TOTAL Peugeot 206 Super Cup Championship contender Ieuan Rowlands finished a fine second on the sixth round of the popular one-make rally championship; the Builth Wells based Mewla National Rally (29th August).
Rowlands opted for a cautious start over the notoriously technical roads across the Epynt Military Ranges, and finished the first special stage in third place, just three seconds shy of Stuart Jones. With unpredictable weather making tyre choice something of a lottery and with nearly ninety miles of competitive driving ahead, spread over thirteen special stages, Rowlands knew that anything could happen.
The Harlech and District Motor Club member, who is backed by performance car parts suppliers CAMsport and Sbardun, settled into a comfortable pace and was perfectly placed to inherit the lead from Jones on stage three of the rally. Jones’s dropped time when he suffered power steering problems, he dropped back to sixth, a fourty-two seconds adrift of Rowlands who now held a slender ten second advantage over Mike Faulkner.
Rowlands, partnered by his long standing Dolgellau based co-driver Kelvin Savage, is used to controlling rallies from the front, and whilst his rivals faltered and dropped down the leader board, the Ffestiniog man gave a characteristic performance and set about maintaining his lead. By the time the crews arrived at the second service halt of the day Rowlands had a healthy thirty-eight second advantage and a tally of stage wins to his name, despite being hindered on stage six when he caught another car.
The infamously changeable weather, on the mountains over which the rally runs, deteriorated before the TOTAL Peugeot 206 Super Cup Championship competitors set out to tackle the next loop of three stages. Rowlands opted to consolidate his lead and dropped just twelve seconds, over six stages, to a hard charging Jones.
The third service halt of the day provided the crews with a difficult decision to make regarding which type of tyre to choose for the following two stages. Rowlands opted for a tyre suitable for the wet conditions he expected to face, whilst Jones gambled on a slick tyre that provides excellent grip on dry tarmac, but provides little grip on wet surfaces. It was a gamble that paid off, as Rowlands explains.
“It was wet when we left service on the way out to the stages, but when we arrived at the stage start we were informed of a delay. This meant that conditions were improving all the time and the tarmac was drying rapidly. When we started the stage, I instantly knew that we were on the wrong tyres, and consequently we dropped twenty-five seconds to Stuart. I managed to pull a second back on stage eleven and when we returned to service we discovered that our lead was down to just three seconds.”
With such a slim margin to defend over the remaining two stages of the rally Rowlands decided to put a combination of slick tyres on the front of his 206 with intermediate tyres on the rear of the car before setting out to defend his lead. He soon realised that slick tyres all round would have been the fastest choice and he subsequently lost twenty-one seconds to Jones, and with it the lead of the rally.
At the finish of the event a despondent Rowlands reflected on the days events.
“We were very disappointed with the end result really, especially as we drove our hardest on the final stage. We managed to take five seconds off Stuart but by then the damage was already done and it was a small consolation. The unpredictable weather on Epynt got the better of us on this rally. However we are very happy with the four fastest stage times we took, and with our increasing confidence and pace on tarmac.”
The championship now returns to loose surface rallies for the final two rounds. Rowlands admits he is more comfortable on gravel events and is relishing the challenge that lies ahead.
“Whatever the outcome, it will be great to be involved in such a battle and it will certainly be fantastic for the fans to watch and it looks like going right down to the last round before the championship gets decided, although I don’t intend that to be the case as I feel very confident going into the Park Systems Stages! It just goes to show how competitive the TOTAL Peugeot 206 Super Cup Championship is”
The penultimate round of the 2004 TOTAL Peugeot 206 Super Cup takes places on the Park Systems Stages, in the Scottish Borders, on September 11th.
