FEATURES / THE OAKS TROPHY RALLY 2024

19/09/2024 Off By admin

WORDS BY ANDY COOK (XLERATE.MEDIA) | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID HALES & JOSEPTH GILBERTSON

The Ecurie Royal Oak (ERO) Motor Club has motorsport and in particular, road rallying running through its veins. During the club’s very early days of the 1960s, it managed to ruffle a few feathers but eventually gained acceptance and official motor club status from the RAC in 1970; having also been given the nod by the well-respected legend of the game that is Don Barrow.

As the club grew, throughout the 70s and 80s it became a renowned breeding ground for quick road rally crews. Being perfectly situated on the edge of The Peak District, the ERO would naturally lend itself well to running some of the best Road Rallies and 12 Car Road Rallies of the time, giving birth to The Oaks Trophy Rally in 1975.

In no time, the Oaks Trophy Rally had earned a solid reputation, becoming one of the most popular events and running for twelve years until 1987 when the RAC changed the rules, effectively putting the brakes on Road Rallying as a sport. The event would lay in wait until the year 2000 before it would be revived; running to the new road rally rules, it was an instant success as a round of the ANWCC Road Rally Championship through until 2009.

During the wait, ERO dabbled in multi-venue Targas and successful hosted the Oaks Trophy Targa Rally, with support from Rally and Competition (R.A.C.E) Stoke-on-Trent in 2017, 2018 & 2019; having the names like Max Freeman win the event in 2018. Like every other form of motorsport, COVID hit and ERO sat back in wait for the Oaks to be reborn.

WINNERS HALL OF FAME

Whizz forward to 2023 and the ERO organising team, which is made up of active road rally competitors and members who hold a vast amount of rallying knowledge, had rebooted The Oaks Trophy once again. Having proved a success in the modern-day road rallying scene last year, there was, and is, a continued appetite for this event to the present day.
Continuing with the support of Race And Competition Equipment (R.A.C.E.) Stoke-on-Trent as the title sponsor for another year, a top line-up of 35 crews assembled at ERO’s home, The Knot Inn, Rushton Spencer on Saturday 14th of September.

With a great mix of expert, semi-expert, and novice crews from both locally and further afield all eager to tackle the event and hoping to take the spoils. They were to face some 110 miles of fun through the lanes of Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire on OS Maps 118 & 119 for the twenty-first edition of this event which has become synonymous with road rallying.

Photos By David Hales Photography

Following a sterling effort by debutant Clerk of The Course, Shaun Hughes, Assistant Clerk of The Course Will Banks, and the entire ERO team, the night had finally arrived and with it, had brought dry and ideal conditions. Before the cars set off, The Knot Inn, Rushton did a sterling effort on hospitality, with over 250 people packing out the establishment. Rushton Spencer was electric with the atmosphere; the rally community and local community came together as one to all enjoy what was going to be a road rally to remember.
The first award winner was announced at the drivers briefing, The Sheard Autosport Sponsored ‘Best in Show’ was awarded to Car 5 Wayne Langthorne.

The crews would depart for the first special test at Heaton House Farm with an air of anticipation. Here is where the number five seeds of Wayne Langthorne & Sam Spencer began the event on a high in their MKII Ford Escort.
Langthorne who finished fifth on last year’s Oaks began his evening well by setting the fastest time on that opening test, despite losing four wheel nuts on one of the rear wheels. He and Co-Driver Spencer would get into a rhythm early on, posting a clean run on both of the first selectives. However, their night would take a turn for the worse on the third selective, their initial high of starting off so well, would instead, be replaced by a low, Co-driver Sam Spencer explains:

“We got caught out by a bad left-hander, clipped the wall with the back quarter which tipped the car onto its side blocking the road. Thanks to the crews of Cars 4 and 7 we got the car back on its wheels and out of the road, sadly it was too badly damaged to continue.”

Photo: Wayne Langthorne & Sam Spencer | By David Hales Photography

That corner which had just taken them out of the event is an infamous bend that has claimed several crews over the years, and it will no doubt, be etched in their memory from then on; Spencer continues:

“It must also be the strongest dry-stone wall in Derbyshire as the bugger didn’t move”, but despite that rather catastrophic misdemeanour, Langthorne will not be letting it dent his pride “Wayne has already started stripping the car and is determined to be back out as soon as possible”.

Sadly, they were not the only crew to come a cropper on the challenging roads; we would also lose the number two seeding of James Dowley & Darren Ikin, who had an off just up the road from Langthorne, sending them home for an early bath.

