Wilson to fifth place in his Mk2 Escort. No dramas were reported and the pair looked suitably happy in the bar.

Wayne Palmer and Matthew Farr had the ex-Alistair McRae Honda Civic out and were flying along before the car decided to go into 'safe mode' and valuable time was lost. Once rectified they pushed on to finish 20th overall and second in class.

Martin Leonard and Chris Phillips debuted the blue Golf on Epynt and despite reservations about its reliability finished 31st overall and 6th in class. The only drama on the day was a straight on moment at Copse!

NIGHTOWL WOES

2009-04-29T07:29:00.002+01:00

BMC member Will Arrowsmith competed on Aberystwyth MC's Nightowl Rally at the weekend with Ceri Davies in the usual 4 door Escort. After car problems on the last rally Will was looking forward to a clean run but he ran up against an unexpected problem when a 90 mile section proved too long and the hapless pair ran out of fuel (it's not only Craig who can do it then!). Until then their progress had been more than satisfactory, they had been in fourth position overall at TC10. Will now plans to fit a larger tank!

Pirelli International and Down Ampney

2009-04-20T20:27:00.003+01:00

Two BMC members were out at the weekend at different ends of the stage rallying scale. Jason Pritchard was contesting the second round of the British Rally Championship in his Citroen Max and was off to a flying start, beating his class rivals over the first two Friday evening stages in the dreaded Keilder Forest. Day two was less successful as the Citroen was sucked into one of the notorious deep ditches characteristic of these forests. With 40 minutes lost it was futile to try and catch up but a finish meant that valuable points were scored. Next event in the BRC will be the Jim Clark Rally.

At Down Ampney young Jamie Vaughan sat with Malcolm Hoskins in his Peugeot 106 for the second time but they went off the road and did a Jason, getting firmly stuck and taking a maximum. They resumed and finished the rally but a certain top ten place was gone, the woes of rallying and doubtless a tale for the bar in years to come!

The trials of Talbenny!

2009-04-16T21:55:00.002+01:00

Three BMC crews and a co-driver made the trip to the west Wales coast for the Talbenny Stages on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, it was a major let down for a few crews but there was a little joy as well.

Mike Jones and Robin Moses were all set to blitz the former RAF station but their Peugeot developed a misfire in the week before and despite changing everything including the ECU it failed to clear and their entry had to be pulled. Wayne Palmer and Matthew Farr made the start in their new ex Alistair McRae Honda Civic only to break a shaft on the first stage. Graham and Stuart Richards made the second stage in their Mini and stuck it on its roof. Graham's miserable record with the Mini continues, Portapower and Isopon could well be backing this crew in the future. Jamie Vaughan continued his run of form with 22nd overall and 2nd in the 1400cc class with Les Skeet in his Astra, Jamie really is turning into a rally tart!! Phil Jones and Ian Jury confounded everyone by not having a disaster, their reward was 36th overall and 6thin class with usual green Peugeot.

CAERWENT PICS

2009-04-07T18:46:00.003+01:00

A few pics from the last Caerwent, Jamie Vaughan co-driving car 41 to an impressive place, Mike Jones and 'Relic' in the soon not to finish Pug and Mark and Alan Hatton above in the Clio.

BULLDOG & CAERWENT

2009-03-31T19:01:00.002+01:00

A number of BMC members were active at the weekend, on the Bulldog International Rally Jason Pritchard debuted his new Citroen C2 Max and took a category win and eleventh overall. With a new co-driver on board it took a while for things to gel but on the last two tests they really flew to overtake class leader Martin McCormack. The next championship event for the pair is the Pirelli International and after that a home outing on the Mini Epynt Stages.

Sara Williams continued her race for the Welsh Championship with 16th overall in the clubmans event, the car suffering from a problem with the anti lag which affected performance but most importantly more points were gathered.

Caerwent saw the Hatton stable fielding a couple of cars, Mike Jones and Robin Moses were favourites to be the quickest in the Peugeot but Robin obviously built Mark Hatton's Renault Clio too well and Mark had the measure of them on the tight kerb ridden expanses on the ex munitions base. Mike suffered the final indignation of retiring within sight of the finish of the last stage when the clutch failed. Talbenny will be next for these two crews.

Jamie Vaughan accompanied a Forresters CC member in a Peugeot 106 and did very well finishing in the top twenty overall. Who knows what Jamie will be doing next, it could be WRC at this rate!

WILL'S BRO CARON

2009-02-26T18:28:00.002Z

Will Arrowsmith had a difficult Rali Bro Caron last weekend but can draw hope from it as he proved to be capable of mixing it in the top ten away from home. With the services of Ceri Davies on the maps the pair were 9th overall at first petrol despite a dodgy clutch and climbed another couple of places in their four door Mk2 Escort before being sidelined with mechanical problems when both throttle cables gave up the ghost with the finish in sight as well. Keep trying Will!

Many thanks to Gary Jones for supplying the photo.

Telford Stages and Tour of Epynt

2009-02-24T19:37:00.002Z

We've had a few members out and about over the last couple of weeks, Sara Williams continued her education in the Subaru and despite this visit to a ditch she pressed on to take a commendable 12th overall. All this of course is accumulating a tidy pile of Welsh Championship points along the way. Next event might possibly be the Bulldog in March.

The Tour of Epynt arrived early this year and for once they were lucky with the weather! The event ran well and first BMC crew mwmber home was Stuart 'I'm too old for this now' Cardell who accompanied Bob Gibbons to 23rd overall in his immaculate T2 historic Escort. Only complaint was the tyres which weren't holding on too well! Dai 'Block' Jones and Glyn Price were at it again and finished 40th overall, taking third in the road rally class as well. Their BMW 318 could become a force in the class if they can get some more power out of it!!

2009-02-11T19:00:00.002Z

Last weekend Sara Williams took on the ice and snow of the Wyedean Stages and came out on top. With young co-driver Chris Davies she set great times and eventually finished 28th overall. For her trouble she won an award for best young and female driver.

This weekend Sara will contest the Telford Stages at Sweetlamb and Hafren in search of more Welsh Championship points, Patrick Walsh steps back in to co-drive and hopefully we can report more good news next week.