2026 East Riding Stages Rally Report: Winners Jersey for Sam!
Sam Touzel and Max Freeman won a tough East Riding Stages
Words by James Downie, photography by James Downie, Paul Marshall, Amber Laybourne, Gary Bray and Lee Whitehouse, videography by Michael Whiteley for Rally Media UK…
The East Riding Stages Rally doesn’t have the spectacular landscapes of a Ceredigion or an Argyll rally, and let’s face it, the topography of East Yorkshire is flat, dull and dominated by arable farming. However, this rally runs over the third weekend of February towards the end of long, harsh winters. The weather can be unpredictable, and the stages are very fast. The surfaces are potholed and lethally slippery when wet, a factor compounded by the huge quantities of mud dragged onto the roads by the farm vehicles that work this land all year round. In short, it represents a different, and in its own way tough challenge, which only a fool would underestimate.
The 2026 East Riding Stages was certainly ambitious and innovative. For the first time in its five year life it would be a two day affair, with a ceremonial start at 6pm on Saturday in the beautiful Yorkshire town of Beverley, right under the stunning archway on north bar. The high speed stuff kicked off almost straight away less than half a mile away, with a couple of runs of a new route over the Westwood spectator stage, held in darkness for the first time. They were to be followed by two brand new stages as the rally moved into uncharted stage rally territory in the wolds to the west of Beverley on Saturday night. These were set to be unlike anything used on this rally before, the geography in this area allowed for a steep climb and descent and featured some wide and ultra quick roads. On Sunday the route would be reversed from previous years, with the familiar stages to the east of the town being run in the opposite directions.
After last year's visit from the BRC, the February date was deemed too early in the year to be part of that series in 2026, but the Protyre MSUK Asphalt Championship was back, as was the all new British Historic Asphalt series, all of which helped draw 149 starters to Beverley. Defending Protyre champion Sam Touzel with Max Freeman onboard was a hot favourite in the Rally2 Fiesta, but there was also strong competition from James Ford and Neil Shanks in a Citroen C3, and Neil Roskell/Jack Morton and David Wright/Jane Nicol in similar Fiestas. Additional flavour was provided by 2025 BTRDA champions Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear, who this year have opted to try their luck on asphalt with the Skoda Fabia. Legend Fires and Proctors Coaches both brought three car teams.
Documentation and sign on was at the racecourse whilst service and scrutineering were held within the grounds of the excellent Bishop Burton College, ahead of the scheduled recce.
Weeks of rain before the rally and a downpour just before the start made tyre choice very tricky with crews needing to choose a set for the 4 Saturday stages before they left the start. Further rain abated but the roads would stay damp, especially under the tree lined sections out in the wolds.
The one and a half mile Westwood stage with its chicanes and bales, and commentary for the masses of spectators got things off to a relatively gentle start. Touzel was narrowly quicker on the first one and Hirst narrowly quicker on the second so there was not much in it as the crews headed off into the night.
David Wright and Jane Nicol in the Wolds on Saturday night. A puncture on Sunday spoiled a good drive and robbed them of 4th.
The stages in the Wolds were much less friendly. They were eye wateringly fast and treacherous with hazards everywhere to catch out the unwary. The last mile of SS3, “Little Wold” in particular would require a fair set, as it dived steeply downhill toward South Cave, whilst SS4, “Great Wold”, followed the same route for the first 2 miles before splitting right at a junction and stretching over the top for 11.47 miles towards Walkington via Little Weighton. Bogey times were under threat.
Spectators brought food, drink, music, fire and lights into these stages and a fantastic atmosphere was in evidence as the cars blasted off the start line and the evening air was filled with the sound of powerful engines approaching on rev limiters…
Touzel and Ford both beat the bogey on SS3 and SS4, at an average speed of around 80mph. Joe Cunningham described it as “scary”, and Ross Brusby and Sam Collis’s tripometer recorded a top speed of 128mph…whilst Neil Roskell was into the first corner way too fast and off backwards into a fence, fortunately with only a loss of a light pod and spoiler and 30 seconds or so.
Touzel held a tiny lead of 0.4 seconds over Ford on Saturday night with Hirst 3rd, Scot Hugh Brunton 15 seconds further back and Kevin Proctor 5th. Lee Edwards was an incredible 6th overall in the Jaguar engined rear wheel drive Escort G3, thanks in no small part to it’s long gearing, co-driver Sam Spencer’s local knowledge and it’s driver’s bravery. The rest of the top 10 was locked out by Ollie Mellors’ Proton Iriz, Wright, Cunningham and Brad Cole, and separated by only a few seconds.
Then came the news that Touzel had been penalised 1 minute for an incident with a bale on SS4. Although he would continue under appeal, for now he had been demoted to the lower reaches of the top 20, leaving James Ford as overnight leader.
James Ford put in a superb brave drive but was pipped by just 4 seconds at the finish.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny in contrast to recent weather in the area, and everyone was grateful for it although the forecast was mixed for later.135 crews restarted and headed for SS5, Seaton, out towards the east coast and an exact reversal of the Dunnington stage from last year. It started with a muddy section through farmland, passed through Dunnington village towards Catfoss and then the notoriously muddy section towards the finish…
The pace was immediately furious. With Touzel’s appeal still up in the air, Ford couldn’t back off, and with the help of daylight and a brave tyre choice of slicks, was 0.7 seconds faster over the 7 miles. Hirst was 13 seconds slower. Proctor moved up a place but was already a massive 30 seconds down on Hirst. Good times for Wright and Cunningham saw them both move up three places and occupy 4th and 5th whilst Roskell dragged himself back into the top 10, but Brunton went off on the mud, winding up in a ditch and out of contention.
