REPORT / LOMBARD RALLY FESTIVAL WESTON PARK
13/03/2026WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW SCOTT
Home to the annual AGBO Stages Rally and previously the base for Historic Rally Festival, Weston Park in Shropshire once again welcomed an assortment of historic rally cars to this once RAC Rally staple.
Last run on the snowy RAC in 1993, the weekend of March 8th and 9th saw the Shropshire stately home estate, famous for its watersplash, once again welcome period Machinery courtesy of Tim Nash’s travelling Lombard Rally Festival series of events.
For the first time since the 2023 Historic Rally Festival, crowds would be treated to the varied sounds of replica machinery such as Audi Quattro S1, Austin Metro 6R4, Ford Escorts (in many guises), Lancias in both Delta Integrale and Stratos varieties, as well as many others, all lovingly re-created by fans of these iconic machines.
Group B
Perhaps the most anticipated Machines were the Group B spec cars, chief among these the Audi Quattros, including those of Martin Roberts, S1 E2, Richard Boote, Len Millar and Alex Souter’s Audi 90 Variant. Unfortunately, Phil Welton suffered a locked diff on Saturday Afternoon and had to perform a hasty repair in the morning, before being able to take part in Sunday’s Run.
Dave Higgs also brought his Metro 6r4 and Tony Hart his Talbot Sambas in the Group B contingent. A late withdrawal from the entry list was Dave Kedward’s Peugeot 205 T16, but it did make a brief appearance on Saturday morning.
GROUP A
As the British Historic Rally Championship now welcomes Group A cars, this era of historic rallying is very much the up-and-coming era, as people of that generation remember the cars of their youth.
The Iconic Lancia Delta Integrale appeared in three liveries for Tim Bloxham, Rob Whitehouse and Ellis Mendeson. We had 2 Sierra Cosworths for Mike Watson and James Avis. For fans of Later Group A (and WRC), there was an Escort Cosworth in the hands of Richard Bland, Dave Bonning’s 1997 Monte-Carlo liveried Repsol Escort WRC, as well as 2 Subaru Imprezas, a Mitsubishi Evo6 and Shaun Lay’s ex works Proton Pert, driven in period by Karamjit Singh.
AMONG THE ESCORTS
Cars of an earlier era were well represented, including Talbot Sunbeams, a Volvo 244, an Austin Healey, and the normal contingent of Escorts (Mk1 and 2). Worth mentioning among these, however, are Former National Rally Champion Bill Dobie in his Escort Mk1, the gorgeous-looking Hawk of Mel Lewis (A Lancia Stratos replica), and the exuberant Mick Strafford in his Vauxhall Firenza Can Am.
THE EVENT
Starting at midday on Saturday and running through to around 4 PM on Sunday, the cars tackled a short demonstration stage featuring a mix of technical and fast sections within the estate grounds. They ran the stage in batches of twenty, each batch completing the same route in reverse before the next batch followed.
Flagged away from outside the main courtyard the stage started with a loop of Shrewsbury drive: A quick right hander, then a chicane punctuated blast in front of the manor house took the crews towards the outer boundaries of the estate, donuts ensuing before the cars blasted back past the start and into the main spectator section, the dulcet and sometimes colourful tones of Barry Lee blasting out of the PA system.
A series of left/right hairpins followed, before crews stretched their legs past the Temple of Diana, disappearing down through a flat-out left-hander and onto a very fast section towards the Southern end of the estate, punctuated only by a bailed chicane and a cattle grid. Sadly avoiding the watersplash on this occasion.
Despite some cold and overcast weather on both days, and an hour-long hold up on Sunday due to an altercation between a Ford Escort Mk2 and a rhododendron bush (After the stop line!), spectator feedback was good, and a large crowd was in attendance, lining both the stage and filling the service park on both days. Competitors remarked that it was as busy as they had seen for a long time!
NEXT TIME
The Lombard RAC Rally festival continues throughout the year, visiting its original home at Neston Park near Bath as well as other single venues at Craufurdland Castle, Longleat, Wimborne Chase (St Giles), including a new and most northerly venue at Brechin Castle on the weekend of the thirteenth and fourteenth of June.
