Cambrian Rally 2022
Very fitting weather encompassed the Welsh woodlands for the Halloween weekend and the last round of the BTRDA calendar for 2022. Our weekend started bright and breezy on Friday morning for the four or so hour drive up to Llandudno to get the TenSix scrutineered ready for Saturday. We arrived just after midday to set up the service area, refuel, get tyres fitted etc. before a chilled evening with an enormous kebab on the sea front.
A screeching alarm at something past six in the morning was the start of Saturday with the wind and rain battering against the window making it difficult to get out of a warm bed.
SS3 was the first stop of the day with torrential rain and thick fog being the travel companion on the way down through the twisting roads. The spectator parking was chaos with an impressive number of cars arriving trying to park on the narrow fire roads threaded deep into the forrest. Fortunately the rain had eased up but the fog remained thick and hung between the trees giving the stage a spooky vibe.
The shear quantity of spectators was phenomenal, the crowd control tape had been snapped and ignored with people lining both sides for 100’s of metres, along with gas hobs lit with the smell of bacon and eggs wafting.
You could see the piercing lights of the Rally 2 cars through the fog and hearing the antilag chatter echo before you even get sight of the car itself, you’d then get the wind rush off as it shot past you throwing stones and mud as it went.
Charlie and Adam were flying through SS3 in the TenSix and achieved a class win for the stage as well as fending off Evos and Escorts on the way.
With the spray from the wake of the TenSix still settling it was time to get the camera away before jogging back to the car to get over to SS5…
With phone signal pinging back into life while pulling up at SS5 the ping of a Sportity notification announced SS5 had been canceled. Bugger. With a longer break while the cars went back for service before the next loop it gave enough time to take in the hills and reservoir around Brenig.
SS8 sat around Brenig reservoir, totally exposed to the elements and is a favourite of Wales Rally GB. The much more open backdrop made for excellent viewing, being able to see cars coming from miles as they dashed for stage finish at the water side. The advantage here is SS8 and SS9 were within a 10 minute walk of each other so after seeing the historics and Rally 2 cars through it was time to dive back into the forrest for SS9.
By this time the light was starting to fade and the rain starting to fall once again giving the woods of SS9 a spooky and menacing look.
Seeing Solberg come through in the Polo Rally 2 car was impressive, the line choice and how smooth he was through the corners looked seconds quicker. The best spot to capture the action was where the stage passed through a small clearing bathing the corner in light.
With the rain pouring you could see the drops captured by the headlights shining through. Even with the down pour the woods were still filled with spectators in waterproof cloths.
The Cambrian Rally was an impressive event to end the season on from a spectator perspective with action from start to finish and in classic Welsh weather. Unfortunately for Charlie and Adam a slippery section in SS6 meant they slid off stage and got stuck, the car was still running and drive-able but frustratingly unrecoverable till the stage had ended meaning they went OTL and had to retire. Until the slide they had been fast through putting in some impressive times, all learning they can carry forward into next season.
Check out the rest of the images from The Cambrian Rally below.
Images and words by Mitcham Media
