Brecon Motor Club News: December 2004

Pembrey Xmas Stages
27/12/2004 21:18

Post Christmas blues were blown away by a few BMC crews at Pembrey today with James Chappelle hauling the Pug 205 Rallye to the finish ahead of Ieaun Roberts and Martin Jones who sadly failed to finish last on what is Ieaun's annual outing in his pink Avenger.

John Williams & Jonathon Williams lasted just one stage, John undoubtedly given some duff information by his Uncle!!!!!

November & December News
13/12/2004 19:39

Firstly, a belated congratulations to Eian Pritchard and Martin Jones for attempting and finishing the Roger Albert Clark Rally. On what is not Eian's favoured surface the intrepid pair persevered and came home in 12th place overall. Well done.

At the Showground last weekend, two BMC crews were present and both finished seemingly having had a really fun day. For the December the weather was decidedly spring like and the event was well received by all. James & Peter Chappelle only managed to dent a door on this outing and had a relatively trouble free day in their Peugeot 205 Rallye.

Alwen and Will Arrowsmith took Alwen's latest Escort out for a run and seemed to be struggling for grip but at least they were having a good skid, the pair looking more than happy to be out there.

Meanwhile, in the depths of Radnorshire, Dai 'Block' Jones and Glyn Price along with Mike Jones and Kevin Tweedy were setting the lanes alight on the Radnor Pacemaker Rally. Despite problems with Dai's driving Glyn managed to guide him to a great 11th overall and first in class. Mike & Kevin were also doing well before the gear linkage fell apart and they had to cut the route in order to finish, but finish they did in 31st overall.

Holrus Heartache
21/11/2004 19:40

Brecon Motor Club crews suffered on one of their local events, the Newtown AC Holrus Rally, at the weekend with crews finding it difficult to get to grips with the tight format.

Best crew were Martin Leonard and Phil Jones who had a terrible night but persevered to finish sixth overall. Their night interrupted by mal de nav, a wrong slot, an overshoot which stalled the car and then the loss of the time card as it was being bump started. The resultant return for the card costing six minutes. A total of over ten minutes being lost in total.

Of the other crews, Dai 'Block' Jones and Glyn price were the most likely to do well especially after two recent good showings on the Malky and Greenleaves Rallies but were thwarted by the tight stop start nature of the event and were out of time at petrol back in Builth.

James & Peter Chappelle also found the going tough and pulled the Mini out early as did novice crew Mike Jones & Kevin Tweedy who ran out of time. Mark Hatton & Robin Moses disappeared on the night admitting at the start that tyres were an issue, the fronts being too big for the arches.

Christian Prynne & Doody Farmer suffered as Doody succumbed to Mal de Nav so Prynney will need another event to air the LHD 205XS!

Jersey Joy Short Lived
20/10/2004 19:37

Eian Pritchard and Martin Jones made the trip to Jersey at the weekend with the Group A Impreza and managed to hold the overnight lead from Steve Fleck in his WRC machine. Atrocious weather conditions intervened the next day and hitting a rock unfortunately put them out of the event.

One other local non club crew made the journey, John Williams bringing his Rover 216GTi home in the top twenty.

Latest News!!!
14/10/2004 14:49

Sorry for the late updates but things are hectic at the moment. Since my last post there have been a few missed news items, notably former Brecon resident Adrian Cavenagh partnering John Lloyd to a very commendable 28th overall on Rally GB. The result was all the more remarkable as the crew didn't, as usual, have time to carry out a recce putting themselves at an immediate disadvantage.

Martin Jones' hopes of BTRDA Silver Star glory were dashed on the Plains Rally when a puncture put them out of contention whilst leading the class.

At Pembrey Jonathon & Heulwen Williams recorded a very rare retirement when their ex Toshi Arai Impreza blew a turbo on the first stage.

Wexford
15/09/2004 21:53

Eian Pritchard & Martin Jones tackled Wexford at the weekend and came away with a respectable tenth place finish. More news when I get it.....

Woodpecker 04
05/09/2004 20:19

Martin Jones continued his BTRDA duties with Simon Hawthorn at the weekend on the Woodpecker Rally but were denied a good placing after losing three minutes with a puncture. Usually they can be relied on to get a good result but the resulting time loss meant 12th in class.

This dented their championship aspirations and means they will now have to contest the remaining rounds of the series.

August Happenings
30/08/2004 15:18

The month of August has been fairly quiet for BMC members with the exception of organising the Harry Flatters Rally!! The event ran well after a few teething problems early on and it was great to see lots of smiling faces at the finish. Eian Pritchard & Martin Jones were the clubs competing representatives but luck wasn't with them and a differential seal failed leaving them to spectate.

