Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Wyedean Stages Rally: Story of the Day


On Saturday 16th November, clear skies greeted the crews at Cinderford Rugby Club for the start with the first car off at 8.01am and starting Speech House just after 8.20am

Leg 1
The first loop of Speech House and Yorkley was completed and heading back to Ross was Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear in their Fabia R5, with a 37 second lead over Nik Elsmore/Pauline Nash in their Evo 9 and Bob Morgan/Ade Williams just 4 seconds behind them.
In the battle for top 2WD honours was Tom Llewellin/Ross Whittock in their Weir Rallying Historic escort MK2 with a slender 10 seconds lead over Ben Friend/Cliff Simmons, also in a historic escort MK2
In the front category who led the field away, it was Nigel Jenkins/Kaz Jenkins (1400 Nova) leading the way with a 19 second lead over their son Luke Watts/Matt Rogers (1400 MG ZR).

Leg 2
Onto the next loop and the lead remained unchanged, with Hirst/Dear taking both stage victories through Serridge & Speech House 2, and increasing their lead by another 37 seconds. Although a slight scare with a rather large piece of wood sticking out their rear tyre. Elsmore/Nash remained in 2nd overall, with eyes behind rather than on overall victory. However, the leading 2WD men Llewellin/Whittock had jumped up to 3rd overall in place of Morgan/Williams to round out the overall podium, with the latter struggling with tyres and making a switch at service for the last loop.
Friend/Simmons were keeping the above honest in 5th and 2nd 2WD, just 15 seconds behind Llewellin/Whittock.
Jenkins/Jenkins continued to lead the front category with Watts/Rogers in 2nd, however, with first gear being lost, the latter was losing time to all their rivals.

Leg 3
Onto the final loop, the longest of the rally with runs through Serridge 2, Staple Edge & Yorkley 2.
In the front category, Watts/Rogers were unable to hold onto the runners-up spot eventually losing out by 14 seconds. However, their misfortune meant that Jeremy Easson/Mike Reynolds took 2nd in the category in their MK1 Escort and individual class victory.
That left Jenkins/Jenkins to cruise to a comfortable category win and an overall finish of 14th in their 1400 Nova.
In the 2WD battle, Friend/Simmons pushed hard all the way but come up short in 5th overall and 2nd 2WD & Historic, eventually 30 seconds in arrears.
Taking top honours in the 2WDs & Historics were Llewellin/Whittock, with a hard fought day. They would eventually finish 4th, missing out on the overall podium by 9 seconds. However, taking 3rd Welsh Championship crew on the day for the pair.
Onto the overall podium and that meant FODMC pairing Morgan/Williams took their first ever Wyedean overall podium in their Fabia R5. It's fair to see both were very pleased with their days work at the finish in Ross. To top off their day, they took 2nd Welsh Championship crew.
Taking the runners up spot this year was another FODMC crew Elsmore/Nash in their Evo 9. Another good result for the pair with it the third podium in a row for Elsmore, a two time former event winner.
That left Matthew Hirst Rallying/Declan Dear to sweep to a record breaking fourth in a row overall victory by 1 minute and 56 seconds and taking a clean sweep of stage wins as well for good measure, eclipsing local heroes Graham Elsmore & Stuart Harrolds record of three victories in a row held since the event's first three editions in 1975-1977.
Along with it Hirst/Dear took overall Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship honours again for a fourth time in a row.
On behalf of everyone at the Forest Of Dean Motor Club, we would like to thank everyone who entered and supported the event with a capacity 90 cars starting and a huge congratulations to all class winners and everyone who finished the day.
Photos courtesy of Black Mountains Media 📸


Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Skittles Club Night

Congratulations to the FODMC on their win over the HRCR at the annual skittles match last night.

Bragging rights will be held for the next year at least!
Thank you to everyone who attended for a good evening.
Our next club night will be Wednesday 18th December at 8pm at The Belfry Inn, Littledean for our membership night and pre-Christmas catch up, the perfect chance to get your membership ready for 2025!


