Brecon Motor Club News

WYEDEAN STAGES

2012-02-12T20:36:00.005Z

Two BMC crews braved the conditions on the Wyedean Stages at the weekend, the stages were covered with sheet ice for the most part making it extremely treacherous. Sara Williams didn't have a great time in her Subaru on this occasion and finished in the mid thirties minus the back bumper which parted company withe car at some point.

In comparison Stuart Cardell had a ball with Bob Gibbons in his Mk2 Cortina. The pair were using the event as a warm up for the Sunseeker and came away with first in class (only one in it!) but a very healthy second historic. The secret of their success was apparently tyres, soft Maxsport remoulds doing the trick.

MEMBERS HONOURED

2012-02-02T19:44:00.001Z

Denis Cardell and Brian Dennis have been separately honoured for their services to motorsport.

Denis has been honoured by the RAC for his services which included stewarding duties all over the world at one time and the launch of the International Welsh Rally in the sixties.

Brian has competed since the sixties and still hillclimbs to this day. Apart from this he has always supported local young drivers and, as we all know, many motorsport events. Once again the Gremlin Rally and the Epynt Hillclimbs will be supported by the Old Forge Garage and Dennis Motorsport respectively.

Congratulations to the both of you and thankyou.

NEWS UPDATE!!

2011-05-07T07:20:00.003+01:00

Firstly, apologies for not keeping the news page up to date, no excuses, just not keeping my eye on the ball. I will give a brief appraisal of the year so far and some of what is going to happen.

Firstly we have seen the Old Forge Garage Gremlin Rally come and go. This year a new team took over and the event was well subscribed and ran very well. Craig Jones took overall responsibility as clerk of the course and took to it almost like a duck to water. With luck all who put the effort in this year will be up for it again in 2012. Brian Dennis deserves special mention for supporting the event, goodness knows how many years he has now been so generous.

Despite the price of fuel and the economic climate we still have a good base of competing members, I will try to list all but don't be surprised if I miss someone!! Jason Pritchard is chasing the BRC crown again this year, things haven't gone as smoothly as before but the season isn't over yet. Sara Williams has picked up a great sponsor, Klarius, for the year and is contesting selected events in her Subaru. Mike Jones reports that he now has 4 wheel drive once again in his Subaru, he will be out again soon with Robin 'Relic' Moses. Mark Haatton has had the Clio sorted and actually finished a rally at Talbenny recently, may their be many more for him and uncle Alan. Wayne Palmer has purchased the ex Straker Darrian in a bid to mix it with the big boys on Epynt, his chances are good and it'll be interesting to see the results. Will Arrowsmith is having a quieter year, finance is restricted but he continues to shine in XTH when he gets out. Stuart Cardell has gone totally retro this year with outings in Peter Lewis' Anglia and Bob Gibbons' Cortina. Mark Weller took the Golf out on the Gremlin but it was very poorly at the end and it hasn't sold so watch this space, it may be seen again! Phil Jones and Ian Jury binned the Micra coming home from the Powys Lanes so their outings are restricted but you never know what might be in the garage being built...................... Craig has been missing since last years Mewla but a Mk2 Escort is rumoured to be emerging, not sure if it is a rally car or not? Eian Pritchard still has a WRC Impreza and may be seen out and about but obviously Jason's rallying is taking up most of the effort. Jamie Vaughan has been making appearances in the co drivers seat this year, especially at Down Ampney with trips to Belgium on the menu as well.

As for the club, we have the Dennis Motorsport Epynt Hillclimbs on June 18th & 19th and the SGC Printing Harry Flatters Rally on July 31st. Our sponsors for both events must be some of the most loyal ever as they have now both been supporting our events for over 25 years, a record perhaps?

CILWENDEG & TEAM GMF TIME TRIAL

2010-11-02T18:33:00.004Z

Will Arrowsmith and Sara Williams were both out and about at he weekend, Will was out with Ceri Davies on the 50th anniversary Cilwendeg Rally and Sara had some seat time before Wales Rally GB National at the Team GMF Time Trial at Sweet Lamb. Will's event started well enough despite nudging a bank but as the even twent on the thrust bearing became noisy before a lack of gears forced retirement. It was a shame as a good finish on this event would have been a great achievment. Sara had better luck at Sweet Lamb and finished third overall in the Subaru, Theo Bengry was second in his Focus WRC and Sara's boyfriend, Shon Rees, won.......................................................................Note to Sara, more speed needed!