Flying slightly less than we’re used to, Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear netted 3rd with a sensible and safe run.
Next stage was Rise. A short but twisty and slippery affair with some deceptive corners and a very fast middle section. Improved drainage in the fields at the end of the stage had robbed the photographers of the big watersplash though. One of the slippery sections saw Ford slide off into a field and he dropped 9 seconds to Touzel. James knew that could prove crucial if Sam’s penalty was revoked… and he was right. By now a decision had been made by the stewards and Touzel had been adjudged not guilty of the infringement the previous night. The 1 minute penalty was binned and Touzel now led the rally by 8.4 seconds. The rest of the top runners all moved down a place.
Ellerby was the trickiest stage of the Sunday with technical sections, flat out sections, wide sections, narrow sections, muddy sections, some very dodgy unseen junctions, and surface changes all the way. The same pattern continued here with Touzel extending his lead over Ford by another 2 seconds, Hirst yet again third quickest, and Wright grabbing 4th place from Proctor. Roskell continued his fight back and was now into the top 7 behind Cunningham. There was a nasty moment when Nathan Bolton in one of the Legend Fires Fiestas went into a watery ditch with the crew trapped inside. The stage had to be stopped whilst the emergency services went in. Thankfully Bolton and co-driver Mark Broadbent were rescued unscathed and the stage resumed after 20 minutes or so.
Lee Edwards/Sam Spencer were an astonishing 6th overall in the rear wheel drive Jaguar engined Escort G3.
The next stage was Swine, which was the usual Wawne Common in reverse. Probably the most flowing stage of the rally but with some slippery shiny tar near the start and a couple of narrow bridges near the end. Cunningham got ahead of Proctor here but otherwise there were no positional changes among the top runners so Touzel now led Ford by 11.4 seconds with Hirst a distant and lonely 3rd, 25 seconds behind Ford and 38 ahead of 4th placed David Wright.
Now fully aware Touzel’s penalty had been scrubbed, Ford decided to have a real crack over the remainder of the rally, immediately taking 8 seconds off the leader over the next two stages back at Westwood, reducing the gap to just 3.1 seconds at service. Robert Swann and Joe Cunningham notched up fastest stage times on the two Westwood stages in their Fiesta WRCs.
Tyre choice had been difficult all day, but as the cars set off for the second pass at the stages rain was threatening and the right rubber now became critical. Ford wrongly gambled on slicks whilst Touzel took wets, and the Jersey man extended his lead by 10 seconds at Seaton 2. Wright was forced to stop and change a puncture, costing several minutes and all chance of a good result.
There was little change at the front over Rise 2, which saw a second stage win for Swann in the Fiesta WRC. On Ellerby 2 Ford closed the gap by 5 seconds as the slicks started to work better but Neil Roskell’s climb back up the leaderboard ended prematurely with engine trouble. The misfortunes of Wright and Roskell allowed others to profit. The slippery conditions had seen Lee Edwards in the G3 Escort overtaken by 4wd cars but now he was able to climb back up a couple of places, whilst Swann’s fastest times saw him break into the top 10 along with Scotsman Ian Forgan.
Joe Cunningham and Josh Beer were another to lose a good result as the pace took it’s toll on machinery.
Over the final stage at Swine, Ford, on slicks was able to take another chunk of time back but it would not be quite enough and Touzel held on for victory by just 4 seconds. There was further misfortune on the final stage with a puncture and power steering problems costing Joe Cunningham several minutes too. As a result, Ollie Mellors, who had been 8th at service inherited 4th, 1m45s behind 3rd placed Hirst. Kevin Proctor was 5th and Edwards a superb 6th in a 2wd car. Completing the top 10 after all this drama in the final few stages were Brad Cole, Ian Forgan, Roger Duckworth and Robert Swann.
The spraying of champagne has become a familiar sight in Beverley over the last 5 years…
The 2026 East Riding Stages was the best edition yet. The night stages and extra length, added to the stage conditions brought an extra dimension of genuine toughness to the rally. One third of the field failed to make the finish, and drivers who “kept it on the island” and played it safe with tyre choices ended up with excellent results at the finish. The ceremonial start under Beverley’s iconic archway on North Bar was a master stroke, as was using Bishop Burton College for scrutineering and service. In just 5 years, the East Riding has become one of the highlights of the British rally calendar and continues to grow into a really special and challenging rally. The people of Beverley have warmed to it and it has the potential to expand and grow even bigger if it can find a title sponsor for 2027.
The stunning archway on Beverley’ North Bar was superb location for the Cermonial Start on Saturday Night.
Result:
Sam Touzel / Max Freeman – 1:01:39.4
James Ford / Neil Shanks – 1:01:43.4
Matthew Hirst / Declan Dear – 1:02:26.9
Ollie Mellors / Ian Windress – 1:04:11.9
Kevin Procter / Rob Fagg – 1:04:20.9
Lee Edwards / Sam Spencer – 1:05:13.6
Brad Cole / Jamie Vaughan – 1:05:15.0
Ian Forgan / Callum Young – 1:05:15.9
Roger Duckworth / Alun Cook – 1:05:20.2
Rob Swann / Tom Woodburn – 1:05:23.5
