In 2003, Patrick co-drives for the world and his mother............. and still manages to compete with:

Click here for Patrick's latest news

updated 19/12/02 (items marked **)

Robert Gough, Mitsubishi Lancer, selected forestry events

Paul Jackson, Mitsubishi Lancer, selected forestry events

Ronnie Moon, Darrian T9, selected ANWCC & Irish Tarmac events

Huw Evans, Ford Escort RS, Welsh Road Rally Championship

Sorry I haven’t been in touch for a while, the last few months have been hectic with events almost every weekend.  To make up for it, this is what I’ve been up to - 

June 1 - Mutiny.com Clubman Rally

Out with Andrew Williams from Mold for the first time, in a clubman-spec Sierra Cosworth 4x4.  A bright sunny day combined with fast flowing Mid-Wales stages a good result was on the cards, but halfway through the 14 mile Tywi stage the car started struggling with turbo boost problems. 

Despite losing almost a minute to the opposition thru that 1^st stage, we hoped that the problem had been solved and we could get some time back on the following stages. 

Unfortunately not – the boost problem plagued the Sierra throughout the whole day, and Andrew did well do get the car into 10^th place at the end of the event, and 5^th in class.

June 8/9 - Barcud Road Rally

Having sold the Ford XR3i he used last year, this was to be the first event for Gareth ‘Gog’ Jones’ front wheel-drive Ford Escort RS 2000.  We had a few niggling problems during the 1^st half – broken starter motor, bad connection on the poti meant I had to navigate using a torch, interior light breaking, catching and being held up by other competitors – leaving us 6^th overall at the petrol halt.  With the repairs made in petrol and the poti now working, we were looking to take enough time back in the 2^nd half to maybe claim a podium position.  Having had a good run and dropping only 10 seconds we were very surprised to get to the finish and find out we had won the event – by 1 second!!! 

June 22 - Dukeries Forest Rally

This event was round 6 of the BTRDA Forest Championship and I was out with Paul Jackson in his G.C.Stanbury sponsored Ford Escort 1600.  Based in Mansfield, the stages they used were very quick – long straights followed by tight bends – a real power event, not really suited to our small-engined car.  Only had 1 or 2 moments – hit the rear end on a gatepost in Clipstone South 1, and 2^nd time thru the stage almost took out a few trees (or a few trees almost took us out) after taking off on an unseen bump (flat in 5^th gear).  Despite all the worries, still got the car back in just one piece – 19^th overall, 1^st class B10. 

July 6/7 - PK Memorial Road Rally

The PK Memorial was the 6^th round of the Welsh Road Rally Championship, and I was renewing my partnership with my regular road-rally driver – Huw Evans.  After cleaning the first few selectives, we came across a spectator’s car on fire blocking the road.  By the time the fire was put out the event was running behind schedule so the competitive sections thru Aberhirnant and Penyllyn forests were cancelled.  The fanbelt on NEG (Ford Escort RS) had been screeching all night, and as we queued up to do the last selective before the petrol halt, Huw checked under the bonnet for the 5^th time that night.  The alternator bracket had broken and with no spare we would not have been able to complete the 2^nd half.  This retirement knocked Huw and myself off the top of the championship standings – giving the lead to our main rivals Howard Price / Carl Williamson. 

July 13/14 - Jim Clark Memorial Rally

The week after, I had a long spin up to Duns to meet Eugene Meegan from Dublin to compete in the International section on the Jim Clark Memorial. We had a few moments on the first day when we got caught in the middle of a rainstorm on slicks, and almost running out of petrol on the 18-mile Merse stage.

The 2^nd day started with a bang when we hit the same bank as Rory Galligan on the 1^st stage, but luckily all we lost were a few seconds and the back window.  Other than the tyres going off in the afternoon, the rest of the day's stages ran smoothly, and Eugene brought the Meegan Motors Peugeot 106 Gti home in 28^th place.

July 20 - Swansea Bay Clubman Rally

Sitting next to another new driver on the Swansea Bay clubman – Gary Standen from Coleford was looking to maintain the ANCRO Clubman class lead in his Vauxhall Nova 16v. 

10^th overall and leading the class after the first stage, this improved to 8^th o/a after stage 3 and a very good result was on the cards. 

