LOCAL crews dominate in Hereford Motor Club Builth Wells Showground Stages 2017 held on the November 4, a total of 55 cars started event that was spread over 14 stages throughout the day.

Held on the car parks around the Royal Welsh Showground it was a mixture of Tarmac and Gravel, made even more slick by changeable weather conditions all day long.

Epynt Motor Club members Sam Davies from Llanigon and Martin Lasper from Erwood took an early lead in their 1600cc Vauxhall Nova and held onto it with various close challengers falling by the wayside eventually winning the rally by over a minute.

Their nearest class rival was well over three minutes behind. A mighty effort considering he was up against cars with almost three times the power and many times the cost, a true David vs Goliath feat.

Second place went to Hereford driver Dan Evans and Jess Hockly in their 1400cc Suzuki Swift and third went to Ieuan Evans and Lewis Morgan in another Vauxhall Nova almost two minutes down on the lead.

An excellent result was for fellow Epynt member Carys Prynne navigating for her father Christian Prynne from Llandrindod Wells, the pair in their Peugeot 205 claimed fourth overall and again another dominant class win by over three minutes.

Again Epynt Motor Club took success in the over 2 litre category with Stephen Anderson and Will Barstow taking second in class and 34th overall in their BMW E30. Brecon crew Jeff Jones and Graham Isaac in their Peugeot 306 claimed second in the road rally class and 19th overall.

It wasn’t all silverware for Epynt Motor Club crews though Llanigon’s Graham Davies (Sam’s father) and fellow member Gary Powell from Newbridge-on-Wye retired in their Talbot Sunbeam after holding second in the over 2 litre class and just outside the top 10, likewise Ed Lloyd and Bryan Barrell in their Toyota Corolla AE86 were holding an excellent class lead and 5th overall but retired midway through the day.

Brecon crew Wayne and Joseph Palmer also retired in their BMW E36 also Felinfach crew of Lisa and James Chappele joined them on the retirement list in their Citroen Saxo after gaining experience on the stages in the driving seat.

Thank you to all the organisers for putting on the event which was competitive as ever and also the many marshalls and volunteers which help run the event.