Rali Bro Ddyfi pothole causes chaos

Dovey Valley Motor Club organised the Rali Bro Ddyfi which started and finished in Machynlleth and had a total of 70 starters.

Only one member from Ludlow Castle Motor Club made the trip to Dovey Valley to take part in the 120 mile route.

Navigator Anthony Gluyas met Mathew Jones of Welsh Border Car Club at the start and after some last minute preparations to the Vauxhall Astra the crew were ready for the off.

After a steady start the crew got used to each other and they continued getting quicker as the night progressed.

However, on a very rough section of the route the Astra hit a pothole resulting in the steering arm being out of alignment making the cars handling awkward.

They continued to the petrol halt and made some running repairs, but sadly and with only about 20 miles left to go in the event, the crew slipped off the road on a very slippery section resulting in the car being grounded so retirement was inevitable.

This was Gluyas' first retirement of 2011 and he only scored 10 points towards the 2011 AWMMC Championship. He now faces a tough battle over the next few rounds to chase the leader of the Championship.

The PK Memorial event, staged on June 25 and 26 was another round of the 2011 AWMMC Championship and was organised by Bala & District Motor Club.

Ninety cars started the event which was approximately 120 miles in length.

Two crews from Ludlow Castle Motor club took part with very mixed results.

First away was the paring of Richard Lewis (Owen Motor Club) and LCMC's Anthony Gluyas and they were using a very popular Mk11 Escort.

They started off probably a bit too quickly as they encountered a few overshoots which cost them dearly, losing time.

As the rally progressed the crew settled down and recorded some good times only to be held up for five minutes when a fellow competitor got stuck and blocked the road. As there was no other way around they had to wait for the stricken car to be moved by the marshals.

At the petrol halt Lewis / Gluyas were lying way down in 50th place overall so they hoped for a better second half to make up time.

Sadly this was not to be as the throttle cable broke on the Escort. Lewis managed to fashion a throttle linkage so the crew could finish the rally, albeit last overall in 67th place. This gave Gluyas only a handful of points for the AWMMC Championship.

The only other member from LCMC competing was Phil Clarke who was navigating for Andrew Edwards in a virtually standard Nissan Almera.

Their rally got off to a bad start when they slipped off the road early on and picked up a puncture so they had to stop and change it, costing them time.

At the petrol halt they were lying in 42nd place overall so decided to try and make up the lost time in the second half which they did, clawing their way back to 21st overall at the finish of the event.

by Keith Gluyas