The forest of Dean is great for its scenery and also very great for its rally stages, being a great part of the country for a motorsport events since the early 1970's - its a rally driver's place of dreams!!
Driver Gareth Bevan & Co-Driver and LCMC member Jack Bowen
The Wyedean Rally was club member Jack Bowen's first time sat with Gareth Bevan in his immaculately presented blue historic RS1800 Escort, and this was only the Welshman's second gravel event. A fantastic run through the first stage of the day saw the pair emerge third historic overall, unfortunately their luck was very soon to change for the worse and they broke a halfshaft off the start line of stage two. The crew limped through the stage and into service, however they had damaged the axle and their rally ended prematurely.
Driver Colin Griffiths & Co-Driver Marc Morgan
Club members Colin and Marc were once again out in Colin's Subaru Impreza having finally sorted the boost issues he has had over the last few rallies. However, ongoing diff issues prompted Colin to dig deep and go and buy some new tyres for the 4WD machine! Doing this helped helped the crew set a stage time that saw them sit ninth overall after stage one - despite admitting to a major moment over the flying finish! Unfortunately the crew would suffer a similar fate to Bevan and Bowen, breaking a drive shaft off the start line of stage two which ended their rally early on.
Driver Meirion Evans & Club member Co-Driver Keaton Williams
Keaton Williams stepped in as substitute for usual co-driver Johnathon Jackson alongside Welshman Merion Evans in the Melvyn Evans Motorsport prepared Volkswagen Polo. The Wyedean was Merion's first time on gravel in the VW Polo having been focused primarily on tarmac events in recent years, however Keaton reports that the pair settled into a rhythm early on and garnered a 16s lead after three stages. Unfortunately the crew clipped a log with an open wheel and broke the strut which ended the pair's rally. Keaton said it was great to be back out on local turf after spending a lot of time co driving in America.