Rikki Profitt and Henry Carr at the finish of the Parc Glasfryn test, where they shared the fastest time with another Porsche of a different vintage.
Off from the promenade a little earlier for the second day of the rally, the field headed by the Class B Expert category, the rally headed towards Deganwy and the mouth of the River Conwy, passing under the walls of Edward the First’s thirteenth century castle that estimates suggest cost the annual revenue of the English Crown to build. As he was building more than one at a time he must have had excellent control over costs.
The rally headed towards the Sychant Pass through beautiful rolling countryside before turning north and the convenience of the A55 to reach Bangor, on the outskirts of which came the first test of the day at Parc Vaynol. Historically owned by the bishop of Bangor, with more than thirty listed buildings on the site, when sold by the church it continued to thrived in private hands. Recovering from a spin delayed Mark Godfrey’s Escort but with the Vaynol test complete, competitors slipped immediately into the day’s first regularity. Although only a relatively short section that would deliver them to the second test of the day beneath the A55, local traffic created frustration for some of the early runners that resulted in their jokers being deployed to offset delays.
Onward to a road section along the Ogwen valley through Bethesda before turning across the river onto the spectacular old road (the Roman 'A5') with the fast flowing River Ogwen at its side. As the valley floor widened the rally entered the second regularity section of the day. This ran through some truly spectacular scenery, the road flanked by steep slopes on either side of the Nant Francon Pass, their summits still shrouded in low cloud and the Ogwen waterfall in full spate as it plunged towards the valley floor in the distance.
The regularity ended just before Lyn Ogwen where the course rejoined the modern A5 and headed east towards Capel Curig where it turned south west following the course of another river, this time the Nantygwryd. The road divided at the hotel where Sir Edmund Hilary and his team of climbers stayed as they trained for their ascent of Everest and the rally headed South towards Beddgelert. From here it was north again leading to the third regularity section with more spectacular views across open countryside, Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) off to the right once more. A change of direction at Rhyd-Ddu took the route across moorland on a B road, cutting through valleys, the shifting slopes of scree on the steep hillsides tumbling towards the road making for more spectacular views before the end of the section at Lyn Nantile Uchaf. From there, a short road section took cars to the Pant du Vineyard for the morning coffee halt. Among the earliest arrivals, there was understandably some discussion of the spatial awareness of road users in the Bangor area!
After coffee it was westwards towards the coast where the long, straight A road offered sea views behind the the hedges. It delivered the rally to Glasfryn Parc and a complex, hectic test on the kart track that saw a handful of errors by competitors through out the field. At the head of the field, the King and Woodcock Escort put on a particularly impressive display of sideways action, the time quickly bested by car 10, the 911 Porsche driven by Rikki Proffitt. The honours for the fastest time at Glasfryn were eventually shared with another Porsche, car 55, David Ash and Terri Lall in their 944.