CAMBRIAN RALLY, SATURDAY 17TH OCTOBER  By ANDY ELLIOT

A somewhat unbearably early start (isn’t it always?) on a chilly Saturday morning saw us heading to this year’s Cambrian Rally, and a welcome return to Clocaenog Forest. Arriving at signing-on, we were surrounded by frostencrusted trees and frozen ground in spite of the initial rays of early morning sunshine. As the stage was to be run twice, firstly as SS2 then in the afternoon as SS5, we had been asked to remain on the same junction for both.

The relatively short first run through the stage in the morning, of just over 8 miles in length, was more or less doubled for the second run to give a hefty 16+ miles. Fortunately, we had a radio car on our junction too which was to prove useful later on in the day when a series of delays meant that the latter half of the cars on SS5 were delayed. We were also joined by a gaggle of our roundy-roundy/circuit-racing regulars from the Club, who’d decided to venture onto the rough stuff into the forests to watch some proper motorsport……..

Our initial enthusiasm for our junction, a deceptively tight square right, was soon tempered by the trickle of spectators who opted to base themselves amongst various items of undergrowth at our junction.The closer to the FCD time we got, the more spectators were piling in from all angles. This may have had something to do with the fact that the 0 car – a latest spec Ford Focus WRC – was being driven by the 2009 WRC runner-up Mikko Hirvonen. Added to this were rumours of a possible outing for Sebatian Loeb, as preparation for Rally GB, and other notable entries from crowd pleaser Andy Burton, WRC drivers Mads Ostberg and Nasser Al-Attiyah as well as an appearance of a
Skoda Fabia S2000 it was perhaps little wonder the numbers were taking on WRC proportions themselves.

Initial entertainment was provided by the 1400 class runners, looking no less committed than their latter more powerful counterparts, and a smattering of historic entries. Likewise, the clubman competitors were out giving it their all and by this time in glorious sunshine with blue sky everywhere despite the chill in the air.Mikko duly arrived and departed in impeccable style, and we were soon into the thick of the action. The short blast down from the previous junction, within our sights and only a couple of hundred yards away, caught out a handful of competitors – not least a Citroen C2, who made sure their presence was noted by our resident radio car crew by paying a somewhat unscheduled and rather close visit! A number of other crews made good use of the vegetation covered earth bank on the outside of the corner to correct their slightly over-ambitious entry/exit.

It didn’t seem long before the end of SS2 was upon, and a slight re-jig of our junction saw us ready for SS5 which was to use a different approach to our junction and have it as a square left instead. A number of notable absentees were apparent in this second running of the stage, including Andy Burton with engine troubles and the nonappearance of the Skoda Fabia S2000. Towards the latter part of the afternoon, as the sun set magnificently behind the distance hills, the temperature dropped noticeably and a chilly breeze picked up. Hence the usefulness of the radio crew at our junction, who kept us updated on the remaining competitors still to complete the stage. Many of the last few stragglers running on the stage had headlights, and even full lamp pods, on as it was now almost pitch dark. Thankfully, as the last car went through, we were able to pack up and pick our way through the darkness to negotiate our way out of the stage.The last drama of the day was saved for when we exited the stage back onto the public roads, only to find a Transit van being dragged from the axle-deep soft mud at the side of the road.