THE Welsh Road Rally Championship is wide open again after leaders Arwel Rhys Hughes Jones and Dylan John Williams finished out of the points after suffering a couple of punctures.
The Night Owl Road Rally was the third round of the championship, starting from the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, where the cars left before midnight to start the long awaited, challenging route.
Last year’s winners and championship leaders Hughes Jones and navigator Dylan John Williams started first car.
The first section headed towards Borth through to Talybont.
TC1S was the start of the night and the quickest were Richard Jerman/ Alan James with their new engine sounding on point.
Ieuan Evans/Dafydd Sion Lloyd were hot on their heels a second behind with Arwel Rhys Hughes Jones/Dylan John Williams dropping eight seconds on the first section and Owain Rowlands/Jamie Mills nine behind.
Jerman and James went fastest on the next section again but Evans and Lloyd took the lead of the rally in SF2.
The crews found them selves heading over Nant y Moch where they had five triangles to deal with to try and catch the crews out.
Andy Davies/Michael Gilbert crashed out on PC16, whilst John Davies/Eurig Davies kept the pressure on, 20 seconds behind the leaders.
Hughes Jones/Williams closed the gap on Evans/Lloyd to 12 seconds.
They then headed through Ystumtuen loop to Cwmbrwyno then to halfway halt at Ponterwyd, where Evans/Lloyd held a lead of nine seconds over Hughes Jones/Williams who were on a charge to claw back time.
The heavens opened during the first section after leaving the half way halt when disaster struck for Hughes Jones/Williams, dropping three minutes following a puncture with Richard Jerman/Alan James moving up to second and Iwan Jones/Andrew Lowe up to third. Mark Lennox/Robbie Pugh and John Davies/Eurig Davies made up the top five.
They headed through the final section, Llanfiangel y Creuddyn where Jerman/James closed the gap to the winners Evans/Lloyd but it wasn’t quite enough.
Iwan Jones/Andrew Lowe completed the podium with Hughes Jones/Williams suffering another puncture.
With Masters having only a 20 minutes lateness limit, they failed to make the final control within time, therefore they weren’t classified as a finisher.
The Semi-Expert Class was won by Gethin Jones/Lewis Griffiths (Mazda MX5), who were over six minutes ahead of their nearest class rival at the finish.
The highly experienced Gareth ‘Penuwch’ Richards/Maurice Leach (Ford Escort) won the Novice Class, but they ended only a minute ahead of Steffan Roberts/Edward Rawlinson (Peugeot 206), who had to be content with second in class.
The championship is wide open leading to Bala on 24 June for round four, PK Memorial Rally.
Results:
Masters: 1, Ieuan Evans / Dafydd Sion Lloyd; 2, Richard Jerman / Alan James; 3, Iwan Jones / Andrew Lowe
Experts: 1, Gethin Davis / Dion Lewis; 2, Nathan Summers / Scott Marshall; 3, Steve knibbs / David Powell
Semi Experts: 1, Gethin Jones / Lewis Griffiths; 2, Ashley Maddox / Tom Beckett; 3, Joseph Thomas/Dan Johnson
Novice: 1, Gareth Penuwch Richards / Maurice Leach; 2, Steffan Roberts/Edward Rawlinson; 3, Euros Williams/Sion Davies