Photos: James Dowley & Darren Ikin – By Joseph Gilbertson | Shaun Bee & Simon Bentley – By David Hales Photography

The retirements did not end there, this somewhat technical 110-mile route would also take its toll on a number of other contestants and their chariots. ANCC front-runner, Shaun Bee who had made the trip across the border from Wales alongside Simon Bentley, was another crew who would not be reaching the finish line. Their Honda Civic suffered a broken radiator after taking a cattle grid enthusiastically on the second selective and their exit will no doubt dent Bee’s ANCC championship campaign; allowing the likes of Kris Coombes & Ryan Tubman to gain some ground, as they would both finish the event in 10th and 11th respectively.

2022 ANCC Champ, Richard Hunter’s relationships with Oaks would take another knock this year; Hunter did not finish the Oaks back in 2009 and would once again not reach the finish line this time around. There were a few hick-ups from Hunter and Co-driver Gary Evans in the first half of the rally, admittedly losing a bit of time on the first farm, but the second half was going well, to the extent that they cleaned everything. However, a blown head gasket on their Ford Escort would put an end to their fun, maybe next year it will be third time lucky?

Photos: Richard Hunter & Gary Evans – By David Hales Photography | Simon Cottrell & Sam Collis – By Joseph Gilbertson|

If that wasn’t enough drama, our 2002 Oaks Trophy winner Simon Cottrell with Sam Collis sitting alongside, would damage the exhaust on their MKII Ford Escort in the second section. Disappointingly forcing their retirement from fourth place overall, they were another contender to exit the rally prematurely.

Parking those unfortunate retirements to one side, there was an overriding big thumbs up from the majority of the crews who were out enjoying the challenging and technical roads that the organisers had thrown at them.

As the crews reached the second time control of the evening, it would seem that to be in the hunt, at least one of you had to have the surname of Jones!

Photos: Jon Bossen & Rob Bryn “Chicken” Jones | Chris Farrell & Gareth Jones By David Hales Photography | Matthew Jones & Richard Morris – By Joseph Gilbertson|

Jon Bossen and Rob Bryn “Chicken” Jones were in control of the event with a total time of 6:36, they had edged a gap of 4:58 over Chris Farrell & Gareth Jones.

“Fabulous, absolutely brilliant, enjoying it, it’s a good craic.”
Jon Bossen & Rob Bryn “Chicken” Jones

Former ANWCC Driver Champ Farrell, was originally down to tackle the event in a Ford Escort but would find himself having to do a bit of last-minute switcheroo before the off. On the way to the event, an oil leak was discovered on the MKII, which meant a BMW would have to subbed in its place.

“We are having a great run, really enjoying it, it’s a fantastic rally.”
Chris Farrell & Gareth Jones

Holding third place and just a further three seconds adrift of Farrell, were Matthew Jones & Richard Morris in the Vauxhall Astra.

“We’ve had a few problems, lost a spotlight and been held up by car 5 being off but OK so far.”
Matthew Jones & Richard Morris

Baz Green & Rob Jones were “having a giggle and loving the lanes” and holding P4 in the Proton Satria, ahead of the leading Semi-Expert crew of Dave Green & Andrew Millington, who would round out the top five at this point in the proceedings. Green & Millington had managed to build up a gap of just over a minute (1:09) to their nearest class rivals Martin & Sarah Payne in the Daewoo Lanos.

Photos: Baz Green & Rob Jones – By Joseph Gilbertson | Dave Green & Andrew Millington – By David Hales Photography | Martin & Sarah Payne – By Joseph Gilbertson

Meanwhile, just outside the top ten, in the scrap for the Novice Award, despite “getting lost a couple of times!” the Ford Escort of David Barrowclough & Oliver Moore (P12) was currently keeping Joe Barnwell & Oliver Edwards (P13) in the E36 BMW Compact at arm’s length and the gap between them stood at just 1:34 at TC2. On their first proper attempt at a road rally, Barnwell & Edwards were making some mistakes but were still having some fun along the way, in what they described as “a hectic experience”.

Photos: David Barrowclough & Oliver Moore | Joe Barnwell & Oliver Edwards | By Joseph Gilbertson

The last section of the event really seemed to flow well for many but would see no change in the top three of the leaderboard. Jon Bossen & Rob Bryn “Chicken” Jones would keep it clean and tidy for the remainder of the rally and would romp home to secure the 2024 Oaks Trophy victory.

