Tour of Epynt Stage Rally - 13th March

[Sunbeam Lotus]

Hi, All,

With the weather forecast (finally) being fine and dry for yesterday, I took my Vee out for its first long run since I bought it before Christmas. I am a busy motor sport organiser / marshal / competitor and was down to act as a radio operator on Port Talbot Motor Club's Tour of Epynt Stage Rally. This event was the first round of the British Asphalt Championship and saw some very fast cars being thrown over the challenging roads of the military training area west of Brecon. I have been going to Epynt since 1977 and love the place for its scenery and peace and quiet (between the stages, of course) as well as the rallying action.

I took some pictures of the Clio V6 at my marshalling location.

The Vee attracted many admiring looks and I was talking to marshals and spectators about it all day.

I really enjoyed my 125 miles (each way) runs to and from Epynt. There are no motorways on my route and not too much dual carriageways so I was able to enjoy A and B roads and, leaving at 04.45hrs in the morning, the excellent headlights. Once on the ranges, I was in one of the higher places with views of the open moorland and valleys in all direction. The trip home, with the evening sun behind picking out the details of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains is a smile inducer every time. We don't have scenery like this in Oxfordshire. I did confirm to myself that you really have to work hard to keep the speeds sensible in these cars!

Simon

 

[MarkK]

It's one of my favorite places as well Simon, and shortly after getting my Phase 2 Vee it took it for a 7 hour drive around the Beacons, with a couple of runs over Epynt.
I did some marshaling for the RAC with Bridgend Motor Club in the early to mid 70s, and when the rally had gone through our section, the roads remained closed for another hour or so to let us all have a bit of fun. We mainly had Lotus Cortinas / Twincam Escorts (and still do!), so the cars made the right noises, although the skill level left a lot to be desired compared with the works drivers.

A works RS1800 at 8500rpm is a memorable sound, and that was what we were all aiming for!

There are a few bends on Epynt with a negative camber and no barrier to stop you floating off into the scenery for a long, long way. I was very cautious with those in the Vee, being mindful that backing off mid corner whilst the tyres are complaining does upset the Vee very, very quickly and often terminally. I have learnt to respect those roads now after seeing so many 'offs' over the years.

Perhaps we need to get a Welsh and West tour of the Beacons sorted....well, Oxford is almost West!

 

[Ali]

Looking good!

 

[scudRS]

Good pictures Simon. Sounds like a great day out.

 

[clarkeeuk99]

I have experienced roads in this area, but on in the freezing winter or pouring rain, hence only in the Audi!

I'd be very keen on a Vee run in this area.

 

[Sunbeam Lotus]

Hi, All,
I'm sure that, given a bit of free time, we could come up with a Welsh run and I would potentially be happy to help. Scenic tours are already run in the area - look at www.hrcr.co.uk and go to the Scenic Tour pages for details of quite a few. The Black Mountains Scenic Tour in late June and the Autumn Leaves two day event in October will probably be running around Epynt. These are good, well run events with interesting stops arranged but you may find progress held back by slower cars than the Vees!

Access to Epynt is not freely available as there is constant training on the ranges. The road from Tirabad (to the North-West) to Llywel (on the A40 at the south of the ranges) is generally open but has marked speed limits these days. As MarkK says, there are many tricky places that could lead to disaster so the military do not want people racing about all over the place.

Regarding MarkK's Escort days, I recently co-drove on the Rally Haspengouw in Belgium in a Historic Spec Escort BDG. 8,500 rpm was regularly exceeded by my driver and to run on closed roads on notes in a well sorted, great handling, iconic car was a special experience. We even came away with a class award! Unfortunately, I have not seen any pictures of us "in action" as most of the photographers were following the modern Belgian Championship runners at the front of the field [smilie=icon_cry.gif]

Simon