Clwyd Vale Motor Club

Clwydian Cars Stages 20th May 2006

This event saw 4 Bala MC crews out; Steve Hughes / Julie Hughes seeded at Car 1 in their MK2 Escort, Geoff McQuilling at Car 6, Aled Gwyn / Em Hall at Car 41 and Arwel Lloyd Jones / Iwan PK Williams at Car 43. A total of 43 crews were entered, with the rally being a part of the ANWCC Championship.

The weather on the day was about the worst seen on the Ranges, the torrential rain making the conditions very tricky. The real heroes of the day were the Marshalls, who had to endure the conditions throughout the event.

Leaders over the first loop of stages were Steve and Julie, but on the next stage after service they were to fall foul of the conditions, and unfortunately the car was comprehensively rolled. Due to hold up's the event was reduced from the usual 12 stages to 9 stages. The conditions suited a well driven, lower powered car, as such Geoff McQuilling / Sarah Manton took a well deserved and popular win.

The only other Bala MC crew to finish were Arwel and PK in 14th position. Aled Gwyn and Em retired after 2 stages with a broken diff.

The top three from the event;

1. Geoff McQuilling / Sarah Manton 18.25
2. Carwyn Ellis / Edgar Jones 18.49
3. Keith Griffiths / Paul Hughes 19.03

 
site banner
Steven and Julie Hughes
Geoff McQuilling and Sarah Manton

 


TO ORDER VIDEO or DVD TEL:01469 561281

Ian Maddison. www.madvideo.demon.co.uk


CLWYDIAN CARS STAGES (MotorsportNews)

Geoff McQuilling and Sarah Manton took victory with a calculated run on Trawsfynydd Ranges, their Honda Civic finishing 24 seconds ahead of Carwyn Ellis/Edgar Jones with Keith Griffiths/Paul Hughes third, both crews in Mk2 Escorts.
The customary four laps of three stages started in extremely wet conditions, catching out event sponsor Myfyr Owen/Geraint Jones, rolling the Focus on the second stage.
Top seeds Steven and Julie Hughes took the lead from the start in their Escort 1600cc, finishing the first lap three seconds up on McQuilling/Manton, whilst four seconds further behind were Ellis/Jones and Hugh Jones/Rob Hopewell, tied in their own personal Escort battle.
The fourth stage had a lot of standing water, and caused the Hughes’ Escort to aquaplane off the road and into a horrendous roll. Following crews stopped to assist and medical teams were called, fortunately the co-driver was OK but the stoppage meant that the whole of the second lap had to be cancelled from the event.
This gave crews a bit of time to service before the stages were turned round and were drying off. By the end of the third lap McQuilling/Manton held a seven second lead over Dean Jones/Wayne Jones (Escort) with Ellis/Jones two more down and Jones/Hopewell a further three.
The final stage proved controversial as the start marshal reported two crews for a jump start, the resultant minute penalty dropping Jones/Jones and Jones/Hopewell off the podium places.
Paul Edwards/Shaun Baker took Road Rally class honours, their 205 GTi 23 seconds ahead of Alun Hayward/Steven Hatcher (Astra), Alan Evans/Ifan Rowlands (Nova) third.
Cliff Evans/Jon Thomas (Lancer) won the big-engined class from the Impreza of Rhys Jones/Donna Davies and the Escort Cosworth of Mark Skillicorn/Karl Hughes.
Ellis/Jones took top spot in the 2-litre class, ahead of Keith Griffiths/Paul Hughes (Escort), both crews promoted to the podium due the jump start decision.
Gareth Roberts/Paul Dolby took a customary class win in their 106 a long way ahead of Carwyn Edwards/N Thomas-Humphreys (Mini), whilst Simon Povey/Peter O’Dougherty (Micra) took the 1000cc class from Dylan Thomas/Justin Campbell (106) and siblings Daniel/Nicola Nieroda (Mini).

CLWYDIAN CARS STAGES (Pacenotes)

Local driver Geoff McQuilling took his Honda Civic to victory on Clwyd Vale MC's Clwydian Cars Ranges Stages event at the Trawsfynydd Motor Sport Centre, and in doing so gave co-driver Sarah Manton her first-ever rally victory. McQuilling, who lives only a few miles from the venue took the lead after the retirement of siblings Steven and Julie Hughes who comprehensively rolled their Escort after aquaplaning off the flooded road of the fourth stage.

The Hughes' were top seeds and set the pace, finishing the first lap of three stages three seconds up on McQuilling/Manton. The first stage saw Mark Fisher/Keith Wheeler and Robert Cox/Chris Somerford off on the downhill finish section in their Escorts, although they did continue. Matt Davies/Jemma Bellingham had the front wheel fall off, the newly-completed Nissan Micra having not quite been completed as a ball-joint had not been secured!

The second stage saw the Focus of event sponsor Myfyr Owen, with Geraint Jones co-driving, roll and park neatly upside-down in the middle of the track approaching the triangle, then at the same point the 205 GTi of Michael Evans/Will Rowlands repeated the feat with a bit more damage.

Service Area at the end of the third stage showed Hughes/Hughes three seconds up on McQuilling/Manton, with the Escorts of Carwyn Ellis/Edgar Jones and Hugh Jones/Rob Hopewell tied in third, four seconds further adrift.

Deep water on the fourth stage caught out Hughes/Hughes, first on the road and the car comprehensively destroyed. Medical teams were called for the co-driver but, fortunately, injuries were not as bad as feared. The hold-up meant that the organisers had to cancel the second lap of three stages, so an extended Service meant a restart at SS7.

