TRIBUTES have been paid to motorsport star Bill Gwynne, who enjoyed spectacular success on both two and four wheels on the national stage back in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Bill, a former pupil at Cardigan Grammar School, lived at Sarnau before moving to live in Banbury, Oxfordshire, where he recently passed away after a short illness, aged 77.

Up until recently he still took an active part in motocross and regularly competed in the annual Teifiside Motor Club’s Welsh Classic Championships in Penparc and was the club’s vice-president.

As a young man he was one of the best scramblers in Wales and in 1957 and at the age of 16 he became Welsh Scrambles motocross champion and was champion for three successive years.

Rallying was also a passion and as a rally driver he won a host of national titles.

“Apart from his qualities as a person, Bill was one of just two drivers who dominated the Motoring News Championship in the second half of the 1970s,” said fellow drivers Mick Briant and Dave Kirkham.

“He epitomised the qualities required of a successful lanes driver, particularly, that to win, first you had to get the car to the finish. Smooth, consistent, and ultra-rapid, Bill rarely crashed, or bent his car.

“Winning the Motoring News Championship in 1977 and 1978, he was one of only three drivers ever to win the championship in consecutive years; for the sake of just one point, he would have won three championships.

“Lest we forget, in a life full of action, Bill won the national championship on both two and four wheels. We have huge admiration of the man and his achievements.”

In 1983, Bill set up the Bill Gwynne Rallyschool International where he has taught hundreds of drivers the art of rally driving.

Former World Rally Championship driver Nicky Grist paid his own tribute on Twitter, saying: “I am upset to have received the desperately sad news of the passing of Bill Gwynne. He had such a history in motorsport on both two and four wheels. Coming up through road rallying he was a man I followed in my youth. You will be missed Bill. RIP.”