In a change of format, the annual Tour of Epynt Rally introduced a two-day schedule of high speed motoring on the notorious asphalt roads of Mynydd Epynt, writes Mark Griffin.
Affectionately know as “the tour” and organised by Port Talbot Motor Club, the event has taken place on the Military roads since 1965 and was the first stage rally to use the venue.
Qualifying as a round of two major championships; Fuches Lubricants British Historic Championship and Protyre Motorsport UK National Asphalt Rally Championship, a top class field of competitors from all corners of the UK and beyond assembled at Llandovery Market for the Saturday start. Four stages were planned for that afternoon before a further four longer stages on Sunday, totalling some 80 competitive miles.
With the historic field running first on the road and Mynydd Epynt shrouded in hill drizzle - soon to become heavy rain - top seed Seb Perez and Dale Bowen in their Porsche 911 had the unenviable task of being first on the damp slippery road, followed closely by ex-British Rally Champion and James Bond stunt driver Mark Higgins, co-driven by the vastly experienced Carl Williamson. Back in the late 1970s the TR7 V8 in the hands of the late great Tony Pond was almost unbeatable on tarmac, with Pond taking victories on prestigious European Championship rallies. Dave Appleby Engineering re-created a British thoroughbred and with Higgins at the wheel it sounded wonderful and proved a breathtaking sight.
After two days of competitive driving, it was the class of Higgins and the TR that took a comfortable 1 min 20 second victory from Perez in the Porsche.
In the Protyre Championship, any number of the top 10 cars could take victory, although there was a high rate of attrition on the opening day. Favourites and multiple Epynt winners; Melvyn Evans and Damian Cole from Abergavenny both retired early in the event.
Car 1, Mark Kelly driving a Skoda R5, led after Saturday’s four stages and went into the overnight halt with a slender three-second lead over Callum Black in a Fiesta Rally2 car.
Four long stages lay ahead on the Sunday run and the weather provided a complete contrast with warm dry conditions prevailing. Kelly, the overnight leader, was soon in trouble, spinning the car close to the stage start and losing the front bumper plus 17 valuable seconds to his rivals. Black took full advantage and with niggling problems of his own kept his driving clean and tidy and secured his first Epynt win by 17 seconds from Kelly in second.
Appearing on the entry list but sadly not starting, Jason Pritchard was hoping to debut the Toyota GR Yaris. Local interest in the absence of the Builth Wells driver was Ian Taylor and up-and-coming Brecon co-driver Sam Weller. Despite some minor problems the pairing were 25th overnight but dropped a further few places on Sunday to finish 31st.
“I’m very pleased to win on Epynt and we’re leading the Protyre Asphalt Championship now, but we’ve still got to do well on the last two rounds so it’s all to play for,” said Black.
“We had to nurse the car to the end with reduced anti-lag as we had a hole in the exhaust manifold, but we still managed to go quickest on the last stage even though it didn’t feel anywhere near as fast as it did before. I had to change my driving style to try and help the engine and I actually found a bit of pace doing that, so it was a nice ending to the rally.”
Again supporting the rally with safety marshals, both Brecon and Epynt Motor Clubs provided a sterling job, especially in the increment weather of Saturday evening.
Port Talbot Motor Club again ran a no-nonsense event which was well received from all quarters. Local business in the area enjoyed healthy trade while local charities benefitted from spectator entry fee returns.