The Mewla saw what was possibly the best entry on an Epynt event for ten years and Eian and Martin had the Impreza fixed to good effect, finishing a good third behind John Dalton and Steve Fleck respectively.

Lastly, Stuart Cardell continued his learning curve in the Caterham, competing at Curborough in a sprint.

Knockhill, Ross Traders, Llandow & Llys Y Fran
25/07/2004 21:38

Before I start on this weekends busy times, I'd like to apologise for my neglect of last weekends activities when Martin J sat alongside Matt Barker in a 205 on the Swansea Bay & promptly retired! When I know why I'll report it!!

This weekend has been a hectic one for our members with Eian Pritchard and Martin Jones venturing to Bonny Scotland in search of points at Knockhill and coming away with fourth overall in the Group A Subaru.

Stuart Cardell had a double header with his Caterham competing in a sprint at Llandow on Saturday and a hillclimb at Llys y Fran on Sunday. Both days went well for Stu losing out narrowly to his main rival at the sprint and beating him for the first time this year at the hillclimb.

Also competing at Llys y Fran were James Chappelle and Martin Leonard who shared James' Peugeot 205 Rallye for the day. Unfortunately things didn't go entirely to plan and a reluctant gearbox and then a broken linkage made for a fraught day. Both however enjoyed the experience and learnt lessons in readiness for another go at getting the BMC hillclimb off the ground.

Meanwhile down in deepest Ross on Wye Graham Richards and Ian Moseley survived difficult navigation to register a finish and further their experience in the difficult world of HRCR navigation events.

Quinton Class Win For Jones
11/07/2004 11:03

Martin Jones took a win that he predicted earlier in the week when he guided Simon Hawthorn to 24th overall and first in class on the BTRDA counting Quinton Stages Rally.

Held in the local forests such as Esgair Daffydd and Crychan, the duo pulled out all the stops in their Escort RS to keep ahead of the opposition and came away with maximum championship points.

Jim Clark National Rally
04/07/2004 13:37

Eian Pritchard travelled north at the weekend for the Jim Clark National Rally and survived the experience to finish in a useful fifth place keeping their points tally topped up in the National Tarmacadam Championship.

Next trip is allegedly to Knockhill for the duo but Martin has the Quinton to get out of the way first and who knows he's probably going to do the Swansea Bay as well!!!!!!

Aintree, Leukemia, Mid Wales Stages
28/06/2004 18:53

A busy weekend for BMC bods with Stuart Cardell taking the Caterham to Aintree and aquaplaning his way to third in class.

On the Leukemia Historic Rally Graham Richards & Ian Moseley scampered round in their 850 Oselli Mini to record a finish as did Robin Moses who accompanied Steve Hindmarsh in his immaculate Mini.

Further north Martin Jones recorded an excellent 8th overall on the Mid Wales Stages accompanying Matt Barker in hi Peugeot 205 GTi.

Dukeries & Caerwent
23/06/2004 18:25

Martin Jones accompanied Simon Hawthorn to a safe third in class on last weekends Dukeries Rally to bag another load of points in their quest for the BTRDA title, their Escort running well on the sandy Dukeries stages.

Meanwhile, James Chappelle guided his latest mount, a Peugeot 205 Rallye to first in class at Caerwent at the weekend suffering gearbox problems in the latter stages as the car felt the affects of a long day at the former RAF ammunition base.

Midland & Carnival Rallies
13/06/2004 21:51

Eian Pritchard and Martin Jones survived the stages of the Midlands Rally to finish 5th overall, behind a gaggle of Metro 6R4's and an inspired Gwyndaf Evans in a MGZR. Pritchard & Jones also held off the challenge of many other competitive crews including John Price in his 6R4.

Meanwhile, at the Carnival Stages in Oxfordshire Jonathon & Heulwen Williams guided their Subaru to 9th overall on what was a very hot days rallying, Jonathon being fairly happy with his performance on what was not an ideal day for his car in the dry conditions.

Engaged Jones On The Red Dragon
23/05/2004 09:52

Top BMC co-driver Martin Jones is in the news for more than one reason this week as he has just got engaged!! We wish him the best for the future with that but more importantly (!) Martin guided Simon Hawthorn to a fine second in class and 29th overall on the BTRDA Red Dragon Rally at the weekend amassing another useful collection of points in their quest to win class B11 in the championship.

