By Paul Evans

The cancellation of the second running of the Get Connected Rali Bae Ceredigion will not prevent the event developing into one of the biggest and best rallies in the UK – that’s the promise from organising chairman and former international rally navigator Phil Pugh.

Wales’ first closed road stage rally ran for the first time last September, and would have run again this September had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic.

The event received high praise from competitors last year for its smooth running and challenging route, while a spectator park and ride system prevented traffic problems.

It was a huge commercial success, attracting a large number of sponsors – such as Brace’s Bakery, Owens Group and Caws Cenarth. Get Connected (the largest Wales-based independent mobile phone retailer, which was founded by rally driver Damian Cole) has agreed to continue its title sponsorship in to 2021.

The support from local residents, particularly the 350 or so who are affected by the road closures, was key to the success of the event.

The event also raised money for a number of local charities and presented the Bont Goch community group with a new defibrillator, as a thank you for allowing a stage of the rally to run through the village.

 

Four motor clubs – Newtown, Aberystwyth, Lampeter and Teifi Valley – came together to organise the event.

With two challenging loops of four asphalt stages in the picturesque Ceredigion countryside – including a stunning stage that ran alongside the Nant-y-Moch reservoir – the event received an oversubscribed entry, with 115 of Britain’s top drivers starting from Aberystwyth University.

This year the event was going to include a new stage, taking the total competitive miles up from 44 to 60 miles.

And next year the plan was to increase the stage mileage still further to 85 miles, with the possibility of a Saturday night stage ran in darkness, prior to a full day’s rallying on the Sunday.

But with coronavirus restrictions forcing this year’s cancellation, the format planned for 2020 will be retained for when the event will next run – on Sunday 12 September, 2021.

It’s a year lost in the development of the event, but it’s considered merely a bump in the road in the long-term strategy of growing the rallying in to one of Wales’ biggest national sporting events.

“Rali Bae Ceredigion is a new event, so it’s important to learn to walk before we can run,” says Pugh.

“We have tremendous support from the local community. We have to get the permission of three hundred and fifty households who would be directly or indirectly affected by closing the roads, and every one of them was on board again for this year.

“That is vitally important, and having established a lot of good will in the community we want to grow the event slowly and together.

“We are ambitious and all being well in a few years time we’ll see Rali Bae Ceredigion as a two-day event, hosting a major championship and bringing international visitors to the region.

“We’d like to one day have a Friday and Saturday event, but closing public roads for a number of hours on both days requires a lot of understanding and everyone’s buy in, and that takes time.

“Last year was a huge success, but we still prefer to develop slowly and take little steps to ensure that the event has a big and bright long-term future.”

Osian Pryce (co-driven by Dale Furniss) won the inaugural Rali Bae Ceredigion in a Hyundai i20 R5 hired from Melvyn Evans Motorsport, and had been looking forward to defending his title.

“When you win an event it’s always nice to return the next year and try to defend that trophy, especially an event that’s on your doorstep,” says the Machynlleth-born driver.

“I was hoping to tackle this year’s event in a Volkswagen Golf GTI R5, but it wasn’t to be.

“Rali Bae is a good rally. The stages have real character, quite different from the country lanes in Ireland, the Isle of Man or anywhere else that I’ve competed, and Nant-y-Moch in particular is a real bucket list stage.

“It’s a pretty busy and full-on event, as there are plenty of places to get caught out – as we saw from a fairly high rate of attrition last year.

“It’s a shame that this year’s event, like so many other rallies, has been forced to cancel – but my aim is to be back on the start line again next year and to try and support the event longer-term in any way I can.”