2017 12 Stuff the Turkey Autotest & PCA

Report

Many thanks to Will Hughes for this report on the event and to Islwyn Jones for permission to use his photos.

Stuff the Turkey was the last event of 2017 organised by C&A Motor Club and it ended what had been a very enjoyable year of motorsport. A very healthy entry of 11 crews entered the Autotest event and 32 the PCA, which just goes to show how popular this end of year day out has become.

Following the Christmas break it was time for many Club members to blow away the cobwebs with a visit to Trac Môn/Anglesey Circuit. After an eventful Rally Trackday at the circuit on Friday my 50 shades of grey Fiesta was out of action following an over ambitious entry into a chicane, due to Ben Jones giving me a bit too much encouragement .
Luckily for me, Jamie Jones was Clerk of the Course and he entrusted me with his ever reliable and award winning 'Red Rocket'. After my slight collision with the kerb at the Rhyl College PCA, I was surprised that he trusted me to drive it once again. (Someone should check his head!!)

Saturday morning arrived and I had no passenger and, looking at the field of competitors in the Autotest section, including the the Blitz special of Dave and Joe Evans, the Corsas of Lee Mathews and Dafs Roberts, as well as the Dave 'Stavros' Jones in the Mighty Micra, it was not such an attractive option. So the search for a passenger was on! After a quick look around the paddock I discovered that Ieuan also had an empty seat in the Clio, so we decided to sit in with each other in order to compete in the PCA section of the event.
There were six test areas and the first test of the day for me was the Old Pit Lane where Tecs was marshalling and, after using my first two attempts to get reacquainted with the rapid Fiesta, by my third attempt I had a respectable time of 101.00.
It was then on to the tandem test, where the Jos family was marshalling. Running two identical tests side by side made thing very interesting, but I may have got a bit preoccupied concentrating on Deio on the opposite test, so the times and a few cones may have suffered. In the Clio the lack of handbrake was proving difficult but the power of the 182 provided plenty of wheel spin and tyre smoke to liven things up a bit.

It was then up to the 'Yump' test marshalled by Rhian and Gwyn. This was a nice flowing test giving an excellent photo opportunity for Islwyn whose photos were then going to be sent to award winners instead of a traditional trophy. After the 'Yump' it was down to test site 'A' in front of the New Pit Lane manned by Nigal and after a hopeless first run picking up 3 line faults, I then managed to get two identical times 98.87 seconds.
My final test of day was test site B manned by Ifor. This fast flowing test provided the opportunity for a little bit of popping of rev limiter toward the end of slalom and somehow, on my final attempt of the test I managed to set the fastest time of all the PCA competitors, with only the Blitz special setting a faster time on this test from the entire entry.
With daylight quickly disappearing, a small team were left to clear up as many were heading home following a long day’s motorsport and w ith most competitors gone, a long a tense wait followed for Gavin to finish compiling the results.

Once completed, the results showed that Neil Jones in his Mazda Mx-5 had set a consistently quick pace all day and had taken the overall PCA win by an unbelievable 29 seconds. The next question was which Fiesta was fastest, was it myself, Carey or Ben? The results showed myself and Ieuan 2nd O/A, 11 seconds ahead of Carey Lindley with Iolo Hughes at 3rd overall. Carey and Iolo, were dressed as a Nun and a Reindeer, and took the award for fastest crew in fancy dress (only crew in fancy dress).
Fourth overall was taken by 15 year old Ben Jones, navigated by Guto Roberts in the blue Fiesta, who had only started autotesting on this event last year and was able to hold his own in the strong field of 32 starters. Expect big things.
The Autotest event was won by Dave Evans in the Blitz special, followed by Joe Evans, also in the Blitz special. Third place was taken by Lee Mathews in the Corsa.

Thanks to Jamie for organising another great event and for allowing me to borrow the 'Red Rocket'. Thanks to all the marshals who stood out all day in the cold wind: Nigal, Ifor, Tecs, Rob, Catrin, Laura, Rhian and Gwyn. And also thanks to Gavin for compiling the results. Will Hughes - Car 25

Results

Full results of the Stuff The Turkey 2017 Autotest and PCA available here:
Stuff The Turkey 2017 Autotest Results
Stuff The Turkey 2017 PCA Results

Autotest Winners:
Fastest Time of the Day: David Evans (C&AMC / Whitchurch), Blitz Special.
1st Class A: David Jones (C&AMC), Nissan Micra.
1st Class B: James Kirkwood (C&AMC), Volvo 960.
1st Class C: Lee Matthews (C&AMC), Vauxhall Corsa.
1st Class D: Joe Evans (C&AMC / Whitchurch), Blitz Special.

PCA Winners:
Fastest Time of the Day: Neil Jones (Rhyl & DMC), Mazda MX5.
1st Class A: Richard Hughes (C&AMC), Ford Puma.
1st Class B: Alex Jones (C&AMC), Mazda MX5.
1st Class C: Will HUghes (C&AMC), Ford Fiesta.
1st Class D: Dominic Sedgwick (Under 17 MC NW), Mazda MX5.
1st Junior: Ben Jones (C&AMC), Ford Fiesta.