CAMBRIAN & SARN HELEN

2010-10-27T18:35:00.003+01:00

Eight was a good number for BMC crews recently with Sara Williams finishing 8th on the Cambrian Rally and Will Arrowsmith 8th on the Sarn Helen Rally.

Sara put in a career best performance but had it not been for 2 spins on one stage she would have finished as high as fourth! An entry has been submitted for the national section of Wales Rally GB, news of confirmation should be heard soon.

Meanwhile Will survived a big moment involving an open gate on the Sarn Helen, he takes up the story:

"The Sarn Helen was tough event, had a off on first section which cost over a minute ( lucky someone left a gate into a field open as I couldnt make the slot right, so had a sample of the Lampeter greenery, things didnt improve much and at the Llandovery petrol halt we were 14th overall having dropped 3:20 in total. The second section used Abergwesyn, Ffarmers and Cellan area and was the biggest part of the rally, (78 miles of the total 115) me and Ceri really got stuck into it and by the finish we dropped 1:35 which brought us back up to 8th overall, with a total of 4:55 dropped. We will try keep out of the fields on the Cilwendeg!!!"

PEMBREY WATERSPORTS DAY!

2010-10-10T13:04:00.003+01:00

Brecon Motor Club was well represented at The Peter Lloyd Stages at Pembrey last weekend, Both Wayne Palmer and Mike Jones finished well. Wayne accompanied by Mark Hatton in the usual Peugeot 106 could have done even better than 15th overall had it not been for the car playing up towards the end. The weather condition were not good and a well waterproofed car was essential with water lying everywhere. Mike Jones had Robin Moses with him as usual and put in a solid performance to bring the new Subaru home in 17th position.

VERY LATE NEWS & PICS!!!!

2010-09-01T20:13:00.006+01:00

A very quick post to get some Mewla pictures up. Apologies for the lack of news recently, my life has been taken over by a book and event organising. I am open to offers of help if someone would like to have a go at keeping the news current!

We have had a lot of crews out since my last post and Sara Williams and Jason Pritchard have performed particularly well, Sara 2nd overall at Sweetlamb in July and Jason third overall on the Manx and sixth in Ulster. Eian Pritchard revitalised his driving career with a new Subaru and after finishing third on the Flatters, won the Mewla!

Our grass roots members with not quite the bank balance but heaps of enthusiasm have been out there trying as hard and Will Arrowsmith has had a good run in his Escort, winning a number of class awards, his luck finally ending on the Flatters with a double puncture and an engine malady on the Mewla. Wayne Palmer has tried to make his already quick Peugeot 106 a bit faster again but has suffered some cruel luck along the way. Mike Jones & Robin Moses have upped their game and bought a Subaru Impreza! The first outing, on the Flatters ended with engine failure but the Mewla saw them finish 2nd in class. Craig Jones made the news for the wrong reasons on the Mewla, over enthusiasm seeing the Pug go end over end on stage 1 of the Mewla. He and Mike Bartlett were lucky to escape with some concussion. Mark Weller has been out in the Golf on the Pinged Hill Rally and with Craig recorded a decent finish.

MINI EPYNT PICS

2010-06-06T19:26:00.008+01:00

A number of BMC crews ventured out on the Herefordshire Motor Club Mini Epynt Stages, I don't have any results apart from knowing Jason Pritchard won, Wayne Palmer was 12th with Sara Williams, Will Arrowsmith wasn't too many places behind and Mike Jones and Robin Moses had a good day at the office with their Peugeot. Jamie Vaughan made his Epynt debut and finished but the Jones family had a mare with Craig damaging the engine in his 205 and Dad Phil not making it off the reserve list! Big thanks to Alex Jones, Matthew 'Pont' and Mark 'Evil Knevil' Bufton for manning the service 'in' control all day, a job well done. Enjoy the pics below!!

