Polyproof PK Memorial Rally

6th/7th July 1996

The Machynlleth crew of Richard Lewis/Philip Pugh regained their early season form when they repeated their 1995 victory on Bala MC's Polyroof PK Memorial Rally. As in last year's event the runners up were Ewen Davies/Owen Dodd. However unlike twelve months ago when both cleaned the whole route and the result was decided on engine capacity, this year both crews dropped time.

The event was the sixth round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship, as well as being in both the West Midlands and North Western Championships. It had attracted a capacity entry of 75 cars, the entry list having been filled some weeks before the event. The organisers had decided to start the event with a 17 mile regularity section. The section opened the event and took crews from the start at Bala south to Lake Vyrnwy and then back northwards to Llanuwchllyn. It followed the format devised by John Brown for the Le Jog whereby all times were based on a 30 mph average and the site of all controls were given to the competitors but only three were manned. At the end Paul Holmberg/Lee Ellis were in the lead as the dropped only 25 seconds, while no other survived with less than a minutes penalty. Holmberg/Ellis went on to finish 8th after dropping a further six minutes on the Standard Sections..

The rest of the event was made up of just three Standard Sections all with Time Controls every two to three miles. The first began at the Dolgellau Maze, before running via Coed-y-Brenin and Trawsfynydd, back to Llanuwchllyn. The second, which took crews to petrol, started beside Bala Lake and ran north to Cerrigydrudion. The second half consisted of just one 45 mile section, taking in the twisting lanes to the south of Clocaenog Forest.

At petrol the eventual winners, Lewis/Pugh, were found to be the only crew to have cleaned the opening two Standard Sections, but lay only third as they had dropped 2.25 on the Regularity. The lead was shared by Cyril Crook/Chris Ware and Wyn Jones/Phil Clarke, both on 2.05. Dennis Quinn/Nick Darkin should have found themselves in the lead with time penalties of just 1.41, however they'd picked up a fail for a wrong approach, an uncharacteristic error partly attributed to the fact that Darkin was suffering from a torn ligament in his back.

The route around TC55 only ten miles into the second half was to affect the final result as both Crook/Ware and Jones/Clarke reported wrong slotting and dropping time. Lewis/Pugh once again cleaned the section and therefore found themselves victors by a margin of over a minute. Davies/Dodd were the only other crew to clean the section and moved from seventh at petrol to the runner up spot. Jones/Clarke survived to take third place, but Crook/Ware dropped to seventh.

The Semi-Expert class was once again won by Dez Phasey/Steve Price, they ended up 45 minutes ahead of their nearest class rival. The Novice Award went to local crew Iwan Williams/Gwion Pryderi in their Escort 1.6.

As a result of the event the Drivers' division of the Welsh Championship is still led by Baron Glaze, who has a five point lead over Paul Holmberg, they're the only two drivers to have scored on all six rounds. Glaze's navigator, Dave Pitchford, now lies third in his championship, three point behind Phil Pugh, who in turn is eight points behind Phil Clarke. Six round remain in the Championship but competitors can only count their eight top scores.

IAN MILLS
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Polyroof PK Memorial Rally

5th/6th July 1997

Graham Evans/Ian Mills took their Toyota Corolla to a win on a hard fought and demanding PK Memorial Rally. The rally was a round of the Welsh, West Midlands and North Western Road Rally Championships and as such received a full entry of 75 starters. Competition opened with a 30 mile 'Le Jog' style regularity section, this used the roads in Coed-y-Brenin and the Dolgellau Maze. Crews were given a list of 21 controls, any one of which could be a time control, if unmanned there would be a passage board. There were severe penalties for stopping within site of a manned control. This was followed by four plot 'n bash standard sections, one of which, in the area to the south of Clocaenog Forest, was almost 50 miles in length.

Top seed Paul Holmberg was attempting to make it five victories on the trot this year, however he was in trouble before the end of the first test when the alternator on his Escort failed. After replacing it on a neutral section he eventually struggled home10th, a result which consolidated his already enormous lead in the North Western Championship.

