Billed as the biggest rally event in the UK, the annual Wales Rally GB returned to Cardiff earlier this month amid a fervent atmosphere and lavish events on the city’s streets.
Seventy-four drivers began the 1,160-mile, four-day event – which makes up one round of the FIA World Rally Championship – in Llandudno, north Wales, on Thursday November 10.
Forty cars finished four days later in Cardiff, with Finn Jari-Matti Latvala triumphing. Among the retirees was Sebastien Loeb, winner of three of the previous editions of Wales Rally GB, who left the race after a minor crash with a spectator’s car.
Sébastien Loeb in last year's WRC Wales Rally GB. Photo: Flickr, bobaliciouslondon
But alongside the world-renowned teams were amateur drivers competing in the Wales Rally GB National B competition, who had the opportunity to race the same stretches the champion drivers tackle.
The National B competition, without the big sponsorship deals and huge investment of the WRC, this year took place on the Friday and Saturday. Scrutineering – when cars are checked over to ensure they comply with safety regulations – was on the Thursday afternoon.
Four race stages were held on Friday and a further three the following day. At the end of each day, the cars in the National B competition returned to Builth Wells, a quiet market town at the heart of the Powys countryside for servicing.
Among them was the one driven by 22-year-old Sara Williams, from Brecon, Powys.
This year’s event was Sara’s second, and she brought an impressive rallying CV to the muddy tracks of mid Wales.
Sara mid race. Photo: Rally Sport Media
She has triumphed in numerous races and awards since she won her class at the Welsh Tarmac Championships four years ago, and is probably the best young female driver in Wales.
Indeed, her 17th-place finish in the National event ensured she officially secured that exact prize, despite a puncture on the first day slowing her progress and preventing an improvement on her fourth place in 2010.
In many ways, her progress has been almost inevitable. “I started rallying when I was 16,” she says. “I navigated for my father for a while and then started driving when I was 17.”
Sara competing in the 2009 Severn Valley Clubmans' Rally. Photo: Flickr, kyn_chung
For many who enjoy Top Gear and the like, rallying – and motor racing more generally – seems like almost the ideal sport. But it is not just about thrill seeking, with attention to detail crucial – although for Sara this comprises much of the appeal.
“I enjoy the sport as you are always trying to improve on your last performance, trying to get those few more seconds from somewhere,” she says.
“It’s a great achievement when you get that.”
For Sara, along with co-drivers Patrick Walsh and Dai Roberts (who, depending on availability, take turns in sitting alongside her in the car) and the service team, the race day is much busier than many unfamiliar with motorsport might expect.
“Usually an event starts around 9am,” she explains. “We go out for a few stages then back into the service area to check the car and have lunch before heading back out for the afternoon stages.
“Then are usually about 6 or 8 stages in total.”
For the service crew, meanwhile, a typical rally day is just as busy.
“They have to check the car over before the start of the rally, change tyres if necessary, then they get in the chase vehicle – which meets the rally car at the end of each stage to make sure everything is fine.
“They then meet us back in the service area to refuel and check the car, water, tyres etc, then the same in the chase vehicle for the afternoon stages.”
Sara mid race. Photo: Rally Sport Media
The Wales Rally GB, with its fan parade in Cardiff, ceremonies in the Castle, events in the Millennium Stadium – not to mention the very presence of the world’s top drivers – is hardly a grassroots sport event.
But young drivers such as Sara show the event is not solely and narrowly focused on the elite level of performance – even if her success means she becomes increasingly close to achieving that.
For more information, check out Sara’s website. Also be sure to have a look at The Final Sector motorsport blog.
An Early Bath 