Report
A report from Neil & Aled - our event Winners!
"Aeek on after winning the Bob Budd Targa rally at Mallory Park, we found ourselves pulling into a dark, but dry and calm Trac Món on the morning of 22nd October 2023. A rare one especially for the end of October!!!We had our sights set on the BTRDA Silver Star Championship and with the cancellations of some events and entering the championship late on in the year, it meant this was our last competition.
With a 100% winning rate on Targas this year (Kemble and Bob Budd) obviously Aled’s and my hopes were high…BUT… even higher was the level of competition this time out. We needed to beat only one other BTRDA competitor to gain maximum points, but being as competitive as I am… just settling for beating one other wasn’t going to happen! We wanted to see how we fared against this strong entry of crews.
Having heard only good things from previous years, I couldn’t let another year by without having a go. Getting there early and flying through noise, scrutineering and signing on, we had our pack. Aled began highlighting and marking the diagrams whilst I had a look over his shoulder, discussing what he was and wasn’t going to call. We found using too much information on past events didn’t work as there wasn’t time for Aled to physically get it out quick enough.
Maps done, brew time, and a natter to other crews before we set off at 10am to the start of Test 1. This was just out the gate onto the uphill concrete lane. Having never driven up this part of the venue before, it was into the unknown! We began; very simple and clear test diagrams meant there was no confusion or looking for numbers/cones as on previous events.
Test 1 - WOW! What a whirlwind. A short 1min 34sec blast with 3 PCs. Test 2 – Start was the same as Test 1 but 30 second intervals in between Test 1 cars. The start of the test remained the same but then quickly split off onto the top part of the circuit. This meant there was no catching cars. 2:33 blast. Test 3 was a stone’s throw down the track from the finish of 2, straight into it! Again, it was an easily laid out test, looping round the middle of the circuit through the old pitlane and out towards the test start to do it again as Test 4.
Now in the groove, a repeat test meant the car was warm and the initial nerves were out the window. Happy with the pace, we continued to Test 5. Again, a very short drive from the finish of 4 around the last bit of track to complete the loop of tests. An hour or so break now gave us a chance to prepare for the next loop and get a cuppa, now in beautiful sunshine in a T-shirt!
Having a quick look at results, we found ourselves around 8 seconds ahead and leading! This was a shock but happy to know the pace was good from the off. Test 6,7,8,9 and 10 were a repeat of the morning’s five tests. Competing in Autosolos for many years gave me the advantage of memorising the tests and off we went more confidently. Time to try and improve on the morning’s times! Taking 6 seconds off our Test 1 time was a great boost, but of course if we got quicker then so did the others, with the top three cars matching times or becoming very close.
It was a great buzz that for over approximately 7minutes 30 seconds of tests, there were 3-5 cars all within seconds of one another. Another great loop for Aled and I, with Aled in the nav seat guiding me through faultlessly. We came out of Test 10 having pulled another 4 seconds on our nearest crew, Dewi and Daniel Jones, who were also in a MX5.
After another short wait and a super quick turn around of the tests by the club, it was onto a loop of 4 which happened to be similar to the morning tests but now in reverse. Simple, easy and effective way of running tests. Having a slight delay off the start of Test 13 saw us going into the test 7 seconds late due to a marshal error. This meant dropping time through no fault of our own, nothing we could do and so off we went to chase the time. The end of the loop we felt it cost us dearly, turns out we lost a second to Dewi and Dan. PHEW!
Onto the last two tests of the day… Now this is my cuppa tea! All those tests from the loop combined to make one big one….. Well what a blast! Me in my element, car in its element, Aled enjoying the ride…I think haha!! Again having memorised it quite well, it gave Aled less to do and his focus turned to PCs and calling the splits. After 7minutes and 48 seconds we finished the first test… Only to find we beat the bogey…. Damio!!! Off we went to repeat this and beat it again but boy did we have fun in doing so!
With a few of us beating the bogey, it meant the times weren’t affected and stayed the same. So all in all, it looked good for the win but after the previous weekend at the Bob Budd, nothing was final until the penalties came in. Results went final at approximately 6pm (if I remember rightly) and the 100% success rate was intact with a win over Dewi and Dan by 11 seconds. The team at C&A Motor Club did a fantastic job, everyone knew what to do and when, and great to see such a young team at it successfully event after event. The no nonsense ‘idiot proof’ (in my opinion) tests is what it’s all about, fastest wins and no trickery to try and penalise anyone for missing a cone or wrong side of a cone as no one wants their day ruined in such a way.
A total of 46minutes and 19 seconds of driving throughout the day and a clutch just about intact to get it back on the trailer was a great day’s sport. Anyone thinking of putting a similar single venue Targa on who needs guidance, please contact these people. They sure know how to put on a great day’s motorsport, minimising laps so cars weren’t catching or coming close to others like previous Targas we’ve done was a great credit to the organisers. I’m not going to list any names but I have sent mine and Aled’s thanks to the club via Peredur. They all know who they are as it’s the same faces running and helping at these events from autotests, PCAs and rallies, and I for one really appreciate the hard work! I will 100% be returning next year.
I know it’s a long way for a lot of BTRDA crews, but honestly if you’ve not done the Cefni Garage Trac Món Targa then please get it on the bucket list for next year but be quick….. 70 entries filled in 70 minutes. That speaks for itself! Please note my car had zero underbody protection and this event can be done in ANY roadworthy car.
To all at Caernarvonshire and Anglesey Motor Club, diolch eto am ddiwrnod briliant! Daliwch ati gyda’r gwaith da.
Neil a Aled Jones (Team Jones) Car 3.
Thank you to Neil for a fantastic write-up and to Duncan Littler for the image.
Latest
The Final Instructions are now available below.
The Seeded Entry List is also available here: Cefni Garage Trac Mon Entry List
Regulations and Entries
The Supplementary Regulations for the event are now available - see below.
Online entries open at 19.00 hours on Friday, 22nd September, with the entry form accessed via this link: Cefni Garage Trac Môn Targa Entry Form
Information, including on-event times and results, will also be available on the Virtual Noticeboard - Virtual Noticeboard
We are pleased to be the running the fourth single venue Targa Rally in North Wales and to welcome the support of Cefni Garage, Llangefni, once more. This year there is a new team at the helm, but we’re promising more of the same no-nonsense, competitive, but novice friendly rallying as in previous years.
The event is again based at Trac Môn / Anglesey Circuit, Ty Croes, and will be another in a series of StreetCar events to be promoted by the club. To learn more about Motorsport UK’s StreetCar initiative for newcomers to motorsport, go to Introducing StreetCar
The rally is again dual-permit, Interclub and Clubmans, with three classes in each. Total event mileage will be approximately 25 miles, 20 of which will be competitive on metalled and unmetalled roads.
The photos above are courtesy of Islwyn's Motorsport Photography and show last year's winners Dewi Jones and Daniel Jones.
Competition Licences and Club Membership
Please note that for the Clubmans event you will require a Motorsport UK competition licence of minimum RS Clubman grade for the event. The RS Clubman licence is available free of charge from Motorsport UK.
For the Interclub event, you will require a licence of minimum Interclub grade.
Applications for a Motorsport UK competition licence should be made here: Licence application.
If required, the parental consent form for under 18 year old is available here: Parental Consent Form
If you require membership of C&A Motor Club, you may renew your membership or make a new application here: Become A Member
