2026 Swift Signs Yorkshire Dales Rally Report: Payne reigns on home ground…

Elliott Payne and Michael Gilbey negotiate a typically scenic section on the Surrender Stage.

Words by James Downie, Photography by James Downie, Lee Whitehouse, Amber Laybourne and Gary Bray for Rally Media UK.

The Yorkshire Dales is one of 14 National Parks in the UK and any rally fan who has ever driven, hiked, camped, cycled or been to a pub here will have been very aware that its stunning beauty and high quality demanding roads always gave it the potential for an absolutely phenomenal rally, if anyone ever had the means and resilience to get it off the ground. Thankfully the organising team at Northallerton Auto club had the required vision, skills and strength to deliver the goods..

The last Sunday in March saw the first ever running of the Swift Signs and Shirts Yorkshire Dales Rally. It had been several years in the making, and just to get to the point where car 1 was flagged away from the start represented a monumental achievement by the organising team, when the PR, political, environmental. logistical and financial challenges of putting on a brand new rally of this nature are taken into account.

Starting and Finishing at Castle Bolton near Leyburn, the rally featured 4 stages, all run twice. As soon as route details became available, it was obvious that these stages were not only picturesque, but also ultra-fast, challenging and unforgiving. The beautiful climbs, descents, hairpins, bridges, scenery and watersplashes were contrasted by the hazards of dry stone walls, ditches, heavy landings, steep drops and streams. Add in the factor that the weather can be very changeable in these parts and this was clearly going to be a rally that demanded respect.

Alex Vassello and Chris Lees claimed a fine 2nd overall having also competed the previous day.

There were 100 starting places available and the entry was easily oversubscribed. Considering this was a brand new event that is not yet included in any of the major national championships, there was plenty of quality too. Sam Touzel and Max Freeman, the 2025 MSUK Protyre Asphalt Rally Champions were number one seeds in the Fiesta, followed by Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Yaris), Ollie Mellors/Ian Windress (Proton), Hugh Hunter/Andy Marchbank (Fiesta) and Joe Cunningham/Josh Beer (Fiesta). Also on the entry list, having rallied the previous day in the Welshpool based Rally North Wales, were Elliot Payne and Michael Gilbey, and Alex Vassello and Chris Lees, which gives an idea of how eager some crews were to compete here.

SS1 was “Castle Bolton”, a 4.36 mile test which started right in front of the Castle itself in Castle Bolton and led into a tight technical wooded area before opening out onto a very fast moorland road with a sequence of jumps then heading over Redmire and Grinton Moors towards Grinton Village. It was fast enough to require a virtual chicane to keep the average speed down. It had a feel of the classic stages of the Isle of Man or County Antrim.

Touzel’s class and confidence on asphalt roads really showed. He’d backed up his Protyre Championship winning season with a hard fought win at the 2026 season opener at the East Riding Stages a month ago. Even bringing this kind of form to the Dales, it was still a shock when he stopped the clocks 7 seconds faster than the next car. A time of 3m43s was an average speed of just over 70mph in spite of the virtual chicane. Second fastest was Patrick O’Donovan in the Hyundai followed by Vassallo/Lees and Payne/Gilbey. Equal 5th were Mellors/Windress, Hunter/Marchbank, Kevin Proctor/Rob Fagg, and Scotsman Ian Forgan with David Henderson swapping to the co-drivers seat. All 4 crews were tied on 4m01s, a massive 4.1 seconds a mile slower than Touzel.

Joe Cunningham and Josh Beer were flying and stole 3rd place at the finish by a solitary second.

SS2 was the absolutely magnificent “Surrender”. Relatively short at 3.71 miles but a one mile section in particular had a sequence of tight downhill hairpins, a watersplash, a big jump and crossed a beck via a beautiful old stone bridge. It really is piece of road to rival anything on any of the more established closed road Asphalt rallies in the UK. To add to the challenge the skies filled in and the first rain drops of the day started to fall just as Touzel was sent into the stage. It’s unclear whether the road was drier for him but he again took a massive chunk of time off everyone else. Fastest by 9 seconds on a short stage was a big statement. Vassallo was 2nd and Payne 3rd but already it was looking like they could do nothing but watch the flying Touzel disappear over the horizon.