Evans/Mills were over a minute off the lead after the regularity section but a steady run through the plot and bash standard sections saw them take victory over the Astra of Chris Wilson/Roger Fildes by a 37 second margin. The win moved the Toyota crew back to the head of the Welsh Standard Production Championship, as their main rivals, Peter Zjalic/Richard Preece, picked up a fail and could only manage 32nd overall. Kevin Ikin/Rob Jones were third, despite having their Escort's engine drop on to three cylinders after a plug lead became detached from the distributor cap.

Fifth overall was enough to strengthen Baron Glaze and Pete Davies' position in both the Welsh and West Midlands Championships. Welsh rivals Cyril Crook/Chris Ware went out of the event early on after the navigator became ill. The only other major retirement of the night was the Chevette of Terrance Pressdee/Iain Tullie, which went off the road only four miles from the end.

The Semi-Expert class was won in impressive style by Jamie Burton/Dave Dewson who brought their Escort home in seventh overall. Meanwhile the novice award went to Llyr Williams/Gareth Hall and the Standard Production class was won by the Kent pairing of Colin Rodgers/Sue Speller in a Peugeot 306GTi.

IAN MILLS
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Polyroof PK Memorial Rally

3th/4th July 1999

Nick Broadway and Andy Oakes secured victory by just five seconds at Bala MC's PK Memorial Rally on Saturday night.

The event, a round of the West Midlands and North Western Championships, used a 130-mile route in North Wales including a run through Aberhinant Forest and the asphalt Trawsfynydd Ranges.

Many crews hit trouble within two miles of the start as the first white of the event proved a tough challenge. First to hit problems were Kevin Parry/Gareth Price, who wrong slotted, picking up six fails in the process. This was unfortunate as they were the quickest crew in the second half.

Paul Holmberg/Dave Pitchford also came to grief on the white, wedging their Escort on a rock that flattened the car's exhaust. They retired but still hold a large lead in the West Midlands Championship. Their incident also delayed Paul Hughes/Owen Dodd and Michael Monaghan/Iain Tullie but both crews survived to post top ten places at the finish. Monaghan's result helps his position in the North Western Rally Championship, although Kevin lkin still leads.

Ikin was yet another victim of the infamous white but came home in eighth place. There were seven crews still free of penalties at the petrol halt but the eight mile section afterwards split them up. Broadway emerged as the leader after the section, five seconds ahead of top seeds Peter Zjalic/Patrick Walsh. They then held onto this lead to win the rally despite having to ease off towards the end as the Sierra's oil light flickered on and off. Wayne Morris/Paul Middleton were third at the finish but could easily have won - they were nine seconds faster than Broadway on the tie-decider but had lost a minute earlier after being held up by a non-competing car

IAN MILLS
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Polyroof PK Memorial Rally

1st/2nd July 2000

Despite a 140 mile route using some of the most demanding lanes in the country Kevin Parry and Paul Holmberg came home clear of any penalties on Saturday's PK Memorial Rally. The Bala MC road rally was a round of all three major road rally championships and as a result found its 75 car entry vastly over subscribed.

The event opened with a section through Aberhirnant Forest, which was followed by a run over the Trawsfynydd Ranges. Competitors then moved to the lanes around Clocaenog Forest for the meat of the rally.

Parry/Holmberg had a trouble free run and finished the rally as clear winners with a clean sheet, thus making it a double of recent events in the area after having achieved the same feat on the Rali Gogledd in May. Gareth Jones/Dave Pitchford finished second having only dropped time on the rally's single section timed to the second. This result further extended their lead in the West Midlands Championship and gives them an outside chance of taking the Welsh crown.

With just a mile of the rally left to run it seemed that Paul Hughes/Paul Middleton would take the runner up spot, they'd dropped just nine seconds on the tie-breaker section however an off on slippery white cost them a minute and they slipped to third at the Finish.

A number of competitors had problems at PC22 which required crews to use a steep track to reach the control. After just a few cars the track became impassable and crews lost time as they either struggled up the correct route, waited for others to attempt the climb or simply diverted around it. Worst affected by this were Dennis Quinn/Dave Evison who would have tied with the winners but for the three minutes lost at that point. Gareth Jones/Owen Dodd and Steve Rogers/Paul Jones also fell down the placings as a result of problems at PC22.

