Rowlands Gunning for Victory on Mewla National Rally
Ieuan Rowlands will be looking to extend his lead in the TOTAL Peugeot 206 Super Cup Championship on the forthcoming Mewla National Rally (29th August).The sixth round of the extremely competitive one make rally championship will be held over the daunting tarmac roads that criss-cross the Epynt Military ranges, in the mountains to the West of Brecon in Mid-Wales.
The gifted rally driver, who hails from Llan Ffestiniog, will tackle nearly ninety competitive stage miles, spread over thirteen special stages, during the course of the Builth Wells based event.
Many of Rowlands championship rivals have previous experience of Epynt and one driver in particular is regarded as something of an Epynt expert.Young Stuart Jones, who took victory on the previous round of the 206 Championship, and is a past victor on Epynt, is certain to be a threat to Rowlands ambitions.Jones currently lies third in the championship standings, some twenty-seven points adrift of Rowlands.
The experience of Jones and his peers is a stark contrast to Rowlands, who will be competing on only his third ever tarmac rally when he takes the start of this years Mewla National Rally, in his CAMSport backed Peugeot 206 Cup car.
Rowlands freely admits he feels inexperienced on tarmac rallies and that he is still on a steep learning curve.This is why he, along with his Dolgellau co-driver Kelvin Savage, chose to contest the recent Harry Flatters Rally in order to familiarise themselves with the stages on the Epynt ranges, as well as to gain some valuable experience of driving competitively on tarmac.
A damaged engine on stage seven of the event forced the crew into retirement but Rowlands remained positive.
“It was unfortunate that we didn’t finish the rally as we need the experience on tarmac, but comparing our times to the other 206 Super Cup competitors who were also doing the event showed that we were on the pace. I’d rather retire from this event than from a round of the championship and lose valuable championship points.”
Rowlands will be hoping that the new engine that has been fitted to his Peugeot 206 ahead of the Mewla will herald a return to the reliability that has seen his privately prepared, and run, car finish every round of this years championship.Such reliability, combined with Rowlands obvious talent and mechanical sympathy, means he now has a twenty-point lead in the 206 Super Cup Championship, from second placed Irishman, and renowned tarmac expert, Gareth McHale.Despite this healthy margin Rowlands is in no danger of becoming complacent.
“Although I am leading the championship I think that whoever wins the cup will need to have won at least three rounds as only the best five scores, from the eight rounds of the championship, will count.As a result, every rally is about finding a balance between pushing hard enough to take the win, but also not too hard that you break the car or go off, you need to be fast as well as consistent.I am really looking forward to the Mewla, the stages are extremely challenging and the pace is guaranteed to be fast right from the very start.I am feeling confident, despite my lack of tarmac experience, but whatever happens I am sure it will be spectacular for the fans to watch.”
The Mewla National Rally starts at 09:00 on Sunday with the first cars expected back at the finish, at Builth Wells showground, at approximately 17:00.
