The Mewla Rally, Wales
 

Yep, another rally and more photos!

This one was my first tarmac rally, and also the first proper trip in my new diesel 406 (yes, the scoob is free from the daily commute at last!).

Met up with a couple of the other rally nuts off Scoobynet on the Saturday evening and spent the night up on the Epynt ranges (hiding from the army!) with some hot dogs and beers.

Weather was shocking on the Sunday morning, rain was coming down sideways and the wind was freezing, never would have known its august! :lol: But it dried up by lunchtime and the sun came out - turned into a beautiful afternoon :)

Lots of mk1/mk2 escorts out there, some of them looked awesome. Unfortunately one of the mk1's ended up being thrown at the scenery but hopefully it'll be fixed and back for more in the future.

And some pics from the morning's stages:

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1371.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1384.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1386.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1445.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1446.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1450.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1484.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1516.jpg

Pimpin Disco :mrgreen:
http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1524.jpg

And poor mk1 :cry:
http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1525.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1527.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1528.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1531.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1536.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1537.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1543.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1546.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1555.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1552.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1587.jpg

And some from the afternoon when the sun came out :)

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1604.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1613.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1625.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1629.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1632.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1656.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1659.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1661.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1663.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1670.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1680.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1696.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1706.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1757.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1740.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1738.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1720.jpg

Really liked the grey mk2 (car 106), looks a beauty. Not long 'til RallyGB now :yeah:

Love the old skool Fords, nice pics mate :yeah:

Great pics , used to go up there when we lived in Wales. Seen many a rally car days ended on the ranges , especially on the old Deers Leap :sadno:

Great pics mate
Gutted to see the MK1 escort smashed up.

Yep, Deers Leap wasn't being used for the Mewla but still managed to find a few smaller jumps. Went a bit further north than i've been before, watched some of the action up next to the German Village.

Stunning place up there isn't it :nod:

Great Pic's. I like the RAF Scoob with the Eurofighter Graphics.

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...0/IMG_1738.jpg

me too Scott - was nice to see a decent looking livery on a car, rather than just a shedload of sponsor's names thrown all over it!

Top pictures, agree with Scott on the RAF classic :doubleup:

Great pics Steve.

So wish I met you down there now!! What was the parking like and roads leading up to parking area etc? Please don't say flat!!!

Was Andy Fenwick not running again in the ex- RB S8 WRC?

Steve

the middle road up to Dixies car park is one of the smoothest stretches of tarmac in wales :D plenty of ups and downs but its certainly nice to drive.

worst thing you'd have encountered is a cattle grid, would have got your scoob up there easily, no matter how low it is :ok:

And no Andy Fenwick this time.....

We used to find metal boxes full of live ammo up there in the early 80s , but best memory was seeing Ari Vatenen in the black shell oils backed mk 11 escort , wat a complete nutter comming up to a hairpin at 100 mph plus , everyone was bumping into each other trying to get out of the way :lol: plus ive seen Jimmy McCrae wreck a manta 400 at Dixies .

great pics there steve, love the classic and them mk1 escorts especially.

Top set of pictures there. Seeing (and hearing) the classic Escorts on stage never gets old, does it? Love the look of the tarmac spec Group 4 Mk.2 Escorts; yet another car to add to my "one day..." list! :lol:

Are you going to the Tempest rally this year?

I expect so :doubleup:

You're welcome to tag along - i went last year and watched at at a couple of the non-spectator stages and it didn't cost me a penny :D

Nice one! We paid for the "Arena" stage last year, but got into the forest stages later on for free. There should be at least a couple of us going from Surrey, so perhaps a mini convoy is in order! :doubleup:

Looks good steve....let me know when you go on the next one in wales as me and the missus might tag along.

Yeah, went to the Arena stage last year as well - won't be going back though, thought it was all a bit tame. Out in the forests is where the proper action happens! Convoy sounds good, i expect i'll start a thread on SES closer to the time as well, seeing as its a fairly nearby opportunity for people to come along to a rally :ok:

Next one in Wales is RallyGB but i'll be there for 3 days for that (if i ever sort my plans out and get it booked!)

Fantastic pics Steve. You are nailing these rally shots now mate :10:

Spot on! I've seen a couple of videos showing a fairly decent jump...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyrQvvvxCHs

...which I believe is in the Ash stage: I'd like to try and track that down this year.

Nice one, sounds like a plan! :doubleup:

Yep thats Ash - i spectated from this spot last year so know exactly where it is. Its a no spectator stage, although not that you'd know from the crowds there :lol:

Watching from where that vid was taken from is fine, but i would strongly recommend against standing further up the straight where they land - saw a couple of drivers get very out of shape when landing the car last year - and theres only about a metre of very and a tiny fence (which wouldn't stop anything) between speccies and the road. If someone gets it wrong there, it would be very bad indeed!

just to add, that vid is pretty exceptional in that the driver was absolutely flat out, the majority of the cars don't get quite as high as that - maybe because they're aware of the consequences if they get it wrong!

Some of the pics i took from the same jump last year :)

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...009/Image5.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...9/Img_2248.jpg

http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...9/Img_2285.jpg

Good advice - as long as I'm within zoom range of my camera, then I'll stand further down! :doubleup:

Great pics from the day! A third of the entry didn't finish so it just proves how challenging the terrain is. It's a fantastic venue - I was lucky to be co-driving in a little car at the back of the field :)

I have passed all of your details onto StevePPP now. So I am sure he'll be in touch at some point. :ok:

Some really good pics there mate