Cardell & Chappelle At Llys-Y-Fran Hillclimb
16/05/2004 18:43

Stuart Cardell re-kindled his driving career at the weekend when he wheeled his Caterham out for the Llys-y-Fran hillclimb in Pembrokeshire. An impressive time of 52.53 secs saw him just half a second off the class winner.

James Chappelle, a Llys-y-Fran veteran now, debuted his new mount, a Peugeot 205 Rallye, and was more than happy with a 58.80. Both crews enjoyed a hot summers day with temperatures in the 20's along with 73 other competitors.

Manx National & Eagle Road Rally
09/05/2004 21:59

Brecon Motor Club crews were busy yet again this weekend with Eian Pritchard and Martin Jones using their Group A Impreza on the Isle of Man. Despite being a little off the pace the pair were heading for a useful stash of points as all their rivals fell by the wayside. Unfortunately they also joined the ranks of the retired when they put the car through a hedge into a field. This in itself was not a huge problem but the wire from the fence that wrapped itself around the propshaft ensured that they made no further progress. End of rally.

Meanwhile, closer to home Team Peugeot Pentre Felin was making a full assault on the Eagle road rally in Newtown. Despite team mentor Nigel Kenchington not being able to travel with them they were optimistic that Newtown would be a happy hunting ground!

Dai Block and Glyn Price upheld club honour with second in the semi experts class and 16th overall despite being held up on the night. Dane Elliot and Will Arrowsmith were not expected to do well due the driver having a liking for the undergrowth but it was team mate Mike Jones with Kevin Tweedy who made modifications to their Pug after attacking a Mid Wales bank! Both crews did however make it to the finish to continue their steep learning curve.

Welsh Rally 04
03/05/2004 20:10

BMC crews were a credit to the club at the weekend with Eian Pritchard having a great run to second overall in his WRC Impreza despite a 100 mph coming together with a sheep. Only the amazing John Dalton was ahead of Eian & Martin.

Jonathon Williams & Martin Leonard steered their Gp N Impreza to the finish despite breaking the diff on the final lap and finished 13th overall, losing a couple of places with the mechanical problem.

Brian Dennis at the ripe young age of 68 debuted his new Honda Civic Type R and despite being on standard suspension, finished a fantastic 17th overall.

James & Peter Chappelle had an amazing weekend managing to get their Sunbeam through both the gravel and tarmac events and I believe finishing last on both. To any critics, remember they were there and did the whole event, a great feat considering the car is by no means all singing all dancing!

Somerset & Y2K4 News
25/04/2004 16:38

Another busy weekend for BMC crews with Martin Jones playing away in the wilds of Somerset looking for BTRDA points with Midlander Simon Hawthorn. A steady run saw the pair taking fifth in what seems to be a very strong class B11 this year.

The Y2K4 was a busy event for BMC crews and Martin Leonard again used local knowledge to the full to finish second overall with Ecurie Cymraegs Kevin Chaffey home from WRC duties ably navigating. Dai 'Block' Jones and Glyn Price enjoyed a good run into sixth overall and could have been higher if they hadn't dropped a wheel into a large hole on the Burma Road, smashing a rim in the process and losing five minutes changing it.

Two other crews from the Glyn Price stable were competing but suffered different fates! Mike Jones & Kevin Tweedy really worked hard to complete most of the route, only to miss a vital control at the end of the event while Dane Elliot accompanied by Will Arrowsmith fulfilled their prediction of parking off road and spent a large amount of time parked in the trees of Crychan forest! Dan Curtis from Llanfihangel Talyllyn and Chris Shapland resorted to buying a Peugeot from Wayne Palmer in the week before when his old Nova was found to be a little twisted only for the distributor cap to break on the event. Peter Chappelle was out navigating in brother James' borrowed Sunbeam and finished after a steady run.

Another Mixed Weekend For The Boys!
04/04/2004 16:14

It was another mixed weekend for BMC crews as Eian Pritchard & Martin Jones pulled off an excellent third place on the Tour of Cornwall giving themselves a whole load of points in the National Tarmacadam Championship in the process. They finished with eleven seconds in hand over series regular John Price and twenty behind Steve Hendy. Eian is really getting to grips with the Subaru WRC now and is in with a realistic chance of doing well ion this years championship.

In North Wales, Bob Gibbons & Stuart Cardell endured a nightmare weekend, going off on the second stage and losing a pile of time after setting a top ten time on the first stage and then boiling the engine when the fanbelt came off. Bobs post historic RS2000 will now need some fairly major work before the Welsh in May.

Williams & Leonard Star In Devon
21/03/2004 21:02

BMC crew Jonathon Williams & Martin Leonard travelled to Devon at the weekend to compete on the Three Counties Stages organised by Bournemouth Car Club.

