In Memory of...

It is with great sadness that I learn of two heroes of mine that passed away recently! Pentti Airikkala - A fantastic Man and Rally Driver whom I met on many an occasion. His wit, warmth and driving style always made me smile. Also, dear June Aslin, where would rallying be without the dedication of such a lovely woman! Always out and about on rallies with Forest Radio's, looking after us the competitor, as we sped through the stages - whether in a forest in deepest Wales or over the Epynt Ranges June would always be there for us!

Both are sadly missed but, with a smile.

Kenny Owen

The Last Post...

Meet the Team...

Before I commence with what Kenny & Sir Steve have been up to recently, I thought you may like to meet the team that have been out and about for the past two weeks bringing you the best rally in the World...EVER! The Rally Evolution.

The Recce Team

Here is you Clerk of the Course and Rally Director - Kenny Owen, without hat!

Here is Sir Steve, with Hard hat!

...and here is me...Road Ant, don't I look great...but who's the geezer in the Top Hat, hey, hey!

Anyway, back to business...

Our advance party are now on their final day, the sun shines over Craig y Nos Castle as they venture out and in to the forests of South Wales. Some of the highest mountain peaks in the UK are found here in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Tyle forest sits on top of one of these mountain tops, today bathed in brilliant sunlight. This is basically a five mile hill climb from start to finish and absolutely thrilling - putting in the shade the event encountered earlier in the week on Epynt! This is the sting in the tail and it is expected that the lead will change numerous times during this spectacle! After a return trip to Cox's Quarry, a holding control at Tredegar Park will regulate competitors to the final Selectif at Tredegar House. This venue has never ever been used for rally Selectif, the only motor sporting events held here previously are Classic Car static shows. So this will be a real treat for the regulars that visit this 'best-kept' of Stately Homes.

So all that remains is for Kenny to get back to the office and prepare the Draft Road Book for the Rally Evolution. It has been a pleasure to have been part of the recce squad this time around and an eye opener it has been - and a brilliant event in the offing for November!

See ya soon and signing off...

The Road Ant

Its not over until the fat lady sings!

Madam PattiLive from the Pen y Cae Inn, Craig y Nos, in the Swansea valley.

For the real initiated amongst you, Craig y Nos was the home of Madame Patti, the World Famous Opera singer from way back when! Anyway, the start this morning was from Rhandirmwyn and the Llyn Brianne reservoir. The first section this morning was over the Abergwesyn mountain and on to Pwll Bo for another run. This test is completely different in the dark but the flowing corners and blind brows make for an exciting time since you cannot pick out the road edges easily. Then its back to Llandrindod Wells for the rally overnight halt - end day three.

Days four route starts around the Lake at Llandrindod - no Selectif this year due to frogs! - but a fantastic setting to start our Rally Evolution from! The first section takes us back on to Epynt for more glorious fun tests before heading in to the Glasfynydd Forest which has not seen the light of day since the Lombard in 2007! Rated as one of the best Selectifs on the rally you will surely enjoy this years run through without a doubt!

So overnight for our recce crew is at the Pentre Riding Stables just east from the Pen y Cae Inn. No Kenny and Sir Steve are not acting out a Biblical scene but this B& B is well worth a call if in the area, especially if you are out and about on the Rally Evolution or the WRC round in October!

Bye for now
The Road Ant

HRH, Americans and Tins of Beans!

Cwm Berwyn Forest over looks Abergwesyn and the Tregaron Marsh with a sharp escarpment dominating the distance.
With 57 Selectifs schedule for this years Rally Evolution, there is no other event than can come anywhere close, with competition and cheap pound for pound miler for mile rallying...you'll have to be mad to miss this event...seriously! I have now spent over a week with Kenny and Sir Steve working on the route and believe me more work goes in to running an event of this size than I ever thought! I am aware that most competitors and certainly members of the public believe that events are just thrown together on the kitchen table...this is not the case! Well not the way that Kenny & Andrea organise - the detail is awesome! However, there will still be the infantalia out there that will criticise just to get their buzz...I say, take up drugs instead, its far better for you and it may ease your headache! No malice intended, but...!
So on to today's recce and what a lovely day it has been. The sun shining again, after a few days of cloud and heavy rain. This made life in the hot recce car a little more comfortable - well, listening to Sir Steve waffle on about how much better he is than the Stig every five minutes can be heavy going! This morning, Sir Steve refused to eat his brekkie until he had baked beans on his plate. The waitress insisted that beans were not part of the menu but Sir Steve held out until a full tin of musical fruits were poured unceremoniously over his bacon and eggs! Thank goodness it was a lovely day and the car windows could be left open!!!
Caio forest being the first Selectif of the morning. A seven mile run over fast and twisty hilly terrain last used in 2007 will be a dream to drive! During the Second World War, the Americans were based near Caio and but could not pronounce the village name - they called it 'C.A. Ten'! Cynghordy was called 'Sing or Die' and as for Ffairfach...well I'll let YOU guess! Sorry, I digress...
...so on to Brechfa and three long sorties for you competitors to get your teeth in to! The first uses the complex - a section of junctions and hairpins to excite your driving styles...then on to Brechfa 2. A fast Selectif with long sweeping bends and open hairpins to stimulate you further...then on to the final Brechfa test with its huge drops and fast sweeping bends which preside over precipices that will make your heart flutter before you even start the Selectif! The WRC round does not use this forest any longer so this will be a real treat. A long road section up in to the Towy forest now beckons. All these forests were used in 2007 but with a few variations to make the drive really interesting.
Well, on arriving back at the office late in the day, Andrea and our new assistant Bethan were full of excitement after the visit to the office by no other than HRH Prince Charles. HRH now resides near Llandovery and K&A have been invited for morning coffee and scones. Lets hope Sir Steve doesn't get wind of this or he'll be expecting one of 57 varieties!!!

