REPORT / EAST RIDING STAGES RALLY 2026

WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREW SCOTT

Reigning Asphalt champions pick up where they left off with victory at the opening round of the season, and the inaugural Roger Albert Clark Rally Championship begins at the East Riding Stages Rally.

In addition to hosting the opening round of the 2026 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship, the East Riding Stages Rally (21/22 Feb) also played host to the first-ever round of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Championship, a new Asphalt rally series aimed at historic machinery.

More than 150 crews signed up to compete at the event, which featured 72 miles of closed-road stages across fourteen tests over two days, based in the East Yorkshire town of Beverley.

LEG 1

The event got going under the cover of darkness with four stages on Saturday evening, beginning with two runs over the spectator-friendly super specials in Beverley, West Wood, before heading out into prime Yorkshire road rallying lanes for two stages in the Great Wolds area.

Reigning Asphalt Rally Champions, Sam Touzel & Max Freeman, wasted no time in getting down to business in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, holding the overnight lead by a slender 0.4 seconds over James Ford & Neil Shanks in the Citroen C3 Rally2. However, Ford & Shanks would not be scoring points in the Asphalt Series, and so Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear, who were 4.4 seconds off the pace in their Skoda Fabia R5, were Touzel & Freeman’s closest concerns and would round out the top three.

Asphalt series regulars Neil Roskell & Jack Morton were expected to be in the fight for the rally win, but had a pretty decent off in their Fiesta Rally2 on Stage 3, which would take them out of contention early on. Hugh Brunton & Drew Sturrock were the third of the Asphalt registered crews on the leaderboard in their VW Polo GTi R5. However, the crew to make everyone sit up and take note was Lee Edwards & Sam Spencer in the V6 Jaguar-engined Ford Escort G3. They put in some stonkingly good times in the darkness on the opening night, ending the first loop of action not only the fastest 2WD crew but also sixth overall.

Meanwhile, having secured three out of the four fastest stage times, Stefan Davies & Michael Gilbey in the Ford Escort MKII RS1800 topped the timing sheets in the Roger Albert Clark Rally Championship with what was already a sizable 19.3-second lead over Will Rowlands & Emyr Hall (Ford Escort MKII).

Iwan David Jones & Nigel Roberts (Ford Escort MKII) held third place among the Category 3 contenders. Just a smidge over a second behind them were Simon Bowen & Craig Simkiss in their Category 4 Ford Sierra Cosworth, fourth overall within the historic field.

Andrew O’Hanlon & Kevin Hogan, in their Mini Cooper S, were locked in a battle with the Ex-Works Ford Escort MK1 Twincam of Dave Watkins & Dave Shepherd in Category 2; and Shane Gamble & Julia Parry would lead Category 1 in their Mini Cooper S.

LEG 2

The next morning, Ford & Shanks would take the lead of the rally in the opening stage of the day, having stopped the clocks just 0.7 seconds quicker than Touzel & Freeman. However, this lead for Ford & Shanks would be short-lived; Touzel & Freeman would retaliate, regaining the rally lead on the very next test.

Touzel & Freeman extended their advantage during the morning loop, taking stage wins on Stages 6, 7 and 8 to reach midday service with a 3.6-second lead over Ford & Shanks. Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear continued to be the best of the rest in their Skoda Fabia R5, ending the morning loop more than 35 seconds adrift from the battle for the rally lead.

While the overall rally battle unfolded among the modern machinery, Stefan Davies & Michael Gilbey were in a league of their own in the historics. The pair recorded the fastest stage times in their MKII Ford Escort on every stage of the morning loop, increasing their lead over Will Rowlands & Emyr Hall to a whopping 53 seconds in what was the makings of a dominant performance at the opening round.

Over the course of the afternoon, Sam Touzel & Max Freeman set their sights on the first win of the season, although James Ford & Neil Shanks would still push them all the way, never giving up on a potential win. Ford & Shanks finished their East Riding Stages with a flurry, picking two stage wins in the final two stages of the rally. Alas, their efforts would be in vain, and it did not matter to Sam Touzel and Max Freeman, who took the victory and maximum Championship points in Yorkshire, crossing the finish line back in Beverley with a final winning margin of just four seconds.

Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear would not only bring their Skoda Fabia R5 home third overall, but they would also pick up second on the Asphalt Championship podium, and behind them, the results sheet made for fascinating reading.

That car was not modern Rally2 or R5 machinery, but the V6 Jaguar-engined Ford Escort G3 of Lee Edwards and Sam Spencer. Not only did they deliver the class win, the fastest two-wheel drive crew and an impressive sixth place finish overall, but they also landed third place on the Protyre, Motorsport UK, Asphalt Rally Championship podium. This result at the East Riding sent social media into a bit of a frenzy, with rally fans commenting, saying it was “the most entertaining car on the whole event”.

Stefan Davies & Michael Gilbey would romp home to take the win in the Roger Albert Clark Rally Championship in their Ford Escort MKII. Their final winning margin over Will Rowlands & Emyr Hall (Ford Escort MKII) was more than one minute and six seconds. Iwan Jones & Nigel Roberts (Ford Escort MKII) were holding a solid third right up until the penultimate stage of the rally, where they sadly went off the road, this opened the door for Mike Simpson & Dale Gibbons (Ford Escort MKII) to pick up the final podium spot.

Elsewhere in the Roger Albert Clark Rally Championship, local boys Dave Watkins & Dave Shepherd emerged from the battle with the Mini Cooper S of Andrew O’Hanlon & Kevin Hogan, triumphant to take home the Category 2 honours in their Ex-Works Ford Escort MK1 Twincam. Category 1 was sewn up by Shane Gamble & Julia Perry in their Mini Cooper S.

Simon Bowen & Craig Simkiss, who were fielding that stunning Ford Sierra in Category 4, were firm favourites by the onlooking spectators and impressed on the opening night in the dark. Unfortunately, their event would come to an abrupt end early Sunday morning, as the pair had a decent shunt on the opening stage of the day, which would see them sadly retire from the event from fourth.

FINAL RESULTS

NEXT TIME

Both the Protyres Motorsport UK, Asphalt Rally Championship and the Roger Albert Clark Rally Championship will resume in May at the infamous Manx National Rally (8/9), on the Isle of Man.