After the first six stages, the duo were surprised to find themselves leading the rally, their Group N Impreza well suited to the damp morning conditions. As the roads dried out they were overhauled by some of the more powerful cars but were nonetheless delighted to finish in third place.

The rally covered 14 stages at three war time airfields in the Honiton area.

Cork & Cheshire!!!
15/03/2004 18:19

Brecon Motor Club was represented in both the West Cork Rally & the Tour of Cheshire at the weekend. Eian Pritchard & Martin Jones took the Group A Impreza over to the Emerald Isle but were taken out of the reckoning by mechanical woes with a top ten placing in sight.

James & Peter Chappelle took their trusty Mini to the Tour of Cheshire and dragged it to the finish albeit towards the rear of the field! I'm sure great fun was had by all.

Mixed Weekend!!!
07/03/2004 19:28

BMC crews suffered mixed fortunes this weekend with Martin Jones partnering Simon Hawthorn to third in class B11 on the Malcolm Wilson securing a load of points into the bargain. Their Escort making it's forest debut after being rebuilt over the winter following a destructive roll on the Woodpecker. A dash down the motorway saw Martin in the passenger seat of Eian Pritchards WRC Subaru for the Tour of Epynt and a steady day saw them take fourth overall, second in class.

Stuart Cardell travelled up to Sherwood Forest to contest the Robin Hood Stages with Bob Gibbons in his post historic RS2000 and all was going well until the final stage when the engine let go in a big way!

Snowy Gremlin Causes Headaches
07/03/2004 09:16

Mark James & Anthony Davies took a fine win on this years controversial Old Forge Garage Gremlin Rally backing up a solid top ten placing that they achieved last year. Run in conditions more akin to Sweden, the pair guided their XR4x4 to victory over Wes Massam who had a great night in their Volvo Amazon to finish first of the HRCR crews. Last years winner finished a gracious third whilst third placed John Morgan could have taken victory in his Citroen Saxo had he not been delayed by an irate farmer!

Many crews were delayed by other crews having great difficulty in the slippery conditions and of the BMC crews entered, Martin Leonard was top finisher in seventh overall enduring a night of many moments. Alwyn Arrowsmith & Dave Lewis were second novices and Dai 'Block' Jones & Glyn Price survived to take a finish. More news on the local crews as we get it.

The debate will now rage as to whether the event should have run but with land availability being a prime motivator in the decision it would have been difficult to have re-scheduled the event to run at another time.

Palmer & Jones Win Class On Debut!
09/02/2004 18:10

Wayne Palmer & Martin Jones made the best possible start to the year by taking their newly acquired Road Rally spec RS2000 to a class win & 12th overall on the Wye Valley Charity Stages at the weekend. Wayne commented that 'the car was perfect, we didn't lay a spanner on it all day'. With new support from Bolgoed Plant Services Wayne will hopefully be seen a bit more often as the year progresses.

Williams Win At Pembrey
02/02/2004 18:45

On a day better suited to ducks, Jonathon & Heulwen Williams maintained their fine Pembrey form by taking their first ever rally win. The ex Winfield Group N Subaru Impreza, now fitted with a dog box, was the class of the field & took five fastest times out of six, only being beaten on the last stage by 3 seconds with the rally already in the bag.

Gremlin Rally Entries To Date
25/01/2004 15:20

Entries as received so far:

1. Wyn Christie - Mark Hamilton - Escort Mk1 M
2. Richard Tuckey - TBA - 106 Rallye M
3. Geraint Elley - Alun James - RS2000 M
4. Gary Jenkins - Eric Tong - 205 GTi M
5. Geraint Jones - Edryd Evans - Nova M
6. Isaac Zarmati - Sarah Zarmati - VW Beetle H
7. Chris Powney - Chris Head - 205 GTi M
8. Wesley Massam - Shon Gosling - Amazon H
9. Roger Holder - Helen Giles - XR4x4 M
10.Peter Horsburgh - TBA - Mini H
11.John Morgan - Byron Jones - 205 GTi? M
12.Adam Holder - S. Harris - 205 GTi M
13.Roger Hunt - Graham Dance - Mexico H
14.Martin Leonard - Kevin Chaffey - Golf GTi M
15.David Jones - Glyn Price - 205 GTi M
16.Owen Turner - Graham Raeburn - Metro 6R4 M
17.Paul Davies - Steven Hicks - Nova GTE M
18.David Leadbetter - Gavin Ford - 205 GTi M
19.Mark James - Anthony Davies - Impreza M
20.Andrew Halloway - Daniel France - 205 GTi M
21.Fred Harris - Jason Pendry - Fiesta M
22.Darren Draper - R.H. Jones - 205 GTi M
23.Jonathon Harrison - Jonathon Jones - XR4x4
24.Dai John - Paul Bevan - Corolla M
25.Allan Alford - Ted Williams - 205 GTi M
26.Bryan Davies - Huw Mathias - Nova M
27.Malcolm Thorne - Mark Lampert - Mexico M
28.Alan James - Edwin Venville - 205 GTi M
29.Keith Collier - TBA - 205 GTi M
30.Peter Joy - Graham Carter - Elite H
31.John Parsons - Gavin Rogers - Escort M
32.Mark Hatton - Robin Moses - 205 T16 M
33.Dave Howells - James Morgan - 309 GTi M
34.Dai Bevan - Bernard Hill - TBA M
35.Robert Brown - Alex Gill - 309 GTi M
36.Dominic Taylor - Phil Haines - Mazda 323 4x4 M
37.Paul Jenkins - TBA - Escort M
38.Fred Davies - David Roberts - 205 GTi M
39.Pete Johnson - Andy Berry - Astra GSi M
40.David Roxburgh - Jonathon Ing - Merc 230SL H
41.Jason Thomas - Chris Spry - Sierra M
42.Roy Pesticcio - Simon Lannon - Escort M
43.Will Arrowsmith - Wayne Arrowsmith - Fiesta M
44.Robert Thomas - Ioan Lewis - 106 XSi M
45.Hefin George - Daniel Thomas - Sunny M
46.Alun Jones - Dylan Jenkins - 205 GTi M
47.Dennis Quinn - TBA - Escort M
48.Steven Powell - Lee Vincent - Escort H
49.Shaun Davies - Phillip Tedstone - Corolla M
50.Doug Bowkett - Cliff Jones - 309 GTi M
51.Mike Jones - Kevin Tweedy - 205 GTi M
52.Mike Pugsley - David Harris - Escort M
53.Eurig davies - Meirion Rees - Nova GSi M
54.Irvon Richards - Andrew Edwards - Civic M
55.Thomas Henderson - Nathan Davies - 90 Quattro M
56.Ian Meakin - Geraint Thomas - Saab 94 H
57.Meilir Jones - Steve Herbert - Astra GTE M
58.H. Evans - G. Evans - Corolla M
59.Ian Orford - Peter Barnard - Mazda 323 4x4 M
60.Keith Wilson - Dave Cooper - Volvo PV544 H
61.Garry Preston - Mike Sones - Mini Clubman GT H
62.Gareth Reed - David Bradley - 205 GTi M
63.Gareth Jones - Andy Oakes - RS 2000 M
64. Noel Hughes - Gwawr Hughes - Saab 96 H
65.Craig Judd - TBA - 205 GTi M
66.Rob Chell - Rob Thomas - Golf GTi M
67.Gerwyn Jones - Ceri Davies - RS2000 M
68.Len Giles - Steve Roderick - 205
69.Anthony Gluyas - Richard Preece - 205 GTi M
70.Nigel Hodson - Peter Hodson - Gilbern Invader H
71.Steve Reed - Mike Newell - 205 M
72.Dave Hughes - Richard Dix - Volvo H
73.Alwyn Arrowsmith - David Lewis - 205 GTi M
74.Chris Jenkins - Tony Brookes - Mini H
75.Ben Davies - Kate Jones - 205 XS M
76.Clive Bayliss - Matthew Maidment - Manta H
77.Granville Cottle - Richard Baker - Escort M
78.Keith Jenkins - Edwyn Evans - Saab 96 H
79.Andrew Lewis - TBA - 205 GTi M
80.Anthony Williams - Alan S??? - Escort M
81.Paul Richards - Martin Tiley - Cortina GT H
82.Adrian Griffiths - Dean Davies - 309 GTi M
83.Nigel Nelson - Rob Richardson - Astra GTE

Carpet Bagger News
25/01/2004 15:20

Martin Leonard & Phil Jones drove south at the weekend to compete on Bournemouth Car Clubs Carpet Bagger Rally. After a string of decent results luck finally ran out for the Red Golf and a rare retirement was recorded. After a good start the duo were running well up the order before mal de nav slowed things up a little and then an off for 10 minutes followed by a puncture finally put them out of the rally. With only one spare and no trailer the pair thought it wise to head for home while they could.

The rally itself was well run and used very good roads in Dorset & North Devon. If anyone wants to do a different night event then this one is well worth considering.