See ya tomorrow...Evolutionists
The Road Ant

PS

Watch out for the new competition launching very soon where you can enter the Rally Evolution for a £1! Also a massive TV boost for the event!

Hill Climbing to Victory

As our intrepid crew arrive on the Epynt Ranges to start the days recce, they stumble across Brecon Motor Clubs Hill Climb event! Before the event starts, Kenny and Sir Steve attack the hill measuring the Selectif for next November. They now settle down for a few minutes to watch this exciting sport. Unlike rallying, this is a short sprint type event and great for beginners or the seasoned competitor! Some cracking machinery was on show but time ran out, the recce had to continue. The first of the Epynt Selectif's is at the Farm. This is the shortest of the Epynt tests but brilliant fun, with blind brows and yumps that get the belly going...but not in the way you're thinking! A long hill climb finishes off this test with every driver trying to get the most out from their cars. You'll have to take your 'hat off' to us for this test!

We now move on to the Big Dipper. No, not a fun fair ride but a long section up and down the rolling hills of the MoD ranges, with laybys and gravel tracks that will give you plenty of sideways motoring - this is the most fun you can have with your hat on!

A short drive to the next Selectif where you negotiate the Telephone Exchange triangle, Four Ways bridge - which way arrrrggghhh! - and the demanding Burma Road! You'll know you have done a real test at the end of this one! Again you'll have to take your hat off!

As our recce crew leave the MoD ranges, they head for Crychan forest and the Cefn Llwydlo. This forest has a mixture of fast flowing bends and in total contrast, tight twisty tracks that link the roads together. A short road section to Esgair Dafydd with a complete new finish to previous years. This Selectif was famous in the 1970's for the Rally Sprint that was shown on BBC Sports TV. Malcolm Wilson - Ford Motor Sport WRC guru - in his then works Total Ford Escort famously rolled in front of the cameras and in front of a youthful Kenny Owen, your Clerk of the Course. Again, the best fun with your hat on! So, make up your mind, with hat or without hat! The decision is yours!

The recce day ends at Llandovery where Prince Charles - who currently owns a local estate -will be visiting the Rally Office. So tune in tomorrow for our Royal Seal of approval and more on recce notes!

The Road Ant

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

After an over night halt at Talyllyn near Tywyn, Kenny and Sir Steve set out on another adventure to bring you the best rallying Selectifs the UK has to offer.

However, the night before an urgent message had to been received on Kenny's mobile phone. With no phone signal anywhere in the region, a short 15 minute drive to Tywyn was made. On arrival, the only signal that could be received was by standing on the pebble beach. With the tide in, a paddle was the only way to make the call! Sir Steve felt peckish after a long days work-load, so bought some chips, which attracted the attentions of the famous Tywyn Pheasants...Seagulls! A quick retreat back to the overnight accommodation at Talyllyn was actioned if only to get rid their avian friends!

Saturday morning and a further run through Pantperthog to fine tune the route before heading South once again and on to the Taliesyn stage variation. This time the Selectif finishes over the Nant y Moch reservoir side. The mountain section that follows this test is a treat in itself. Kenny reminisces - "I competed in the Welsh 1300cc championship in 1985 taking third fastest time along this section, beating a field of top 2 litre Escorts of the day!" His enthusiasm for navigating hasn't waned and it shows in the excellent Road Books.

So on to the Sweet Lamb Rally Complex for a reverse of the earlier Selectif run in the dark the day before (on the event). This way around is even more exciting that Thursday route!

So to complete the day two the rally heads for Llandrindod Wells and the Hotel Metropole. However, the recce day has not ended for our team in the VW Passat as they head for Epynt and the start of day three's route. More on this tomorrow when we go agricultural, go to the fair, unsure which direction to take and climb the Steps!

Bye for now,

The Road Ant

Leaving the home of Owain Glyn Dwr and heading South in to the forests where Legends are made! Two short Selectifs to start this days recce, approx three miles each. The first, an up hill drive of some one and a half miles before decending the last. Fast and sweeping bends to look forward to here. The second three miler is a bumpier affair, but far more interesting with a tight uphill hairpin junction and crests that can catch you out quite easily if you do not concentrate...great fun though! From here and on to Bala where Penllyn Forest lies at the foot of the Hirnant Mountain. A good climb with steep drops to keep you honest is the order here. A tight hairpin to finish before the long road section across the Hirnant and Lake Vyrnwy and on to Dyfnant for the next competitive section. In 2007, numerous competitors were caught out in Dyfnant with some clever working of the junctions that even the experts had to think about, but what a brilliant forest this is! Some three Ply to start, then Cat 1 sections, before more three ply, fast open corners to entertain the most careful drivers and a surface smoother that a billiard table!

Its back to Dyfi for a re-run of this special of special Selectifs. There's no repeat of our Alien friend this time around. May be he didn't want a 'close encounter for the third time!'

Joke!

What do you call an overweight ET ?

An extra cholesterol !

On that note, gud bye fa now!

The Road Ant