Two miles into stage 4 the Nova’s engine started misfiring and a mile late cut out completely. 

After checking the ECU and wiring (and a lot of kicking) the car restarted, and we did finish the event – 13^th o/a & 2^nd 1400.

July 27 - Quinton Stages

Another round of the BTRDA based in Builth Wells, using forestry around the Epynt Ranges.  Seeded behind the top Peugeot 206 runners, Paul Jackson & myself were a bit surprised to be taking time off all of them through the first 2 stages.  On a high in 1^st Service, our rally soon took a nose-dive.  Stage 3 wasn’t too bad – just a few not-as-map bends, but in Caio (stage 4) we damaged the exhaust manifold and the car was down on power. 

In Crychan (stage 5), we pushed a bit too hard trying to make up time, span on a tightening bend, and must have lost 30-40 seconds when the car stalled and wouldn’t re-start.  For the rest of the event it was just nurse the Escort to finish and fingers crossed for an ok result. 

Our bad luck must have run out, although finishing back in 21^st places, we still came 1^st class and in doing so, have won the B10 class outright (with 6 maximum scores) in the BTRDA championship. 

Aug 1/3 - Manx International Rally

The Manx was my 2^nd spin with Eugene Meegan in his Gp A Peugeot 106 Gti.  This has got to be one of the best events I have done – 3 days of almost non-stop tarmac rallying, all types of lanes, night stages - awesome.  We had a good run over the first 2 days, finding the roads very slippery when wet, warping the front brake discs when going thru fords, and running over a very large rock on Ballagyr damaging the sump.  Day 3 was just 'get the car to the end' – the brake discs had warped so much it was getting difficult to control the car, and we only just made it thru the last stage (the only one in full daylight / no fog) to finish 18^th overall, 2^nd A6.  Despite being totally knackered after 3 days' hard rallying, I didn’t have time for a celebratory drink as I was catching the next ferry to do the Harry Flatters the next day. 

Aug 4 - Harry Flatters Stage Rally

Back on Epynt with Andrew Williams in a Toyota Starlet 16v.  Together we haven’t finish any event on Epynt for a good 2 years, and not doing the recce meant that we were a little rusty to start with – which almost led to a ‘big one’ at Edmunds bend 1^st time round.  Suitably woken up we had a good 2^nd stage before the 3^rd was cancelled because of an accident.  After the 1^st loop we were about 7^th in 2000cc class, but Andrew knew he could have gone quicker, so the next few stages were ‘catch-up’ time. As the stages went by, we got quicker and quicker – luckily the only problem we had were the long delays between stages – I started dozing off and I knew if I fell asleep I wouldn’t wake up for a long time. Going into the last stage we were lying just outside the top 10, and about 5^th in class, but Andrew was fully back in the swing of things, had an excellent stage, and it wasn’t until we reached the finish in Brecon that we found out we had 18^th o/a and 3^rd in class B11. 

Aug 17/18 - Valley Service Road Rally

The Valley Services was another non-championship road rally, based in Llandysul, with the pre-plot route being given to you about 1 hour before the start.  Seeded car 6, I was sitting next to Paul Evans in a hired Ford Escort 2.0.  Having sat with Paul a few times before, I knew he was a very quick driver, but even I was surprised to have taken 35 seconds off the top crews on the first selective.  Another competitor held us up on the next selective and we dropped a minute more than we should, and then we lost all back brakes.  Just my luck – to go from leading the event to retiring in a matter of miles.  Would Paul stop – No chance.  Kept going, got to the Petrol halt, saw we were still leading, couldn’t fix the brakes, so did the 2^nd half with only the front anchors (and a small oil leak). Despite the problems, we actually cleaned all the remaining sections to return to Llandysul stressed, but very happy, winners. 

Aug 25 - Mewla National Rally

Out again with Andrew Williams in the Starlet - this time we did the recce.  The Mewla was a round of the National Tarmac championship with a lot of quick cars out, especially in the class we were running – B11. 

Strong times on the first 2 stages gave us 14^th overall and the class lead, but we knew it would take a lot of work to keep it.  As the day progressed we were swapping seconds with Chris White (Nova 16v) and Royston Carey (Renault Clio) but we maintained our lead to midway point when the stages were turned around. 