It has been some forty-eight years since Bossen had first made an attempt at the Oaks, finally, he would submit his name into the history books of this iconic event. The ERO club member said it was the best rally he’d ever done and that he was “Chuffed” to have done it, and with the very capable Rob Bryn “Chicken” Jones beside him in the MKII Escort on the maps. Of course, Rob himself would also have something to smile about arriving back at the finish. It was his second take at the event and he had made it two out of two wins: “Two out of two, it was nice to do it again, we’ll try for a hat-trick next year” he commented, whilst tucking into his hearty breakfast back at the Knot Inn.

Photo: Jon Bossen & Rob Bryn “Chicken” Jones | By David Hales Photography

Runners-up Chris Farrell & Gareth Jones, although had dropped a little time through the backend of the night, they were able to hold on to second position, returning home with a final margin of just eight seconds separating them and Matthew Jones & Richard Morris in third.

Photo: Chris Farrell & Gareth Jones | By David Hales Photography

However, the Oaks Trophy would not be Farrell’s only defeat of the night, the man from Rhyl in Wales would also end up the bridesmaid in a game of connect-four with Bossen, whilst awaiting the final results. Once again, our rally winner showing who “The Boss” really is in the game!

Jones & Morris, reported that overall, their event went OK. Yes, there were a few little mistakes here and there from them, and they did have to stop at one point to help out Mr Langthorne who was blocking the road following his off. Nevertheless, third place was a strong result and he had also matched his 2023 Oaks Trophy result, so consistent he is.

Photo: Matthew Jones & Richard Morris | By Joseph Gilbertson

Missing out on the top three Chris Way & Dylan Griffiths would have a “good laugh” on the event in their Honda Civic. Although they kept it clean and tidy on the first test, they would, however, run into a bit of trouble in the first selective:

“Once plotted, we had a little bit of time to chill and get set before hitting the lanes but the calmness didn’t last very long due to running wide and becoming stuck on the first selective, dropping around 8 minutes.”

Photo: Chris Way & Dylan Griffiths | By Joseph Gilbertson

Way, a previous ANWCC Junior Champ goes on to add

“Once we calmed down and put the off in the back of our minds, we punched on, gradually gaining time back one selective at a time and overtaking a large number of crews back up to 4th”, “It’s a fantastic event and a brilliant team of organisers, but the route was very technical”.

Taking the semi-experts honours and fifth overall were another Escort crew of Dave Green & Andrew Millington. Green who has tackled the Oaks Trophy a number of times throughout the nineteen eighties in the very same car would record his best-ever Oaks result this year.

Bettering his tenth-place finish of 1987, Green would report a “trouble-free event” that had a “great route” and included some “classic roads” to boot. Green, an ERO club member, along with his Co-driver Millington, were another crew to be leaving the event happy men. Their class winning margin was two and half minutes over the Mazda MX5 of Stephen Jack Thomas & Rhys Griffiths, who would pick up sixth overall.

Photos: Dave Green & Andrew Millington | Stephen Jack Thomas & Rhys Griffiths – By David Hales Photography

Montgomery man, Thomas, a past WBCC, NADAC, and WAMC novice champ back in 2017 had “found the feeling” from the very first test, having set the fourth fastest time. This set the pace for him and Co-driver Griffiths from then on, however from around the fourth selective the pair would begin to suffer some brake fade which progressively got worse as the night went on.

The confidence was affected to the point where Stephen wanted to call it a night, Co-Driver Rhys explains:

“Just before the sixth selective, Stephen was going to call it a night, as he was worried, he wouldn’t stop. But after a chat with the start control, we decided that because there was only 30 miles remaining, we should just nurse it to the finish to get any result that we could. We really didn’t expect to get the result we did, and we thoroughly enjoyed the night. We plan on returning next year to give it another go.”

The third horse home to the stables in the semi-expert class and taking 13th overall were Martin & Sarah Payne in the Daewoo Lanos, after a steady performance the pair had recorded a decent result themselves.

Joe Barnwell & Oliver Edwards would take home the Novice award honours (plus 9th overall) in their E36 BMW Compact. The Oaks was Barnwell’s first ever go at a road rally, having only dabbled in the odd 12-car back home in Cumbria in the past. In addition to this, his Nav, Oliver, had also never set foot inside a rally car before. And so, after a crash course in how to plot a route and navigate a road rally, the evening would prove to be one heck of a steep learning curve for the pair, as they got to grips with this crazy game that is road rallying.