Punctures were a major hazard with Howard Price/Gareth Price dropping out of the top five after losing two minutes changing a tyre on the second section. Toby Adam/Pat Gadsby were another crew to be clear of time penalties at the Finish but dropped out of the top fifteen as they picked up a fail after mis-plotting a control.

The Semi-Expert class saw a close battle between the Saab 96 of Noel and Gwawr Hughes and the Peugeot 309 of Mick Bradley/Dean George. The Saab crew came out on top after Bradley/George suffered two time consuming delays. The Novice class went to the Sierra of David Hughes/Geraint Jones.

Alun Evans/Carl Williamson became the first retirement of the night after putting their Escort off the road in spectacular fashion just a mile into Aberhirnant Forest. Also on the retirement list were Bryan Glass/Alan Williams who broke a wheel bearing on their Escort.

In Welsh Championship Dennis Quinn still leads the drivers' table but the fact that his regular partner, Andrew Thomson, missed the event through illness has allowed Ian Mills to move to the head of the navigator's table.

Polyroof PK Memorial Rally

6th/7th July 2002

Bala & District MC's Polyroof PK Memorial Rally is a round of the Welsh, West Midlands and North Western Championships and attracted a capacity entry of 75 cars. Crews had initially faced a 140 mile route however a spectator car went up in flames on the first section, blocking the road and delaying many of the top runners. To keep the rally on schedule the organisers were forced to cancel the first four sections including the loop through Aberhirnant and Penllyn Forests. For most competitors this meant that they dropped time on just two sections, with the decisive factor being a hard to find slot in Clocaenog Forest. A number of fancied runners dropped several minutes finding the correct route.

The final results showed the leaders to separated by just a few seconds with Glyn Price/Huw Jones emerging as victors to add the PK to their Border 100 win earlier in the year. They came home just four seconds in front of the second place crew. The runner up spot had to be decided on the furtherest clean tie break as Steven Roberts/Darren Garrod and Dave Jones/Baz Green ended up with 49 seconds penalties each - Roberts/Garrod taking the place on their first half performance when Jones/Green's Astra had suffered overheating problems. Dewi John/Michael Evans were just ten seconds further back in fourth.

Top seeds Kev Parry/Cyril Jones cleaned the second half, which included the run through Clocaenog, but a wrong slot in the first half meant that they finish fifth, although they did take the Standard Production Award in their Toyota Corolla.

The event had a significant affect on the Welsh Championship standings. Series leaders prior to the night were Huw Evans/Patrick Walsh, however they were an early retirement when the alternator bracket on their Escort broke. A sixth place finish and top championship contender on the PK means that Howard Price/Carl Williamson are now making a strong challenge for the Welsh title with just three rounds remaining.

The result also strengthens Price/Williamson's lead in the West Midlands Championship. They had been in third place at the halfway halt but had lost over a minute searching for the slot in Clocaenog. Jason Stone/Paul Holmberg were the leaders at the petrol halt but dropped time at the same spot and were finally classified in tenth. Others to lose out on good results as a result of that slot were Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford, Gerwyn Jones/Ceri Davies, Simon Cottrell/Marcus Watmough and Steve Rogers/Ian Cooke. However the latter crew did collect the U1400 award and strengthen their position in that category in the Welsh Championship.

From a start number of 31 Andy Roberts/Stuart Frost took their Impreza to seventh place at the Finish, this was despite surviving an off that took them through the undergrowth on the final white of the night. Andrew Williams/Wyn Davies and Lee Evans/Anthony Williams had similar experiences at the same spot but also survived. The latter crew coming home as first Novices

The Semi-Expert Class was won by the Astra of Dalis Ifans/Aled Richards who were 16th overall, only one position and seven seconds ahead of Keith Gush/Jennifer Gush who took second place in class.

Mark Price/Jez Harris had a heavy roll in the Escort on the second section on the mountain round between Trawsfynydd and Llanuwchllyn. Merfyn Williams/Derwyn Roberts (Vauxhall Astra) and Lee Wilson/Paul Edwards (Peugeot 205 GTi) both went out with broken drive shafts. Alan Roberts/Peter Barnard did make it to the finish but struggled with a sticking throttle and had the frightening experience of the bonnet flying open at one stage.

RESULTS

IAN MILLS
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Polyroof PK Memorial Rally

5th/6th July 2003

IAN MILLS
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