Presentation Evening 2005

On the 1st February 2005 we held our Annual Presentation Ceremony. It was a very enjoyable evening with club members and partners attending. We held a raffle which went very well, with a majority of our members getting a prize, although there were a few greedy members who managed to get more than one, mentioning no names though (Julian and Chris).


The awards for the Drivers were given to (in reverse order)
3rd Place - John Thomas
John also known as Nodge drives a Mitsubishi Evolution 5, 2000cc, 320BHP. John only competed in one event last year which was the Peter Lloyd Stages, he had a very good result., this was John's first event after 15 years in retirement. We would all like to say Welcome back to the rally circuit.

2nd Place - Julian Smith
Julian drove a Toyota Carolla, 1600cc, Twin Cam. Julian has now sold the Carolla, and retired from the rally circuit for a while. He has opted to buy himself a taxi, to run around in instead. We wish him luck with his new venture but expect to see him back in action in the near future.

1st Place - Andrew Gregory
Andrew also known as Peggy drives a Nissan Micra K11, 1300cc, 82BHP. Andrew also had a Mazda 323, 1600cc, 120BHP, Andrew has also sold the Mazda but is keeping the Micra to do the Welsh Clubman's Tarmac Championship in 2005. Andrew had a very good year last year and we wish him all the luck this year.

The awards for the Co-drivers were given to (in reverse order)

3rd Place - Alan Jones
Alan competed with John last year and intends to compete with him this year. Alan is a old hand in the Co-driver seat.

2nd Place - Huw Davies
Huw (my dad) competed with Andrew last year and is competing with him again this year in the Welsh Clubman's Tarmac Championship. Huw once a member of the 'old buzzards' team, and holder of the title 'The Grogg'. We wish him and Andrew best of luck next season.

1st Place - Chris Short
Last Year, Chris competed with Barrie Jenkins in the Peugeot 205 rear wheel drive in Ireland. He also competed with Ian Godney in the Forest Championship. Chris will be back in the swing of the action this year with Ian Godney. We wish them luck in their future rally's.

The awards for the Marshals were given to

3rd Place - Jamie Smith
Jamie attends a majority of Rally's, normally doing Radio car with Carl, Keith and Myself. Jamie one of the younger members of Griffin MC, will maybe follow in his fathers footsteps once he has obtained his UK Driving Licence.

2nd Place - Keith Hamer
Keith one of our Senior members, is well known for his comic remarks and cheekiness , after once refusing entry into Services on the Rally GB to the one and only Marcus Gronholm, until Carl pointed out just who he was talking to. We hope Keith will continue to come out with us this year.

1st Place - Carl Hamer
Carl who has newly taken up the position of Chief Marshal, rightly deserved this trophy as he does not miss a single event. You would have all seen Carl, or his Ford Martini Truck. Carl has taken a real involvement in the club and is a valued member.

Mystery Awards

This Year we decided to give our Presentation Evening extra special awards to give out.

Julian Smith was presented a wheel painted in bright yellow, you might be thinking why a wheel. Well when Julian and Chris were doing the Mel Harris Memorial Stages they had a flat, so whilst Julian changed the tyre, they lost the old one it couldn't see it as it was dark, so we thought if he paints his wheels in bright colours then he should be able to see them. ( We know he's getting on a bit now, but I thought his eye-sight would have lasted a little longer)

Bryan Hart often has a lot of trouble with his radio, we decided that this Hi-Tec equipment was too much for Bryan to get used to, so we gave him two cans and a bit of string, only problem now is that we can't seem to get string long enough for Bryan to reach Control.

Steve Fellows our club Chairman, has a tendency to fall asleep whilst on the job, so we thought it was quite appropriate to buy him an alarm clock, attached to some dynamite just to make sure we wake him.

Our usual meeting place to go on rally's is the bottom of the Rhigos, but when Simon Howden turned up to go on the Red Kite Rally on Epynt, I think he'd forgotten how far away it actually was. Simon drove from the bottom of the Rhigos over to Epynt with his fuel light on, then made the comment `I hope you have a tow rope!' In the circumstances we thought it was quite appropriate to give Simon a petrol can. But his adventures didn't stop there. He then got rather stuck in the mud and had to be winched out by Steve, NOW HOW WAS HE GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO HIS BROTHER IN LAW WHEN HE RETURNED THE CAR!!!!!

The 13th April 2003, was just a normal Sunday morning, we were all set for the Pendine Stages. The birds were chirping, the tide was out, all was set. We had a few members competing, there was Huw and Mike in the Computer Vision Rover SD1, and Chris and Bryan Lee in the Peugeot. Everything was great it was an enjoyable event, and an event that will stick out in Chris Short's mind for the rest of his navigating life. Chris had been navigating for 20 or more years by this event, and was quite confident with his ability as a co-driver……UNTIL he came to his dreaded Split board, he went the wrong way the shame the humiliation, but if it wasn't that bad, he did it in front of us. He still to this day has not lived this down, so for his Mystery Award Chris received the very split board where he went wrong.

Rhian Davies
(Competition Secretary.)