Round 6: Trackrod Forest Stages (26th September).
The Trackrod Forest Stages (26th September) takes both the Protyre Autocare BTRDA Rally Series & the Kingfisher Insurance Motorsport UK English Rally Championship on to the classic stages of the North York Moors and signals the end of a lengthy summer break. Twelve months ago, underground fires in various locations caused the original route to be revised but, all being well, any heat generated this time will purely emanate from crews in their efforts to excel on some of the fastest forest rally stages in the UK!
Feature image above is Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear (Fabia Rally2) – the 2025 Trackrod Forest Rally Winners
Matthew Hirst / Declan Dear (Fabia Rally2) won the Trackrod in 2025 on their way to clinching their maiden Fuchs Lubricants BTRDA Gold Star Championship title. However, they’ll not need reminding that, just prior to being sidelined with a turbo fire, Elliot Payne / Patrick Walsh were slightly ahead of them! As they head for Filey, it is the latter crew who holds the upper hand but an extra element has been added into the mix which could prove very interesting! In order to check out the opposition, so to speak, Payne and Walsh contested the recent non-Championship Woodpecker Stages in a hired Fabia Rally2 – and won it!… It is, therefore, highly likely that both Hirst/Dear and Payne/Walsh will be contesting the Trackrod in Skodas where they’ll be up against a third in the hands of Daniel Sigurðarson / Asta Sigurðadóttir whose efforts so far this season see them in 2nd place in Gold Star. Having missed the Nicky Grist, Alistair Ginley has also recorded Top Ten finishes on each of the events he has contested in his Skoda RS.
Amongst those in the Ford camp, we have Dan O’Brien (Fiesta Rally2) who has also finished each round of the BTRDA Series so far, while Alex Vassallo / Chris Lees and Liam Clark / Michael Gilbey both return following absences.
The seemingly vice-like grip on Class 2 exerted by Russ Thompson / Steve Link (Fiesta) on the early rounds of the Series was significantly loosened by a retirement on the Nicky Grist Stages, 
allowing the 100% finishing record of Pete Gorst / Mark Twiname (Lancer EVO9) to prevail. However, both crews are joined by Geoff Smith / Joe Dunn (Lancer EVO6), Pat Naylor / Tom Bishop (Lancer EVO9) & Chris Gash / Dylan Williams (Impreza) who will all be relishing the opportunity to close the gap to the leaders….
<<<< Pete Gorst and Mark Twiname (Lancer EVO9) – Class 2 Leaders
Top Protyre Autocare BTRDA Silver Star® Championship points have gone to three different crews so far but, with two maximums to his credit, Boyd Kershaw (Escort Mk2) currently rules the roost. Co-driver Keegan Rees, however, has to be content with 3rd place, behind Paul Gribben (Rian Walker – Opel Adam) and John Millington (Steve ‘Korky’ Ward – Escort Mk2). The presence of Nicky Grist ‘winners’, Ben Friend / Osian Owen (Escort Mk2) will also serve to keep everyone on their toes, while Max Utting (Fiesta ST Max) has claimed runner-up spot on the two events he has contested.
Walker & Gribben, Ward & Millington and Michael Jenkins (Fiesta) are the only ones with complete score cards and, thus, there is still plenty of scope for a dramatic change in the leader board as the season moves towards its conclusion.
Walker and Gribben hold sway in the BTRDA Rallye R2 Cup from Jenkins and joining them will be the Adams of ‘top dogs’ on the Nicky Grist, Tom Constantine / Tony Walker (Adam) and Oliver Phillips / Barry Young whose season requires something of a refresh. Having not been seen since Rally North Wales, ‘winner’ Tony Simpson (Fiesta) also returns.
The aforementioned Ward / Millington lead the BTRDA Historic Cup and, while several of their rivals are absent on this occasion, Ben Friend / Osian Owen (Escort Mk2) will be looking to carry on where they left off on the Nicky Grist – with a maximum score!…
This year’s Fuchs Lubricants BTRDA Bronze Star Championship has something of an air of ‘snakes and ladders’ about it! Defending champion Dylan Fowler-Bishop (Micra) opened the scoring with a win, but then opted to miss the next one before coming out on top once more on the Plains. Problems on the Nicky Grist pushed him down the order and, so, he and co-driver Emma Clarke have some catching up to do!
We’ve only seen former double-champions Nigel & Kaz Jenkins (Nova) a couple of times so far. 3rd on the Plains preceded a DNF last time out and, thus, the above remarks also apply to them! Dale Glover / David Smalley (Alfasud TI) claimed a popular victory on the Nicky Grist but a DNF and a DNS at the start of the season haven’t helped their campaign.
..Dale Glover and David Smalley (Alfasud TI) – Bronze Star Winners on the Nicky Grist Stages >
The only crew to stay out of trouble throughout the season to date are Luke Watts / Matt Rogers whose consistency sees their MG ZR leading the race for the Bronze Star title. Indeed, such is their current advantage that a finish on the Trackrod would virtually guarantee that their superiority is maintained – for the time being, at least!…
Once again, after a couple of months to regroup, the Kingfisher Insurance Motorsport UK English Rally Championship sets off on the second half of its season in North Yorkshire. Elliot 
Payne / Patrick Walsh have spent the summer as leaders, five points ahead of Pete Gorst / Mark Twiname (Lancer EVO9), with Daniel Sigurðarson / Asta Sigurðadóttir (Fabia RS) right behind them.
<<<<< Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh – Kingfisher Insurance MSUK English Rally Championship Leaders
The Top Ten also currently includes the Escorts of Geoff Phelps and Boyd Kershaw, Rian Walker’s Opel Adam and the MG ZR of Luke Watts. The difference between 1st and 10th is 19 points and there are three more opportunities – Trackrod included – for maximum scores of 25. It doesn’t take Pythagoras, therefore, to work out that there is almost unlimited scope for manoeuvre before Judgement Day at the beginning of December!…
SPECTATORS : Tickets for the spectator stages in Cropton and Dalby are only available on-line at https://www.rallyyorkshire.co.uk/spectator-information/
All photos © Kevin Money / Malcolm Almond.
Further information on the Protyre Autocare BTRDA Rally Series : www.btrdarally.com & Kingfisher Insurance MSUK English Rally Championship : www.englishrally.co.uk
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