Bob Fowden leads the field away as the Final Entry list is now available for this weekends Rali Cwm Gwendraeth to be held at the Welsh Motorsport Centre @ Pembrey on the 21^st February 2010

With 65 Cars entered, it promises to be an exciting day at Pembrey

 It will be the first round of the 2010 Steve Harkness Competition Tyres Welsh National Tarmacadam Championship

Friday the 17th of April saw 18-year-old Thomas Watson take to the road to tackle not only the third round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sporting Trophy but also the second round of the BRC Challenge which is run in conjunction with the British Rally Championship. The rally would be held in the famous Kielder complex which is the largest man made forest in Europe. The Pirelli International Rally, based in Carlisle, provides some of the most difficult stages in Europe. With the Pirelli only being the 18-year-old’s fourth time competing as well as driving a rally car, the young welsh man would compete in the rally with his mind set on finishing after the car suffering with engine failure prior to the event.

There would also be many firsts for Tom. One of which being Ken Bowman, a new navigator that has volunteered to sit in with Tom for the remainder of the season. Ken is an experienced co-driver that has competed for many years in large events such as Wales Rally GB as well as sitting alongside top drivers such as Robert Swann. With Ken being a highly experienced co-driver, hopefully his experience will be of benefit to the youngster in the start of a successful relationship.

With two of the stages taking place on the Friday evening, rallying under darkness would be another first for Watson. With a cautious start from the duo on stage one, the pair went into stage two with more confidence posting an impressive fifth fastest stage time through the Valley ending leg 1 in a credible eighth overall.

Saturday morning saw the start of leg 2 which included four high-speed stages through the Kielder complex. The first stage saw another cautious start from the pair but were still on track for the planned finish. The combination of Tom and Ken seemed to be working as the pair began to post faster stage time throughout the day. The last stage saw the duo set an impressive time to be fourth fastest through the stage, just nineteen seconds behind the leading car.

The quicker stage times saw the pair steadily increase up the ladder to finish in an impressive fourth overall and third in class. Tom stated
“I am over the moon. I came up here just to finish but to have a good result as well really has put a smile on my face. I couldn’t have done it without the help and support of my crew who prepared the car perfectly for me. To have someone as experienced as Ken sitting alongside me really has done wonders for my confidence and hopefully we can continue to improve and begin to go places.”

Tom would like to thank Gary from Thomas Plant Repairs and also his father and family for their continued support and patience in preparing the car so that he can continue to contest in the sport that he loves. He would also like to show his appreciation to Gwyndaf Evans and the team at GEM-sport for working late into Thursday night rebuilding the engine on his car.

The 18-year-old will contest a rally over Epynt on the 3rd of May to achieve another signature so that he may upgrade his licence so that he may compete in International events in The Isle Of Man and Ulster later this year.

Update – Onboard video

Just as stage 2 got under way the weather threw down the gauntlet in the form of a wiper testing downpour, the crews newly blooded in stage one’s slippery conditions faced another challenge and the spectators shrugged and braved the rain to enjoy more classic (see sideways) rally action.

Stage 1

With the sky promising thawing conditions stage one got under way at 10???? with Peter Lloyd first away in his recently acquired Subaru Impreza WRC S12, Graham Handley along side to guide Lloyd around a slippery Pembrey. Following Lloyd to the start line fresh from recent success here at Pembrey were Robert & Laura Tout looking to repeat their result on Carmarthen Motor Club’s WWRS Christmas Stages.

Club members Bryan Davies & Alun Lewis found out just how slippery conditions were at the secon corner, Brooklands. With a boot full of the loud pedal in a hail of turf he managed to hang on  to the wayward Mitisubushi Evo 6 most recently piloted on the christmas stages by Bryan’s father and Rali Cwm Gwendraeth C0-CoC Mel Davies in similar style, they both dislike looking out of the windscreen it seems

Start Delayed

The first stage of Rali Cwm Gwendraeth 2009 was delayed to allow all crews to inspect the route and gain forwarning of any potentially dangerous ice during a convoy run at a very chilly pembrey.

Each section can be downloaded individually, Final instructions, Competitor Bulletin No.1, Seeded Entry List.

Seeded Entries as of 01/02/2009

You can print and download regs for Rali Cwm Gwendraeth 2009 here.

We know you’d like to see who’s entered already so below is a live list of entries received, we aim to update this daily.

Updated to 27/01/2009

We look forward to receiving your entry for what will be a great day’s rallying at Pembrey on Sunday 8th February 2009.

Regulations will be available here on the website to download in mid December, you will also find further information, news and even some rumour about Rali Cwm Gwendraeth here on the website all neatly lumped together at “rcg09″ for your convienience.

Update 06/12/08: Regulations are now available for download here