‘It’s been a bucket list item for such a long time and I never thought it would quite happen’
A motorsport fanatic from South Cave is preparing to tackle the UK’s largest road rally, following in the footsteps of a Hull hero more than 50 years before him. Paul Woodford, who is well known in the world of rallying as a presenter and champion of the sport, says it is a “dream come true” to compete in Rali Cilwendeg – a gruelling and highly technical event which pits drivers and their navigators against special tests on private roads and farm tracks as well as navigational sections on public roads.
The overnight competition sees crews traverse miles in West Wales and is known to draw big crowds in scenes reminiscent of the sport’s heyday in the 1970s and 80s. And Paul, 40, is thought to be the first East Yorkshire driver to take on the revered event since driver Ron Shipp secured fourth place in 1974.
“It’s been a bucket list item for such a long time and I never thought it would quite happen,” Paul said. “It’s really a lot of local Welsh crews that do it, because it’s so specialised.”
Paul thinks he’ll have his work cut out to match Ron’s top five place in his Vauxhall Firenza, which was sponsored by Thompsons of Hull. The former sales director at caravan company Swift Group, who died seven years ago, was a talented driver.
“The rallying was only part of his expertise”, explained Alan Shipp, Ron’s brother. “He was rallying from the early 60s until the mid-70s when he started to do caravan rallying – he was one of the best in the country.”
Ron was a regular competitor on local events – with plenty of wins to his name – and contested the RAC Rally against rallying icon Roger Clark, among others. Together, Ron and Alan completed the Land’s End to John o’Groats challenge, nonstop in a motorhome, and Ron was also involved in the world’s speed record for towing a caravan.
“The Cilwendeg is kind of the ultimate road rally,” said Paul. “The road rally thing fits with a pathway into the sport that is super accessible. And I’ve been exploring that over the last 12 months – with the support of Motorsport UK. I’ve had a road rally car built, which I’ve been using for ‘12 cars’ – which are smaller, navigational type events on early evenings, run by local motor clubs.
“And also autotesting – all the stuff that costs pennies to enter, pretty much. That’s been a way of getting my head into this.”
Several weeks ago Paul, who is a member of North Humberside Motor Club, travelled to West Wales where he took part in Rali Bro Teifi – another event in the same area as Cilwendeg which blends navigational road rallying with special tests on private roads. His training has also included several local events in North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire.
The sport is different to stage rallying where crews compete over a number of fast, special stages on private or closed public roads, while road rallying is done without helmets or overalls and in cars with fewer modifications. It requires intense concentration as crews juggle car control with map work. Paul describes road events as like “toughmudders in rally cars”.
The Cilwendeg will see Paul and navigator Joanna James cover 10 hours of rallying, starting at 10pm on Saturday, October 18. They will cover controlled speed navigational sections on public roads between test sections in farm yards, quarries and forest tracks, with only one halt during the night, to refuel.
“You get to about 2:30-3am and everybody is absolutely wiped,” explained Paul. “The garage sells out of Red Bull. Everybody is filling up rally cars and having a good old social – and the police are there because they follow the route around and they go ahead of the route with one of the course cars because it’s so busy. I’ve never seen that on a road rally before.”
He added: “When you get to the finish it’s a wonderful atmosphere. Everybody has driven through the night. The cars are absolutely tired, the drivers and navigators are ready for sleep and everybody is there enjoying breakfast and a results celebration. It’s a mad part of the sport that more people should know about.”
Paul, who is a commercial director at an IT firm in his day job, is a passionate advocate for the different forms of rallying, pointing to the sport’s ability – at peak 40-60 years ago – to pull a larger audience than the English Football League. His activities feed into membership organisation Motorsport UK’s ‘Streetcar’ campaign which promotes grassroots events and aims to drive participation and spectating.
He added: “It’s certainly gaining in popularity and I think it needs a bit of an injection of information because people don’t realise how much is going on around them, and how accessible it can be. I guess doing this was partly about me bringing this part of the sport out of the shadows a bit.”
Those who want to find out more about road rallying, and the rallying more generally should check out Beverley and District Motor Club and North Humberside Motor Club. You can follow Paul’s progress in the lead-up to the Cilwendeg, and at the event itself via his YouTube channel .