Swansea Bay - CANCELLED

Swansea Bay Rally Cancelled

Posted: August 6, 2010 7:17 PM

The organising team of the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay National Rally and officers of Port Talbot Motor Club have with great regret and disappointment concluded that the rally, the fourth round of the 2010 MSA Gravel Rally Championship organised by ANCRO cannot be successfully re-scheduled for 2010.

The event was called off at short notice in mid-July following news of a tree disease in the Vale of Neath that threatened large areas of Forestry Commission plantations and a request from the Forestry Commission to minimise the potential of spreading the disease.

Organisers were faced with a difficult decision over rescheduling the rally and a need to establish suitable dates that would fit in to the numerous championships that the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally was included in whilst also ensuring that other qualifying rounds were not affected by any new date that could be agreed.

Added to those concerns were availability of accommodation, the scope of new routes in the forests to avoid affected areas, and the extensive work necessary to completely re-issue event documentation.

With all these considerations in mind, along with the proximity of Rally Great Britain to the dates that might conceivably have been possible, had all the many permutations successfully combined, Port Talbot MC has been left with little choice but to abandon the event for 2010, after so many years of success, in both the City & County of Swansea and the ANCRO Championship from its very beginning.

Clerk of the Course Alan Stoneman said: "We are all very sad to lose the rally for 2010, but the combinations of circumstances are too great to resolve. All the elements had to slot into place and regrettably that could not be done and the threat that this infection was still spreading was not helping. We at PTMC thank our sponsors, the City & County of Swansea and Pro-Art Signs, and the many championships, officials and competitors who made the rally a success, and although luck has not smiled on us this year, we hope to see you all again in the future, as better times return."

Event Postponed - Club Statement

Posted: July 5, 2010 8:01 PM

Port Talbot Motor Club announces the postponement of the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally.

This is as a result of an infection called ‘Phytophthora ramourum’ which is a fungus like pathogen which kills most of the trees it infects. It was known to be in Margam but has now spread further north & west.

Following a meeting with the FC the organisers were shown the exclusion zones, which included parts of the Rheola & Rhondda forest blocks.

The organisers have spent the last 48hrs hours attempting to put on a new route avoiding the infected areas

This was found to be impossible and PTMC were not prepared to put on an event below the standard expected of the club and the championships the event is part of.

There is also a very strong possibility the infected area would spread even further North over the next week or two to infect parts of the Resolven block.

The organisers have taken the hard decision to postpone the event.

All competitors who have entered the event will have refunds in line with the regulations in next seven – ten days

• Swansea Bay Rally

Regulations / Details

Posted: January 1, 2010 12:01 AM

• Swansea Bay Rally