Rally Events 2015

Direct links

More to come...

Latest:

We've just got an update from star of stage and screen - Mike Wells. I admit I've edited it a bit but you really should ask him what I've taken out as the truth about one of the events is worth knowing if you intend to ride, and alarming too! Here goes...

Mike's Update

I have now competed in the first 3 rallies of the 2015 season, the Brechfa rally which is run north of Carmarthen, the Baja rally at Sweet Lamb north of Rhyader and the Borders rally just over the Scottish border near Locherbie. This year I am riding a Husqvarna 450 rally replica with the support of Moto Rally Services from Preston Manchester. They sell all rally bike parts and also build one off specials.........plug over.

Brechfa rally - I travelled down with a local guy Giles Grant, he rides a 690 KTM and is doing a few rallies as a warm up to a trip to Iceland this summer. I had a solid start to the season with 4th overall and 2nd in the rally class (bikes with a fuel capacity of over 13 litres and a frame mounted front fairing ). After a small off just 600m from the start line on the sighting lap things got better with no more mishaps, just an argument with a badly placed temporary barrier which other riders hit too. It rained for most of the day but I managed to put in some good runs over the 7 mile special test, every rider having to complete a sighting lap plus 2 timed laps on day one.

On the Saturday night myself, Mike and Josh Allen checked into a local B&B. Little did we know that the on site entertainment was the 6' 7" tall barman, who had a claim to fame of owning 93 cars and not crashing one of them, a particularly amazing achievement bearing in mind he does nightime road rallying around the lanes in Mid and West Wales. Giles was sleeping in a tent at the start area, preparing himself for Iceland. It poured down all night so we had a wet start to day 2.

Day 2 was an exact re-run of day one, except for there being 3 timed laps, with the special test running the same way. Again it rained for most of the day, but I had no issues at all. I can't say the same for Giles, he had an off midway through the day and hurt his ribs and lower back which caused him to DNF. Mike and Josh both had good results over the 2 days. So overall a good weekend for me with a 2nd place finish in the rally class, behind Lee Green, a young 25 year old lad riding under the Rallymoto banner.

Baja GB rally - The next rally was the Baja rally, entries included cars, buggies, quads, the Bowler Defender challenge and the Freelander challenge. There was £1000 prize money for the first 3 bikes so Arran decided he needed to do his first rally!

The event was run under a mix of car and bike rules so the course marking was a little different to normal. And so was the timekeeping - (Ask Mike for the full story. ed.)

On day one we had a flurry of snow in the morning and rain for the rest of the day. The last stage of the day was where it all went wrong. The cars were struggling to get up a certain shaly climb so the organisers altered the course. The nice lady on the start line decided she would tell some rides but not all. The altered marking had blown down in the wind so 4 out of the first 10 riders continued on the old route adding 4 miles to our test. As I arrived at the finish of the test some riders who started behind me were now in front??? They certainly hadn't overtake me so when questioned they said " didn't they tell you not to go up the hill" ... I best not repeat here what I said back. Riding back to the finish of day one I thought, 'ah well they will just drop the stage or once again make up some times!' ... no chance. The reaction I got was 'put your £50 on the table within 30 minutes of the day 2 provisional results and raise an official protest ... but we won't be changing our minds'. When I asked to speak to the centre official I was told, 'there isn't one so any protest will need to go to ACU HQ.'

On viewing our results at the end of day 1 there were numerous errors. Arran had overtaken the rider who eventually came 2nd overall after 2 days from a starting position 2 minutes back, but his time was recorded as slower than his ... it can't be right!

At this point we both decided to wait for the end of day 2 to see what transpired. Things went from bad to worse really, the local B&B only had cold water for a bath and we had to listen to a guy from the Bowler team telling us how good he and his car was.

The next morning, with my red mist goggles firmly in place following the day one results, saw me overshoot a corner which I thought was a fast right, only to find out it was a tight ninety. I hit the embankment leading into the ditch, the bike cartwheeled into a tree and ended up with the light pointing to the moon. Me, I was head first looking up a 4' diameter drainage pipe with no red mist goggle lens in place, not sure where that went! ... but too close for comfort, no injuries apart from a strained neck muscle. Arran came by as I was dragging myself up the bank, so I told him to keep going. I lost about 3 minutes getting my bike back out of the ditch, but I managed to get back to the finish, complete with broken back mudguard. Realistically that was the chance of any prize money gone for me, when combined with the times from day one. Arran was still in with a chance of some dosh, but some more dodgy special test times prevented this. Three test times were definitely wrong over the 2 days and the course changing caused about 3 or 4 minutes to be added. The best he could have gained overall was 3rd and a prize of £100, but it meant a risk of the £50 protest fee, so we didn't bother.

Throughout the event the cars, buggies etc. were running on one stage in the Hafren Forest while the bikes were across the road in Myherin/Tarenig. We were able to compare the final results of the winners and the bikes were marginally faster by about a minute over a 20 mile stage. The difference was that the winning cars cost about £120k!!!! As opposed to £6k for the leading bikes.

So with our stage times added up over the 2 days Arran was 4th and I was 6th overall. Strangely enough the first 3 bikes were told not to go up the hill. Arran won the rally lite 4 stroke class and I had 2nd in the rally class ... but an event to forget. The overall winner was the Irish enduro champion Gordon Clarke on a rally prepped TM 450. By the way, yes it did rain all day on the second day ... (a bit of a theme going on here for the Welsh events.)

Here's a vid from the Motors TV programme Special Stage Rally Review - Best to use the time links below to avoid the Borex4s

Or jump to where the bike bits start at 12:46 and 35:50 (includes Arran's Airtime)

Borders rally - My third event was the Borders rally, the start being about 15 miles from Locherbie, just over the Scottish border in a town called Newcastleton. Giles came with me to this one again with his 690 as this was his last event before heading off to Iceland. After a 7 hour drive up the M6 we rocked up late on Friday, set up camp and went to the pub. The camping area was on a picturesque riverbank about 200m off the village centre and the start of the rally was in the village square next to the pub ... top job.

Day one was sunny with lots of dust on the fire roads. Just one test on a 35 mile loop, completed 5 times over the 2 days. I had a good day one, just one off on the sighting lap (bit of another theme!) with a 2nd overall and 2nd in class, with just 20 seconds back to 3rd place.

It rained heavily overnight which was excellent as it damped down the dust for day 2. The rain stopped just as we pulled the bikes out of the van, top timing. The sun shone all day, perfect, and just a few minor dust clouds towards the end of the day. I ended up losing 2nd place and eventually finished 3rd overall and 2nd in class (another theme). Giles finished his first rally with a 6th in the big bike single class, about mid field overall of the 80 starters, he was well chuffed as this is his first year riding off road. We finished the rally about 3pm and after a better drive back down the M6 we got home about 9:30pm on Sunday night.

So 3 rallies done of the 8, and the best 6 results to count. I am lying 2nd in the rally class, with Lee Green having secured maximum points from 3 wins. (Gordon Clarke is not registered to do the full championship so scored no points at the Baja.)

The remaining rounds are - Kielder on the Scottish border again, the Ryedale in Yorkshire, Beacons at Llandovery, Isle of Man and the Hafren at Sweet Lamb.

If anyone is interested in competing give me a shout, I am always looking to lift share to the further rallies.

Rally Events 2015

Direct links

Archives

Latest:

Mike's Update