Sam Touzel and Max Freeman set a devastating pace in the first half of the rally but hit trouble later on and lost a deserved win.

At almost 10 miles “Whitaside” was the longest test of the rally. Blasting down the moor towards Askrigg and back up the other side on a slightly narrower twistier road in a rough “V” shape, the stage would require some bravery. This stage claimed two of the top 10 starters as O’Donovan and Hugh Brunton fell by the wayside but Touzel continued to outpace the opposition at the same staggering rate, taking 26 seconds off the entire field. At the end of SS3, in just 18 stage miles Touzel and Max Freeman held an astonishing overall lead of 50 seconds over Vassallo and Payne, who were now tied for 2nd.

SS4 Semer Water was another stunningly beautiful stage that started high, up near the village of Burtersett and wound down to a lower level through Countersett, followed by a brief stretch along the banks of the reservoir itself and back up again to finish near Bainbridge 5 miles later. Sadly a spectator there suffered a heart attack and passed away. Needless to say the stage had to be cancelled and most competitors were given a nominal time.

Rally Media UK express our condolences to the man’s family and friends.

Ollie Mellors and Ian Windress were 4th in the ageing Proton Iris.

As had been forecast, the weather really deteriorated very rapidly in the afternoon, with heavy rain and high winds making conditions pretty miserable for all concerned. Touzel lost time with a spin on the 2nd run at Castle Bolton but Payne only cut his lead by 14 seconds. Jason Pritchard and Joe Cunningham shared fastest time but it was a full 15 seconds slower than the time set by Touzel in the morning, underlining that conditions were now very tough. It was very difficult to even stand at times in the wind, and those out there felt like waving a white flag out on the repeat of Surrender. Payne set his first fastest time but Touzel was still ahead by a comfortable 33 second margin. Vassallo was third, a further 22 seconds back and 4th placed Ollie Mellors was a full 1 minute 20 seconds behind the leader after SS6, with the leading crews now well strung out due to the pace and conditions.

Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke fought back to 6th and recorded a fastest stage time after a difficult start.

The horrific weather continued on the final two stages and it would ultimately cost Touzel a deserved win. On Semer Water 2 the car aquaplaned and hit a wall. The crew were unharmed but retired on the spot. Payne took victory by 41 seconds with Alex Vassallo an excellent second- great results for the two Fiesta crews, especially as both had competed the previous day in Wales. Fastest time on that final stage allowed Joe Cunningham to pip Ollie Mellors to 3rd place by just 1 second. Hugh Hunter rounded out the top 5.

All things considered, the inaugural Yorkshire Dales Rally was a triumph. The stages were of the highest quality and were very demanding indeed. With enough backing and support from local politicians, businesses and residents, there really is no limit to what this rally could grow into in the future. The Yorkshire Dales National Park covers a large geographical area and has hundreds of miles of roads of a similar standard and nature which could potentially be utilised for future runnings. Major Championships will almost certainly come knocking, and the best crews and cars will be desperate to come and test themselves here. Whether it can one day challenge Rali Bae Ceredigion as the UK Mainland’s biggest and best closed public road rally remains to be seen, but all the ingredients that can give it a chance are certainly there. Early indications suggest the rally went down very well locally and no objections were recorded at the subsequent council meeting regarding the rally being held again in the future, which can only bode well…

Result

1.Payne/Gilbey 45 minutes 16 seconds

2.Vassello/Lees +41 seconds

3.Cunningham/Beer +1 minute 22 seconds

4.Mellors/Windress +1.23

5.Hunter/Marchbank +1.34

6.Pritchard/Clarke +1.44

7.Duckworth/Cook +2.04

8.Pawson/Whiteley +2.26

9.Sisson/Stubbs +2.46

10.Stone/Marshall +3.13