JIM CLARK JOY FOR PRITCHARD

2010-05-31T16:56:00.004+01:00

Jason Pritchard put his Welsh Rally test to good use at the weekend when he travelled to Scotland for the Jim Clark Rally. Held entirely on closed public roads Jason and co-driver Robbie Durant flew over the stages and finished a fantastic 5th overall. Next event for the Builth Wells based BMC member is the Mini Epynt Stages this weekend where he will keep himself in trim ready for the next tarmac round for the Dulux British Championship. Photo: Gavin Lodge

DENNIS MOTORSPORT EPYNT HILLCLIMB - MAY

2010-05-31T14:57:00.009+01:00

Some nice images from the May hillclimb to savour, thanks to JMS Photographic and Mark Griffin. Congratulations to David Thomas for FTD in the great little Global racer and thanks to all who helped to make the day possible, marshals, club members and of course the competitors for being so well behaved! See you all on June 20th.

LEUKEMIA AND PLAINS RALLY

2010-05-17T20:39:00.003+01:00

A couple of club members ventured out at the weekend, Sara Williams found reliability again and finished a fine 16th overall on the Plains Rally in Mid Wales. Meanwhile, in South Wales, more specifically the Gwent Valleys, Stuart Cardell was guiding Bob Gibbons to a top ten placing on the Leukemia Rally. Their only problem all day was losing the exhaust, luckily a fellow competitor supplied them with tools to refit it!

WELSH RALLY 2010

2010-05-03T21:56:00.005+01:00

Brecon Motor Club was well represented on the Welsh Rally at the weekend, firstly the club manned a spectator junction and then 2 starts and 2 finishes. A long day, so many thanks to the members and others (Dan & Jackson) who worked hard at that.

There were 4 competing crews out, Jason Pritchard was out for the third weekend in a row, his aim was to set the Subaru up for the Jim Clark Rally which he duly did and finished eighth overall as well.

Will Arrowsmith and Chris Phillips were out together for the first time and they collected 1st in the road rally class and 15th overall. The result could have been even better but Chris picked up a penalty in a moment of madness! Chris, it happens to the best, don't worry about it..........

Wayne Palmer and Mark Hatton had a miserable day, the Pug 106 behaving badly once again when the gear linkage played up. Mike Jones and Robin Moses had a complete nightmare, the back brakes popped on the first stage and a bush repair just about kept them in the rally. With more dramas during the day, a straight on at Copse being one of them, it was the icing on the cake when they fell foul of the regulations and were excluded for not completing the route together. All in all not a day to remember!! Will and Chris at the theatre finish in the Escort.

Jason on the Burma Road in the Group N Subaru

Wayne wishing he'd stayed in bed!

Mike & Robin had a day not to remember............................................

PIRELLI INTERNATIONAL

2010-04-27T19:47:00.006+01:00

Jason Pritchard and Robbie Durant had a reasonably good Pirelli International at the weekend, it started badly though when hanging dust and a puncture slowed their progress on the first stage. Thereafter a fight back up the field saw them move up to sixth overall at the finish. The new Subaru performed faultlessly again and the icing on the cake was second fastest on the final stage. Photos: Gavin Lodge

RED KITE STAGES, GET IT SIDEWAYS & MIRA

2010-04-19T18:13:00.007+01:00

Brecon Motor Club was well represented on the Red Kite Stages at the weekend and came away with a winner to boot. Jason Pritchard flew the BMC flag and ended up scoring a superb victory in his new Group N Subaru Impreza. Four seconds in arrears after two stages, he upped the tempo on the third stage and took 11 seconds out of Melvyn Evans to snatch the lead. On the final fourth stage he held on dropping just a second to the World Rally Car driver to take a deserved win.

Rob Jenkins made his second appearance in his Peugeot 205 and persevered through the rough Brechfa to finish albeit with the sumpguard hanging off and a lack of power.

BMC fielded a full team of marshals who looked after the Caeo finish and enjoyed a day of spring sunshine and plenty of dust!

Stuart Cardell was out with Peter Lewis in the Anglia at MIRA on Saturday but headgasket failure spoilt the sports.
At Down Ampney Jamie Vaughan co-drove for Dean Jones in his RS2000 and came away with 27th overall after a trying day, the final stage saw the back window fall out just for good measure!

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.