CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF
Rally 4 wales forest road cleaner Ceen will undo his repair work on rall y gb stages
Imagine if Wales Rally GB couldn’t happen.
We weren’t far off that coming to fruition in 2016 before Rally4wales stepped in to repair the roads.
Now one of the key men behind Rally4wales is going to undo his hard work by competing on this year’s event. But don’t worry, he’ll have to clean the mess up after himself.
Without Richard Ceen, who has the knowledge of regrading and repairing forest roads through his everyday business, specialist road contractor Coedwigaeth Pencelyn, Rally4wales wouldn’t have been possible. He was, and is, key to the operation being able to repair roads after rallies, which R4W took over from the Welsh government two years ago, after it had wanted an increase of around 100 per cent in costs with a renewed deal.
The outfit now repairs the roads after all Welsh forest rallies – including Wales Rally GB – with Ceen key to planning or overseeing repairs. If not both.
He will start this weekend’s National rally in an ex-andreas Mikkelsen Ford Focus WRC05, returning to the event for the first time since 2016. “It will be nice to remember that Rally4wales is there to support rallying and that is what it was created for,” says Ceen, who did the Woodpecker, a round of the BTRDA Rally Series, last month.
“When I have been supervising repairs, having been on the stages, there’s bits you recognise. I did the Woodpecker and we got the car working the night before. I couldn’t remember how to drive the car and we finished in the 30-somethings. I worked out that I lost nearly three minutes through stalls and things like that, not remembering how to use the systems. Not enough time in the car, but I was happy with the speed.
“Even Radnor, which I ought to know well having supervised two or three repairs there, it didn’t quite click. I’m not sure the overseeing on site helps…”
Ceen is the brother of 2015 Welsh champion Bob, who will start the event in a Subaru Impreza WRC, and Richard’s son Benjamin will also take part in what is set to be a real family affair.
Rally4wales isn’t the only way Ceen has helped improve Wales Rally GB. His company has its own forest which is regularly used by anyone from clubmen to World Rally teams. This year he is hosting Skoda, with reigning WRC2 winner Pontus Tidemand aiming to repeat his 2017 success.
After two years away, mostly spent helping to regrade Welsh forest roads, it will be great for Ceen to get something back from rallying. He deserves it as do the other directors of R4WS, Ceen having been part of it from the start with rally co-driver Jamie Edwards.
So when you see a blue and white Ford Focus WRC fly by this weekend, give it an extra round of applause. The occupant had a key role in saving the very event you’ll be watching.