REPORT / ARGYLL RALLY 2025

WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPY BY ANDREW SCOTT

From the stunning Cowal Peninsula in Scotland, the Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally would return to host the Asphalt, British Historic and Scottish Rally Championships with another quality edition of the two day closed roads tarmac event.

Organised by the Mull Car Club, the event featured over 66 competitive miles across 16 Asphalt stages, for a little under one hundred crews who would tackle this magnificent event from its rally HQ in Dunoon.

LEG 1

The opening night would see the competitors tackle seven stages, covering some 21-odd miles and lasting long into the night. Beginning with two spectator-friendly stages around Dunoon town center before heading out into some of the longer tests.

Asphalt Championship front runners Sam Touzel & Max Freeman set the early pace in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, building up a lead of some twenty-four seconds over the opening nights leg.

Behind the overnight rally leaders, there was a scrap between Scottish Rally Championship crew Hugh Brunton & Richard Wardle (VW Polo GTi R5), and Aphalt Championship crew Hugh Hunter & Rob Fagg (Ford Fiesta Rally2). Brunton would lead Hunter right up under the final stage of the opening leg, where Hunter and Co-Driver Fag would benefit from Brunton’s troublesome last stage of the night, which saw him drop down the leaderboard to fifth overall.

After the opening night of action, Rory Young & Jamie Edwards in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 would round out the top three, just six seconds behind second-place Hunter and Fagg.

Meanwhile, in the British Historics, Championship contenders David Crosson & Ben Teggart were getting to grips with the sealed surface in their MKII Ford Escort. Leading the way by some twenty-five seconds having gotten the jump on series newcomers, Will Rowlands & Emyr Hall. Paul Thompson & Josh Davison would hold third, a further forty-two seconds a drift of Rowlands.

Heading into the Argyll, Barry Jordan would be joint leader of the BHRC, along with Adam Milner, however, Milner would not be making the trip to Scotland. But Jordan and Co-Driver Awell Jenkins would not have free reign on the stages and would be met with a challenger in Cat4, which came in the form of a BMW M3 E30, joining the fold.

Driven by John Marshall & Craig Wallace, the pair would, however, trail Jordan’s Mitsubishi Galant VR4 around forty seconds after the opening leg of seven stages.

AFTER LEG 1

LEG 2

The main meat of the rally would take place on Saturday, where the second leg would feature a further nine stages at a distance of 45 miles.

Sam Touzel & Max Freeman set out for the day with their sights firmly on the prize, extending their lead through the morning’s five stages to thirty-six seconds over the leading SRC contenders, Rory Young & Jamies Edwards.

Behind, Jason Pritchard, alongside Phill Clarke in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 had gained some ground moving into P3, ten seconds ahead of a recovering Hugh Brunton. Another SRC crew, Mark McCulloch & Michael Hendry were rounding out the top five overall in their Proton Satia EVO S2000.

The day resumed in the historics with David Crossen & Ben Teggart up front with a lead to defend. However, Will Rowlands and Emyr Hall would begin to mount their challenge from the first stage of the day.

By SS11, Rowlands & Hall had closed the gap down to Crossen & Teggart to just four seconds and were really applying the pressure, the fight was back!

Sadly for Crossen and Teggart, after all their hard work, they would retire their MKII Escort on the very next stage (SS12 Whistlefield) with mechanical issues.

New leaders Rowlands & Hall would be heading into the afternoon’s loop of four stages with a whopping two-minute and fifteen-second lead over their nearest rivals, Paul Thompson & Josh Davison.

Barry Jordon & Awell Jenkins would continue to hold off the BMW of John Marshall & Craig Wallace, seventeen seconds was the gap with four to go.

Sam Touzel and Max Freeman (Ford Fiesta Rally2) were on the home straight, the pair were able to manage their lead and also extend it significantly over the course of the four remaining stages.

The pair would eventually cross the finish line to claim their maiden Asphalt Rally Championship victory, by a margin of some thirty-eight seconds over the winning Scottish Rally Championship crew, Rory Young & Jamies Edwards (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2).

Hugh Brunton & Richard Wardle would round out the podium in their VW Polo GTI R5, also taking second in the SRC. Jason Pritchard & Phill Clark would take fourth overall in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, and also secure second in the Asphalt Championships.

Will Rowlands & Emyr Hall would be another crew to secure a maiden win at the Argyll, the event was only their second registered in the BHRC but would see them take the top step on the podium (+Cat3 & H8 Class honours) ahead of Paul Thompson & Josh Davison. Rowland’s final winning margin was two minutes forty-six, with Nick Kitching & Josh Carr rounding out the BHRC podium in third (plus H5 class honours).

The final four stages would see a change in the lead of Category4, Barry Jordan & Arwell Jenkins in the Mitsubishi Galant had been leading the BMW M3 E20 of John Marshall & Craig Wallace for the majority of the event but would run into issues losing a chunk of time in SS14 Millhouses.

This opened the door for Marshall & Wallace to lead the category from here on, until the finish to secure maximum points on Cat4. Jordon and Jenkins would continue on, dragging their Galant home through the final few stages to get a result from the event, which was vital for the overall BHRC championship title fight.

Paul Clayton & Veera Johnson would round out Cat4 and the BHRC crews whilst taking the Class H honours, having successfully navigated all sixteen asphalt stages in their Peugeot 205 GTI.

FINAL RESULTS

ROUND UP

Touzels victory in Scotland moves him into second overall in the Asphalt Rally Championship standings, just a single point behind Jason Pritchard who leads the way.

Baz Jordon now leads the BHRC outrights with a strong lead over the nearest competitor, Adam Milner. Crossen DNF the Argyll was not the result that he was looking for, wanted or needed. The event was supposed to deliver him a decent points haul and see him make some ground whilst his opponents sat the event out. He does, however, remain in the third and still leads Cat3.