“Learning at every step of the way, we had plenty of overshoots, a few wrong junctions, and running back for code boards, as we figured out what we needed to do.”

Photos: Joe Barnwell & Oliver Edwards – By David Hales Photography

But they had exactly the right approach and attitude to the event, Barnwell goes on to explain:

“Our approach was just to learn and to try and get around with no fails, so we were OK with dropping some time and we did have a lot of fun”, “After plotting the rest of our route at petrol, we were building confidence, and started to understand how the event worked and had also begun to build up some speed.”

Barnwell & Edwards were the perfect example of what the sport needs right now, fresh blood getting stuck in, having a go, and finding out what great fun there was to be had road rallying.

“It’s safe to say the Oaks Trophy has been a great introduction into road rallies for us both and we have now got the bug, we are already looking to enter another event this year!”

To finish their first road rally inside the top ten, it goes without saying, was a mighty impressive performance, certainly ones to watch in the future.

Behind them, second in class and 12th overall was the Escort of David Barrowclough & Oliver Moore. They had led the Novice field for much of the rally, but the odd small navigational mistake may have cost them the class win on this one, or so they believed.

Photos: David Barrowclough & Oliver Moore – By David Hales Photography

“We have to learn from mistakes and take them on board. The car felt great, and we enjoyed the special stages (tests)”, “The event was great, we thoroughly enjoyed the route and how the timecards were set up”

Rounding out the top three of the novice field and 18th overall, was the father and son pairing of Steve & Martin Amery in their Peugeot 206 GTi. Although Steve had competed in the 1983 Oaks, finishing 3rd overall that year, this time it was a special occasion. Having his son Martin beside him for his first one, the aim was to finish the rally but that very nearly didn’t happen for them.

Photos: Steve & Martin Amery – By David Hales Photography

Martin takes up their Oaks story,

“It was a challenging start with some mistakes, but being a novice navigator, it’s expected. We reached petrol and I wasn’t feeling too good! After taking some paracetamol and water, along with some encouragement from Will Banks (Ass CoC); we carried on to an enjoyable second half on some fantastic lanes. Eventually reaching the last control to secure a finish, for which we are very pleased with. We are definitely looking forward to doing it again next year, hopefully with a bit more experience behind me.”

Of course, The Amery’s would also come out on top of that friendly father-son rivalry with fellow ERO club members Dan & Morgan Knight in the Nissan Micra; just seventeen seconds would separate them at the final time control giving them the bragging rights at the next club night.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As the sun rose on another successful Oaks Trophy Rally, it was clear that the 2024 edition was once again a hit with all crews who undertook this challenging 110-mile event. Across the field, the consensus and feedback was good, with a great night of motorsport, even for those who were not able to complete the event in its entirety, they would still get some enjoyment out of it. Some will have a fair bit of work on the spanners for their machines post-rally, whilst others might only need to throw a bucket of water or two at them.

For the organisers, all the effort and countless hours of work had paid off, the ERO team now has a younger committee in place which is taking the club forward with an effort to build a bigger and more diverse membership base. The team has both the drive and the determination to not only see their event, The Oaks Trophy Rally continue to be a success but they also have the ambition to see our beloved sport of road rallying to rise up. The desire to see more exposure, an increased following, and an increased level of participation is in their minds; in order for the sport to not only continue to provide a vital entry point into grassroots motorsport but to also thrive in the future. All involved in Road Rallying are urged to get behind and share in the vision of this forward-thinking Motor Club.

FINAL TOP 10 LEADERBOARD

POS	CLASS	COMPETITORS	TOTAL
1	EXP	#01 J.BOSSON & R.BRYN JONES	6:36
2	EXP	#09 C.FARRELL & G.JONES	11:34
3	EXP	#04 M.JONES & R.MORRIS	11:42
4	EXP	#11 C.WAY & D.GRIFFITHS	20:10
5	SEMI	#24 D.GREEN & A.MILLINGTON	23:33
6	SEMI	#28 S.J.THOMAS & R.GRIFFITHS	26:03
7	EXP	#17 R.HENMAN & J.SIMMS	28:05
8	EXP	#18 D.PEDLEY & G.PEDLEY	28:06
9	NOV	#33 J.BARNWELL & O.EDWARDS	44:37
10	EXP	#7 K.COOMBES & L.BAINES	12:19 + 1 FAIL