Paul Bebe Memorial 12 Car Navigational Rally
Friday 17th February 2012.

   On Friday 17th February Clwyd Vale Motor Club ran the Paul Bebe Memorial 12 Car Navigational Rally, starting and finishing at AutoMark Ruthin. The rally attracted a full entry with crews travelling from as far as Anglesey and Whitchurch to compete. The rally was designed to attract new people to this form of motorsport with only novices and beginners being allowed to participate.
   The route consisted of 65 miles of which two thirds was competitive. As the crews left Ruthin they headed east along “the shelf” and then down to cross the A525 at Llysfasi College, they continued with a loop north of Bryneglwys finishing the first regularity section on top of the Horseshoe Pass. Leading at halfway was Gareth Williams and John Broadhurst in the Impreza, by 10 Seconds from Antony Williams and Tim Gill in the 205 GTi. Then after a short neutral section they continued competitive on a six mile run over Worlds End. The final selective was a fourteen
miler starting close to Grainrhyd running between Treddyn and Nercwys finally finishing near Maeshafn. Unfortunately the 205 of Antony Williams and Tim Gill suffered an alternator failure after the Worlds End section forcing them to retire. Gareth Williams and John Broadhurst cleaned the last two selectives to drive on to a well deserved victory. The beautiful sounding TR7 of David Ricketts and Dick Jones came in second just under 3 minutes behind the winners. The young Bodfari crew of Rhys and Iwan Williams came an excellent third in their Corsa, two minutes down on the TR7. The mixed crew award went to sixth placed father and daughter team, Rachael and Keith Cross in the Proton.
   Clwyd Vale Motor Club would like to thank everyone involved with the rally, especially all the marshals who stood out in poor weather conditions to help make the rally such a success. The Club will now move on to organise a Novice full Road Rally on Saturday May 26th again starting at AutoMark Ruthin, keep an eye on the club website www.cvmc.org.uk for further details.

A Competitors View:

   Having done my first road rally way back in 1974 this was the first 12 Car event that I had ever competed on plus it was daughter Rachael’s first road rally from the driver’s seat. (Although she has driven on a few long- distance banger rallies in Europe, Scandinavia and Ireland since 2006).
   Arriving at the start - scrutineering was quick and uneventful and signing on was well organised. The start venue at AutoMark in Ruthin was excellent as was the near-by cafe that had stayed open late just for the rally.
   The paperwork was produced to a high standard and Andy Darlington had clearly put on an excellent route of 63 miles to test the 12 crews. As it was essentially a rally for novices and beginners, sufficient time was allowed to plot the route, with the start being just after 11 pm.
   After a short run-out to the B5429 the first Regularity section started with the yellows to the east and south of Craigfechan. It was a long section with lots of 3 meter controls on NAM triangles. The fork left at 138478 caught a few people out even though it was pointed out on the route information. The Regularity Finish caught us out as it was on the triangle just before A542. We lost some time here whilst turning around and booking into the control.
   After a run down the Horseshoe Pass the second section ran over Esclusham Mountain, taking care at the HP left though the slippery ford at World’s End. The final section used the yellows to the east of Nercwys Mountain. Great fun with lots of tricky navigation. The section started with HP left and rough ford in Sq 117/2356. Rachael dived in a little too quickly for my liking but the Proton survived, and it was nice to finish in a respectable position and win a couple of mugs for the Mixed Award. ( Some may say it’s a mugs game!)
   Thanks to the organisers – Andy, Stuart Thomas and Al Hayward for a very enjoyable event and to the amazing number of marshals who turned out on the night.
Keith Cross

Results:

Results Results Breakdown

The rally will start and finish at AutoMark in Ruthin and is aimed at novices and beginners. No competition licence is required and is open to all paid up members of Clwyd Vale Motor Club. The route is planned to be a total of approximately 60 miles, which is designed to test the navigational skills of the crews.

NB: The Vale Café by AutoMark, is kindly staying open during the evening so please support them by using their services.

Club members who are not competing are asked to volunteer to marshal on the event. For further details contact Andy Darlington on 07930 393598 or Stu Thomas 07970 113561

Supplementary RegulationsFinal Instructions