Anthony Williams/Paul Griffiths arrived at the end of the ninth stage, back at the Service area, with a rear wheel missing, the resultant damage to their Fiesta brakes causing their retirement.

After the third lap, McQuilling/Manton held a seven second lead which they were not going to give up. Dean Jones/Wayne Jones had a storming run in their Escort to move up to second, two ahead of Ellis/Jones with Jones/Hopewell in hot pursuit.

The final lap saw cousins Lee and Emma Thomas retire their Corsa with no drive, the Impreza of John Leckie/Jon Madoc-Jones called it a day after an event fraught with minor problems. Gavin Edwards/Llion Owen broke their Nova gearbox within sight of the finish and Jonathan Whalley/Peter Dennis lived up to the drivers' surname by parking his Escort on tyres just before crossing the flying finish.

However, it was at the start of the final stage that things went wrong for second and third placed Jones/Jones and Jones/Hopewell, the start marshall adjudging them to have jumped the start – the resultant one minute penalty dropped them off the podium and neither crew took the penalty lightly.

With McQuilling/Manton secure in victory, Ellis/Jones were promoted to second although had lost out on their personal battle with Jones/Hopewell, and Keith Griffiths/Paul Hughes (Escort) rose to the podium third spot.

Simon Povey/Pete O'Dougherty took Class 1, their Micra finishing 18 th overall and well ahead of Dylan Thomas/Justin Campbell (106) with the Mini of siblings Daniel and Nicola Nieroda third.

Class 2 fell again to Gareth Roberts/Paul Dolby (106) with a top ten result, the only other class finisher being Carwyn Edwards/N Thomas-Humphreys (Mini)

The bigger-engined classes featured at the top of the results, whilst the Road Rally class was taken by Paul Edwards/Shaun Baker (205 GTi) ahead of the Astra of Alun Hayward/Steven Hatcher and the Nova of Alan Evans/Ifan Rowlands.

Overall results

1 Geoff McQuilling/Sarah Manton (1.6 Honda Civic VTi) 18.25
2 Carwyn Ellis/Edgar Jones (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 18.49
3 Keith Griffiths/Paul Hughes (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 19.03
4 Ken Pugh/Gwawr Hughes (1.6 Talbot Sunbeam) 19.08
5 Kevin Jones/John Davies (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 19.08
6 Cliff Evans/Jon Thomas (2.0t Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) 19.24
7 Dean Jones/Wayne Jones (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 19.28
8 Hugh Jones/Rob Hopewell (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 19.41
9 Gareth Roberts/Paul Dolby (1.4 Peugeot 106 Rallye) 19.49
10 John Lee Rowlands/Nathan Williams (1.6 Vauxhall Nova) 19.54
11 Danny Postlethwaite/Neil Postlethwaite (1.9 Peugeot 205 GTi) 19.56
12 Rhys Jones/Donna Davies (2.0t Subaru Impreza) 20.00
13 Paul Edwards/Shaun Baker (1.9 Peugeot 205 GTi) 20.05
14 Arwel Lloyd-Jones/Iwan Williams (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 20.07
15 Gareth Owen/Lee Evans (1.6 Peugeot 205 GTi) 20.15

Class 1 (up to 1000cc)

1 Simon Povey/Pete O'Dougherty (1.0 Nissan Micra) 20.29 (18 th )
2 Dylan Thomas/Justin Campbell (1.0 Peugeot 106) 22.00 (26 th )
3 Daniel Nieroda/Nicola Nieroda (1.0 Austin Mini) 22.20 (28 th )

Class 2 (1001-1400cc)

1 Gareth Roberts/Paul Dolby (1.4 Peugeot 106 Rallye) 19.49 (9 th )
2 Carwyn Edwards/N Thomas-Humphreys (1.3 Austin Mini) 22.19 (27 th )
No other class finishers

Class 3 (1401-1600cc)

1 Geoff McQuilling/Sarah Manton (1.6 Honda Civic VTi) 18.25 (1 st )
2 Ken Pugh/Gwawr Hughes (1.6 Talbot Sunbeam) 19.08 (4 th )
3 John Lee Rowlands/Nathan Williams (1.6 Vauxhall Nova) 19.54 (10 th )

Class 4 (1601-2000cc)

1 Carwyn Ellis/Edgar Jones (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 18.49 (2 nd )
2 Keith Griffiths/Paul Hughes (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 19.03 (3 rd )
3 Kevin Jones/John Davies (2.0 Ford Escort Mk2) 19.08 (4 th )

Class 5 (Over 2000cc)

1 Cliff Evans/Jon Thomas (2.0t Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) 19.24 (6 th )
2 Rhys Jones/Donna Davies (2.0t Subaru Impreza) 20.00 (12 th )
3 Mark Skillicorn/Karl Hughes (2.0t Ford Escort Cosworth) 20.34 (19 th )

Class 6 (Road Rally cars)

1 Paul Edwards/Shaun Baker (1.9 Peugeot 205 GTi) 20.05 (13 th )
2 Alun Hayward/Steven Hatcher (2.0 Vauxhall Astra GTE) 20.28 (17 th )
3 Alan Evans/Ifan Rowlands (1.6 Vauxhall Nova) 20.44 (20 th )

Report by Dave Thomas, 11 Maes Canol, Llandudno Junction, LL31 9UX.
(Tel 07788 995345 Mobile, 01745 589529 Work, 01492 584872 Home)

For further results from all events please refer to anwcc.org

Return to report listing