2017 Welsh Rally won by Elfyn Evans, co driven by local lad and Clarets fan Daniel Barritt. Massive achievement for them and the M Sport team. Only the 4th British crew to win this if i am not mistaken, after Roger Clarke, Colin McRae and Richard Burns. All 3 previous winners sadly no longer with us.

Congratulations Elfyn and Daniel.

Brilliant achievement. Hope he goes to the very top.

Good effort. Think his Dad is Gwyndaff who was some rally driver and very entertaining to watch.

He is indeed the son of Gwyndaff, who was a school bus driver and part time rally driver. Best remembered for driving a lilac Sierra Cosworth.

Daniel is my Dad's wife's nephew so a bit of a link there.

Is this what used to be the RAC rally many years ago? That was a great event in the 80’s when we had the group B cars like the Audi Quattro, Lancia Delta S4 and Metro 6R4, but rallying seems to have become a bit of a motor racing backwater these days.

Don’t know much about it these days but my mates dad used to take us to the RAC in the early 80s. Loved to hear the whistles as the cars came storming through the forest. Great range of rally cars on show then. Lancia’s, Opel mantas, souped up metros. It was a great day out. Seem to remember that Brookes and Ponds were the home hopes but they tended to fall short. Great memories. Shame it’s not as prominent these days.

Tony Pond Jimmy McRae and Russell Brookes were the top Brits early 80s. Pre Group B Pond drove a TR7 Brookes either an Escort or Opel Manta sponsored by Andrews Heat for Hire. They couldn't compete with the likes of Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist, Walter Rohrl and my personal fave from that era Ari Vatanen. I was in the Welsh forests in 1995 when Colin McRae won the world title. I followed him from early days driving a Nova through to winning in the Impreza. Not ashamed to say i shed a tear when i heard he had died with his son Jonny and 2 others.

Don’t forget Juha Kankkunen and Marku Allen too!

For me, rallying is the most exciting motorsport. To drive at over 100mph down a gravel track with trees and steep drops on either side is simply mental. One mistake and you are mince meat.

Remember watching one year at Clumber Park. Had a great view on the bank above a sharp bend with a steep slope to the side. More than one car came off and was pushed back onto its wheels by the spectators. Great to watch.

Kankkunen and Alen were a little later. Mid 80s in the Group B era. The peak of rallying IMO. Sadly people lost their lives due to the speed and design of the cars - the fuel tank was under the driver's seat and poor crowd control. Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto lost their lives in a fireball after their car left the track and rolled into the trees in Corsica.

kaptin1 wrote:Don’t forget Juha Kankkunen and Marku Allen too!

For me, rallying is the most exciting motorsport. To drive at over 100mph down a gravel track with trees and steep drops on either side is simply mental. One mistake and you are mince meat.

I used to own one of Kankkunens cars, amazing thing. Have to agree rallying is the ultimate test of man and machine.

Used to enjoy watching the likes of Kankunnen and Sainz battle it out. There were a lot of good drivers such as Vatanen though. It got out of control with Group B.

WRC doesn't get the recognition it deserves, don't think it makes it onto TV now. As I recall rally GB used to have stages in Scotland, Grizedale and North Yorkshire as well as Wales but is now just in Wales for some reason.

I once had a go at rally driving as part of a day long course at Silverstone. Had a co-driver / tutor yelling in my ear so much that, when I got to a bend, I just carried straight on. Fortunately, there was nothing in the way so didn’t crash. An incredibly difficult sport to master. Whatever you think you know about driving simply goes out of the window with the opposite applying in many cases. The guys that do this professionally have my utmost respect. They really are unbelievably talented.

I was the dogs doodas at Colin McRae Rally on the PlayStation.

it was well supported as the RAC Rally. I used to take a week's holiday just to follow the rally. Midlands, Scotland and back down to Wales. Fantastic skill of both drivers and navigaters

Don't foget Michelle Mouton. Wuff, wuff

Ah, this rally explains why there was a family of rally Full Kit W@nkers at some services I stopped at yesterday.

Never seen anything as stupid as that.

Herts Clarets wrote:He is indeed the son of Gwyndaff, who was a school bus driver and part time rally driver.

Going to school on his bus must have been fun!

Congratulations to Dan & Elfyn. I know Dan's brother, a good friend of mine. It's been along time coming

Herts Clarets wrote:He is indeed the son of Gwyndaff

Sounds like a character out of 'Lord of the Rings'.