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I also manage to grab a few minutes with Andy Gilmore, Clerk of the Course for the International Event, clerking for over 20 years and with four years under his belt for Ceredigion,“ We call them the wee Rali and the big Rali, we’ re just getting set up. Preparation began this week, we were out driving the stages on Tuesday with the FIA Sporting Delegate, during which we showed him the route and the plans, it’ s a real credit to the organising team.” Sam Myers, Timing Technician Support, talks me through the event’ s tracking system, displaying each vehicle as a dot on a screen back in Aberystwyth – the tracker having been fitted to the car and scrutineering checks completed. Providing in-car information for drivers and co-drivers, the system also includes automatic hazard recognition – essential to the running of the event to communicate if a vehicle stops on stage, or is involved in a serious accident, while also warning other competitors and race control. Friday has a definite buzz in the air. The ERC battle sees Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 drivers Miko Marczyk( Poland), and Andrea Mabellini( Italy) locked in a duel, separated by just 11 points prior to the event. In the BRC, William Creighton and Liam Regan were lead the standings with two wins this year, holding a ten-point advantage over Castrol MEM teammate Meirion Evans. Osian Pryce, wildcard entry and fan favourite, in addition to being two-time Rali Ceredigion winner was also set to make a welcome comeback on home soil. In the National Rally, a wealth of rallying talent was eager to perform on one of the UK’ s biggest stages, seeing the tit-for-tat battle between Chris Richmond-Hand and Izzie Holman’ s Toyota Starlet with Rob Cotton in his Subaru Impreza. The Aberystwyth street stage provides some high-octane spectator opportunities. Prior to crews tackling nearly 80 miles of closed-road stages the next day across Ceredigion and Powys, with the new Cwm Elan test through the iconic
Elan Valley, the mammoth 20-mile Y Diafol stage featuring the Devil’ s Staircase, and the all-new Mydroilyn stage on the cards. The following morning the alarm sounds at 4am and I am in great hands as Motorsport UK’ s Head of Rallying Jonathan Jackson, gains a‘ morning person’ to accompany him out to the Elan Valley stage. With a long career in the sport, Jonathan started out attending events through North Wales Car Club. He is now a renowned co-driver, moving up from BRC to WRC events before joining forces with Meirion Evans for 10 years – and that spark is very much still there, as I catch him checking event tracking when signal allows. The Rali Ceredigion spectator zones attract quite a crowd, despite the early start, as the cars roar through the valley and up over the hill. It’ s a long day of motorsport, with cars and teams in Parc Fermé well after the sun has gone down. Sunday dawns, with biblical rain arriving at Aberystwyth by early and midafternoon, just in time for the podiums and ceremonial prize giving on the prom. It was victory for Jon Armstrong – his first Probite British Rally Championship win and maiden FIA European Rally Championship victory, partnered by Shane Byrne in a M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2. In the Junior BRC, the winner was decided by just 4.1 seconds after over 180km of competitive driving. Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen emerged victorious in their Peugeot 208 Rally4 after a tense duel with Joseph Kelly and Killian McArdle throughout the weekend. The sole all-female crew of Meghan O’ Kane and Nikki Addison placed third, an incredible result for a weekend of challenging weather and difficult stages. I head homeward with a very full heart, an impressive step count and an incredible introduction to Stage Rallying. Huge thanks go to the organising team and drivers competing for such a warm reception. See you at the next one …
Andrew Farrington collected his FIA Outstanding Official of the Year Specialist award from Motorsport UK’ s Director of Club and Volunteer Development, Claire Kirkpatrick, prior to the ceremonial start of Rali Ceredigion. Andrew has volunteered at numerous rallies and events across the UK – from the Formula 1000 Junior Championship, to being Technical Delegate for the British Rally Championship in addition to supporting smaller local events.
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Revolution- September 2025
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