A Vale of Clwyd rally duo got the big calls right as they finished an impressive second in their class in the two-day Get Connected Rali Ceredigion at the weekend.

Denbigh pair Will Rowlands and Rich Birch in their classic Ford Escort Mark Two also got the better of Welsh rallying legend Gwyndaf Evans who ended up retiring after a massive second day crash.

They were runners-up in the Historic Class and an impressive 20th overall with co-driver Rich putting it down to their decision to go with slick tyres on Sunday despite torrential overnight rain.

When the sun came out in the morning they found it slippery at first but the sun came out and they were soon setting fast times to rocket up the leaderboard in their Lock Stock Self Storage sponsored car.

Rich said: “We were rusty at first after not competing for a long time and my calling was a bit slow while Will wasn’t quite as sharp as usual but we were up there and outing pressure on Gwyndaf Evans even though we were driving carefully.

“I spoke to his co-driver and he said Gwyndaf had been really pushing and when we mad e that big call with the tyres and it turned out right we were picking up time and we saw Gwyndaf’s car parked up after a big, big accident.

“We were picking up time although we were a bit cautious on the long 17-mile Stage Nine so we decided to really go for it on the last three stages and Will drove really well to finish second.”

Will, a plumber, and Rich, a maintenance supervisor with Denbigh-based Lock Stock Self Storage, are both 39 and have known each other since their schooldays at Denbigh High School and are members of Clwyd Vale and Bala Motor Clubs.

Their car is a classic 1970s Ford Escort which dominated rallying in that era, winning the RAC Rally for eight successive years from 1972 to 1979 with the likes of  Britain’s Roger Clark, Flying Finns Hannu Mikkola and Timo Makkinen and Swede Bjorn Waldegard at the wheel.

Just like the cars they drove Will’s rear wheel drive Escort car is powered by a classic Ford Cosworth BDG two-litre engine blasting out 270 horsepower.

Lisa James, of Lock Stock Self Storage, said: “Will and Rich have done really well again and we’re thrilled to support them.

“It’s great to see them doing so well and we wish them all the best in their next outing.”

That will be in Scotland in October for the Isle of Mull Rally.

Lock Stock, founded in Denbigh in 1999, is the UK’s largest containerised storage company with over 4,000 units providing over four million cubic feet of space at 22 parks across North and Mid Wales and the border counties.

Their existing sites stretch from Holyhead and along the North Wales coast at Caernarfon, Bangor, Llandudno, Abergele and Rhyl, on the Dee at Flint, Saltney and Deeside and inland at Denbigh, Mold, Wrexham and Newtown in Powys, and at Oswestry and Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

The company also specialise in the off-site hire of containers such which can be delivered by their specialist lorry, sizes range from 10-feet long up through 20-footers to 40-foot units, all eight feet high and eight feet wide, from 640 to 2,560 in cubic feet in volume.

For information about Lock Stock Self Storage including off-site container hire contact them on 01745 817178 or go to https://lockstock.biz/