Wyedean Stages Rally – November 16th 2024
Forresters Car Club and Forest of Dean Motor Club again joined forces to run another successful event in the historic Royal Forest of Dean.
The rally was ideally based in the cattle market on the outskirts of Ross-on-Wye that provided the service area and rally headquarters. A very late booked winter stock mart proved to be quite challenging logistically for the service area manager but it run seamlessly non-the-less.
After the usual Friday afternoon environmental checks and off-site safety scrutineering the cars were bedded down for the night with the crews retiring to local hostelries for the usual sustenance.
MC1 opened at 08:00 at RFU National League 2 club Cinderford’s ground and in traditional form the historics lead the main field away giving them the chance of better stage conditions…….for the first run anyway!
The Pristine TR4 Waits in Anticipation Photo: Chris Phillips
With both championships being predominately run on tarmac the Wyedean was a leap of faith particularly with the next round being held the following weekend.
The relatively late withdrawal of local man Eric Davies was a bitter blow to him personally but Craig King benefited “borrowing” the experienced services of co-driver Russell Joseph filling the hot-seat.
Cat 1 stalwarts Stephen Hall & Aggie Foster took a bigger leap of faith than most having never attempted a forest event in the low slung TR4. They themselves were very experienced in the woods but in other more suitable vehicles not least being the TR7 V8 version of the marque but despite taking all the additional precautions of gearbox and axle guards it proved to be a step too far.
The Scotland based crew opted to take the sensible view and retired the car after the first run of stages to preserve both the car and their personnel well being and headed north early.
Craig King on the other hand was relishing his first Mini drive in the forest and was giving an extremely good account of himself in the general sub 1400cc class.
The King/Joseph mini swapped times all day against what would be general considered more suitable and modern 1400 contenders.
But it was they who overcame the day to take class W1 honours by a mere 24 seconds over the six stages on offer.
Craig was quick to praise the local knowledge of “borrowed” co-driver Russell Jospeh and also that of fellow Mini contenders Harvey Stevens and Clive king who gave up their weekend to support him in the service area.
Being the only Mini Cup & Cat 1 Cup contender to finish the rally Craig also picked up the Questmead brake pads, Exol oil and Snap-On donated prizes……you’ve got be in it to win it!
Craig King/Russell Joesph Getting a Clean Sweep Photo: Clive King
Regular Mini co-driver and HRCR member Jemma Taylor was also involved guiding the Escort MK2 of Richard Cole to a very creditable mid-table finish.
The circus moves on to the ultimate round at Ty Croes race circuit next weekend on the Glyn Memorial Stages where a good number of contenders will be on show at the two-day event.
Cheers! Can’t Get Better Than That.