2002 National Tarmac Rally Championship: Tour of Epynt.
Story and pictures by Mark Sims.
The Brecon Beacons saw the opening round of the National Tarmac Championship. Formerly known as The Safety Devices Championship, the series comprises of a number of rounds all on asphalt from Wales, England and Ireland.
Epynt is a huge expanse of land owned by the Ministry of Defence and comprises of some of the most rugged and bleak terrain that Wales has to offer - beautiful in the summer but extremely harsh in the winter and autumn. The roads are twisty but extremely fast and the terrain is unforgiving, with huge ditches, rocks and blind brows ready to catch our unsuspecting crews, making fast driving extremely difficult. The stages also incorporate runs through built up specially designed villages used for fighting. Seeing the cars go through 'The German Village' (so called as it was modelled on European structures during the cold war period) is the rally equivalent of Monaco.
This year's rally took place over the whole length of the ranges, using a series of switch back stages and short sections. If the roads themselves didn't prove enough of a test, the weather had to be experienced to be believed. Gale force winds and driving rain made standing up difficult, let alone setting fast stage times.
Through the murk came John Price in his brand new Metro 6R4. This was Price's first competitive drive in the car, which had been completely built from scratch over the last 6 months. He was chased by a pack of high performance cars that included no less than five other 6R4s, two Subaru Impreza WRCs and a clutch of Mitsubishi Lancers.
It was Jon Mercer who hit the front from the start as he led Price into the second stage. The much awaited Metro duel never materialised as Tony Davies, a hot favourite, went out very early on as he shot off the stage with incorrectly balanced brakes. John Indri was going well until electrical problems sidelined him from the proceedings.
Stage 5 was one of longest at 17 miles and it was here that Price stamped his authority on the proceedings. Mercer had spun on the proceeding stage and lost time, and he would loose further precious time as the heavens opened and his car became difficult to drive due to a poor tyre choice. Bob Fowden in his Group N Lancer settled down nicely into second position, his extensive knowledge of the ranges allowing him to put in some very impressive stage times. Dave Turnbull in his Escort Cosworth and Mark Morgan in his new Evo 7 slotted into the next two positions, ready to pounce on the struggling Mercer.
The fight down the leader board was a case of survival of the fittest. Crews all the way through the field were struggling with the conditions and a number of huge accidents resulted. One of the biggest was by Dave Cooling who was guiding his impressive F2 Ford Escort over the 'Burma Road' when he clipped the grass verge and catapulted the car into a barrel roll, the crew were shaken but unhurt, their rally very much over.
With this carnage, the rally was put behind schedule, as two stages had to be cancelled due to crews having their wrecked cars moved from the stages. When the rally resumed Mercer, who had been struggling to stay in third, suffered a cruel blow as a gear linkage problem put him out of the proceedings. This left Turnbull and Morgan to move up to 3rd and 4th spots respectively. Both drivers turning in excellent controlled drives, their pace and skill paying dividends. Bob Fowden, came home 2nd, which was incredible as he was driving a production specification Evo 6, his knowledge allowing him to push to the maximum. But it was the husband and wife combination of John and Caroline Price who took the top spot to win the opening round of the 2002 National Tarmac Rally Championship.
The pair is looking to take a record breaking 10th championship this year and with this sort of performance the other crews will have a tough job from stopping them taking full honours.
The next round is the Tour of Cornwall based in Newquay on 13/14th April.
Final Positions
1. John Price/Caroline Price (Metro 6R4) 1h 23m 23s
2. Bob Fowden/Lyn Jenkins (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) 1h 25m 12s
3. Dave Turnbull/Ken Bills (Ford Escort Cosworth) 1h 27m 15s
4. Mark Morgan/Tony Fisher (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) 1h 28m 04s
5. David Kynaston/Andy Russell (Audi A3 Quattro) 1h 28m 12s
6. Tim Wilson/Laurie Walker (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 28m 28s
7. Damian Cole/Llinos Edwards (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) 1h 29m 10s
8. Samus Heron/Billy McMullins (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) 1h 29m 12s
9. Mark Jasper/Alan Snell (Rover Metro 6R4) 1h 29m 19s
10. Eian Pritchard/Martin Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 29m 43s
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