( Picture courtesy of Neil Jennings, Motorsport Pics Wales ).

The weekend between Christmas and the New Year is a proper chill-out time for many. Well, for those who are not working that is . . .

For me, there was a lot of preparation and planning, building up to what was something of an exciting challenge, something that I had not been part of for more than 35 years.

Last Sunday, I took the plunge, and competed in a tarmac rally event at the Welsh Motor Sport Centre, Pembrey, alongside my co-driver Dean Wiltshire from Ammanford Motor Club.

Well – that’s one way to burn off some of the additional Christmas calories, I suppose!

Despite the damp and foggy weather, this turned out to be a very well-attended event, with close to 80 rally cars competing – and motor sport enthusiasts were out in droves supporting the competitors.

Carmarthen Motor Club renamed the annual Christmas Stage rally ‘The Jaffa Stages’ in memory of Gareth Roberts.

Gareth “Jaffa” Roberts was a superb rally co-driver from Carmarthen, who was killed in an accident while competing in the Targa Flora rally in Sicily in June, 2012, while sitting alongside Irish driver Craig Breen.

The camaraderie among the rallying community is like no other. Long may the memory continue.