Thursday, 7 November 2024

Members Spotlight: Cambrian Rally

Congratulations to club member Nigel Jenkins who has been confirmed as 2024 BTRDA Rally Bronze Star Driver champion, making it two in a row for the championship, following his and fellow club member Kaz Jenkins' 1400 class victory on the Cambrian Rally in their Green Nova.


They were also joined by son and club member Luke Watts on the 1400 overall podium who picked up 3rd overall despite some gearbox issues.

Also out in his 1400 Corsa was local man James Dunkley who had a good run to 4th in Class 9 despite catching a few cars in the earlier stages.

Geoff Phelps & Colin Jenkins were another FODMC crew who made the trip north, but unfortunately a huge rock on the line in SS2 did sufficient damage to cause them retirement shortly after.

Taking part in the Mini Challenge event, Mike Jode finished 3rd overall with his young driver Jack.

Next up for the majority of club members is the Wyedean Stages Rally, currently boasting a full entry and an exciting climax to a number of championships.

Monday, 21 October 2024

Next Club Meetings

Our next club night is the HRCR annual skittles match for a FODMC vs HRCR game on Tuesday 19th November at The Belfry Inn, Littledean, GL14 3JS at 7.30pm in the skittles alley upstairs.  

This social night will incorporate a post Wyedean catchup with members to share stories from the day.

Thursday, 10 October 2024

Maximum numbers received for 2024!

Paid entries for the Richard Cole Contracting Wyedean Stages Rally 2024 have today passed the maximum number of 90 cars with the rally shaping up to be one of the best in recent years.

The bumper 90 car entry includes previous event winners and a major mix of champions from some of Britain's top championships including the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship.
Reserves paid entries will appear on rallies.info for everyone who is currently just outside of the cut off.
However, with the likelihood of entries being withdrawn closer to the event, we believe all current reserves, and likely more, will get a run and the organisers would urge you still to pay if unpaid or enter as soon as possible if not.
For all entries enquiries, please contact the entries secretary Caroline Hopkinson.

Monday, 7 October 2024

Kaz makes it a hat-trick of BTRDA championships!

Congratulations to club member Kaz Jenkins who has been confirmed as 2024 BTRDA Rally Bronze Star Co-Driver champion, making it a hat trick of championships including two in a row, following hers and fellow club member Nigel Jenkins' 1400 class victory on the Trackrod Forest Stages in their Green Nova.

The drivers championship will go to the last round for Nigel with a finish needed to secure him the drivers championship.
Nigel & Kaz will also be in action on their home rally the Wyedean amongst a star studded entry so far received.



Tuesday, 1 October 2024

Forest of Dean Half Marathon

On Sunday the 29th of September members of Forest of Dean Motor Club and friends operated communications for the Rotary Clubs, Forest of Dean Half Marathon.

This involved using the radio system as used on motorsport events.

This was a new experience for myself and my son in law.

The race was all under the control of the Rotary Club who had their volunteers marshalling and setting out the course.

The usual club representative Grantley cleaver was on a holiday cruise and in true to style, Grantley had provided all the pre-event information, locations etc.

We arrived at the Speech House end of Spruce Drive at 8.15 to have our radios fitted, set up and tested by Graham Goode. The radio controller was Roger Byard ably assisted by Nic Biddle.

We then drove through the forest to our given radio positions on the route.

Following a radio check we then awaited the first of the 680 runners.

Many were not local, having travelled from the Midlands, South Wales and neighbouring counties. 

Our first job entailed calling control to give the competition number and time of the first male and female runner. We then in due course notified the time of the course closing car

As I was positioned at a split in the course the runners passed my radio point twice to enable the 13 miles to be achieved so I then repeated the same procedure for the second passing.

Fortunately, the weather was kind and the experience was enjoyable. The fastest person completed the course 1hr 12 mins 04 secs.

A good team effort from the club supporting a worthy cause!

Report by Rob Baldwin