By now Chris White had retired and Royston was only a few seconds behind us – but we passed him on the penultimate stage with brake problems, and cruised the last stage to take 9^th overall and the class win. 

Sept 7/8 - Mel Harries Memorial Road Rally

I was planning a quiet weekend, but a phone call from a friend of a friend Friday night saw me sitting in the Renault 5 GT of Gary Baxter on Saturday night.  This non-championship event was based in Ammanford, and the route was supplied to you as colour photocopied maps.  There was a small 3-mile selective to wake you up, a 40-mile section before petrol, and then a 50-mile section to the finish.  Luck was not with us, as the clutch started slipping as we left the first Time control, and then 2 miles up the road, it finally gave up the ghost completely. 

Sept 14/15 - Rali Meirion Road Rally

Round 7 of the Welsh Road Rally Championship, and Huw Evans & myself needing good points to re-establish our lead.  Running over the first few selectives, the Escort had a small misfire that progressively got worse, so after the Trawsfynydd Range selective we stopped to ‘fix’ it. This included swapping new plugs and then  re-jetting the carbs, and when finished had pushed us very close to maximum lateness. Starting the Dolgellau Maze selective about 30 cars on the road, we started passing cars left, right and centre, but while trying to pass 2 cars slid slightly off the road, and needed help getting back on. By the time we recovered, we were OTL, and with that retirement it looks like our chances of winning the Welsh Championship are over. 

Sept 15 - Sweet Lamb Stages

Day after the Rali Meirion, I was doing the Sweet Lamb Stages with Paul Jackson in his giant-killing Ford Escort 1600.  Because we missed the Woodpecker Stages, Paul wanted to use this event to get back into the swing of things before next weeks Plains Rally.  It was definitely going to be an easy day, with no heroics and no damage as we only had 4 days to repair anything.  After the first loop, which included using the Myherin Forestry, we were comfortable in 13^th place, holding 3^rd in class behind Group A machinery.  As the stages passed, we got quicker and quicker (and I got more and more tired), and by the finish we had made it into the top ten - 9^th overall and 2nd in the 1600 class.  More importantly, the car had had a good test run, with no problems, ready for the Plains. 

Sept 20/22 - Rali Cilwendeg

The 2002 Rali Cilwendeg was going to be an historic event - the first time a modern Road Rally had run over 2 days, and there was no chance that I would be missing this (not even by doing the Plains on the Saturday day).  The route was 270 miles long, split into over Friday and Saturday nights, and used mostly the lanes around the Cardigan & Newcastle Emlyn areas.  I was sitting next to Arwyn Thomas in car 5, a borrowed Ford Escort 2.0, as his own ‘beast’ won’t be ready til the start of next year.

Friday’s selectives were very hard, taking in a lot of farm tracks and whites, while Saturday’s sections were smoother and quicker but still competitive enough for the top crews to drop time.  The event was very hard – trying to measure pace with reliability but we finished Friday 6^th overall, and, despite me sleeping thru most of the sections, ended Saturday in 5^th o/a, taking 2^nd in Expert class as well. 

Sept 21 - Plains Forest Rally

With the BTRDA class won, this event was just to see how well Paul Jackson & myself can do in the Silver Star 2 wheel drive championship.  Based in my hometown of Aberystwyth, the event headed north to stages in the Dyfi, Gartheiniog and Dyfnant forests.

I couldn’t believe the number of cars parked up on the 1^st stage – Gartheiniog.  Most were stopped to change punctures and continued later, but a few others were only coming out on the end of a rope.  This was going to be an excellent chance to take some major points, but there was one thing we did not account for – dust.  Stage 1 was pretty clean of dust, but from then on in we had to stop on every stage because we couldn’t see where we were going.

Pushing as hard as was safe and taking no risks in the dust, Paul brought the Escort home in 13^th place, 4^th 2wheel drive, and won the class by over 5 mins.

The rest of the year is fairly quiet – just the Cambrian and Glyn Memorial Stages in November, and maybe Pembrey in December, so if there are any drivers out there who need an experienced co-driver, drop me a line.

Patrick Walsh
2/10/02
all photos courtesy Simon Clarke Photography