2026 Trackrod Rally Yorkshire Report: World of Payne!

Word by James Downie, Photography by James Downie, Paul Marshall and Lee Whitehouse, Videography by Michael Whiteley for Rally Media UK.

Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh were once again untouchable…

This years’ Trackrod Rally Yorkshire once again took place over the final weekend in September. It retained it’s base in the seaside town of Filey and followed the traditional format of a stage in Dalby Forest on the Friday night for the Trackrod Historic Cup and the Landrover and Mini Challenges, followed on Saturday by 5 classic stages in the fast Yorkshire Forests, with the BTRDA championship regulars joining in for the Trackrod Forest Rally. The main difference this year was much more mileage being used in Dalby, with Langdale still off the menu.

Elliot Payne and his wily Co-Driver Patrick Walsh have had things mostly their own way in this years BTRDA Gold Star series, and even though this was only Round 5 of 7, chief rivals and reigning champions Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear had to win the Trackrod to stay in with a chance of retaining the crown. Small errors had been punished heavily, and In spite of a win on the previous round at the Nicky Grist, they arrived at the Trackrod a lowly 4th in the table behind Icelanders Daniel Sigurdarson and Asta Sigurdarsdottir, and Ireland’s Dan O’Brien and Martin Brady. To make matters even more challenging, Payne had now swapped from the Rally2 Fiesta to a Skoda, and the Fabia RS is a quicker car.

Ben Smith and dad Steve in their beautiful red Porsche 911 came into the trackrod leading the BHRC and knowing the long straights and square bends in these stages ought to suit their car’s superior power and traction. Damien Tourish (Escort) Marty McCormack (BMW M3) and Richard Hill and Paul Thompson (Escorts), were chasing him in the Championship and would have other ideas though. David Henderson and Dan Mennell brought their Escorts out for the first time since last years RAC for the Trackrod, and were there to win the rally. It would be interesting to see how they went against the BHRC regulars, and also Ben Friend who’s historic spec Escort was registered for the BTRDA Silver Star series rather than the BHRC. Another quick local hoping to get amongst them would be Matthew Stroud in the ex-Matthew Robinson Escort. As usual though, the two wheel drive crews were hoping the Mitsubishis of James and George Lesley continued with the reliability issues which had negated their superior power and traction for most of the season.

Matthew Stroud and Sam Spencer took a maiden BHRC win on home ground.

The conditions were dry and dusty in the forests as the competitors headed out at nightfall to the 12 mile stage in Dalby Forest. Marshalls, Spectators and Media took up their positions, eager for the sound of highly tuned engines approaching on the night air, and with the tracks around Flax Dale and Fainsey Rigg in use, for the first time in a decade, the cars would pass through the famous Woodyard twice on the stage. It promised to be quite a spectacle.

Sadly it was not to be. Several nasty incidents involving Mini Challenge crews meant the stage had to be stopped whilst recovery and medical crews went in, and by the time everything was cleared and injuries were treated it was too late to restart the stage and those 12 stage miles were lost for all the Historic crews. Rally Media UK wish those injured a speedy recovery. Of course, youngsters have to start somewhere in our sport, and the mini challenge has been a successful and affordable formula for them, so I won’t be as unkind as some online punters were about it. However, with entry fees so high, spectator tickets not cheap, and the full historic championship waiting to do the stage, with the benefit of hindsight, one has to wonder about the wisdom of running the least experienced crews first on the road through a stage as fast and brutally unforgiving as a Dalby 12 miler in the dark. This was always potentially on the cards. To their credit , the Organisers made Friday night spectator tickets valid for Saturday. Good will goes further than money now and then.

The first stage on Saturday was Gale Rigg. No better stage in Yorkshire if you’re a photographer, as tree felling in recent years has given a backdrop of the North York Moors National Park - real “Heartbeat” territory - for much of the stage. About a mile in was an innocuous looking slight downhill left. Only it’s not innocous. It is deceptive and narrows and has adverse camber, and a big drop on the outside where only pine trees will stop a rally car from falling all the way down to the North York Moors Railway. It is named “Milners”, after Johnnie Milner , who famously lost the BRC title after going off there in the naughties. Matthew Hirst will be the first to admit that he hasn’t made the greatest defence of his BTRDA Gold Star crown this season, small unforced errors coupled with Elliott Payne getting his hands on quicker machinery had meant that that he had to win in Yorkshire. Unfortunately the Fabia arrived at Milners several mph above the limit for that corner and the car went sideways into the undergrowth for about 20 metres. Although he was lucky to avoid the trees and the drop, and didn’t really lose any time in the incident itself, the right rear tyre was off the rim with 5 miles of the stage still to do. He was noticeably much slower than usual pulling away from the uphill hairpin half a mile from the finish. By the stage end the yellow Fabia of Payne was was right up in his dust and it was obvious he’d lost nearly a minute. If Payne didn’t already have one hand on the title, he did now.

This puncture ended Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear’s reign as BTRDA Gold Star Champions.

Hirst had actually lost 40 seconds to Payne on the stage, but 43 to Sigurdarson who’d gone fastest. Alex Vassallo and Chris Lees had only been 0.1 seconds slower than Payne. Al Ginley, Ian Bainbridge and Liam Clark all set good times through the stage too. James Lepley’s Evo 3 was quickest historic by a second from brother George’s Galant. The power and traction advantage really working for these cars at some of the uphill junctions on Gale Rigg. To his credit, the impressive Mennell was only 2 seconds slower than James in a Mark 2 Escort, with 4th fastest Stroud a full 7 seconds further back. McCormack’s BMW was 5th.

As usual, Gale Rigg was followed by Cropton, a longer, faster, but less scenic stage the other side of the public road. Sigurdarson again beat Payne to extend his lead to 5.8 seconds. Hirst, with tyres on all 4 wheels once again was 3rd quickest to drag himself back up 11 places on the leaderboard to 16th, but barring miracles, the win he needed was looking unlikely. George Lepley took the historic lead with a time 8 seconds quicker than James. Mennell continued to outpace the other 2 wheel drive crews and Stroud stayed 4th.

Paul Thompson and Josh Davison were 4th in the BHRC on home soil.

The rally then moved into the Dalby complex for the remaining 30 stages miles. The routes were different to the ill-fated Friday night stage, and the first one, Givendale, started near the farm of the same name and used tracks that had barely seen rally cars in 20 years. They were fast and in some places narrow and rough. Payne went fastest to draw dead level on time with Sigurdarson. Behind the leaders a large pack of Yorkshireman had joined Payne to hunt down Sigurdarson. Al Ginley, Joe Cunningham, Daniel Horns, Liam Clark and Ryan Champion were all in hot pursuit, and about to join them was yet another Yorkshireman: Hirst was 2nd quickest in Givendale to climb into 9th overall. 11th placed Alan Carmichael is from Northern Ireland, but he was wise enough to bring in Gartforh’s Harry Walshaw as co-driver!

Mennell fell victim to a horrifically rough and rutted section of Givendale; the surface bouncing the orange Escort straight off the road and into a roll, Dan and co-driver John Roberts were unhurt and although the car looked badly bent, the damage wasn’t as bad as it first appeard, and it will repair. His drive had shown just what a talent the historic championship had missed this year though. Also in trouble in Givendale was McCormack, a broken coil lead ending the M3’s rally in Givendale. The Lepley brothers continued to dominate the historic field, George pulling 14 seconds clear of James with another fastest time. Stroud had inherited 3rd and was by some distance the best Escort driver at this point, 27 seconds clear of David Henderson with Tourish and Thompson another 2 seconds further back.

The second stage in the main Dalby complex was Housedale. It featured the Woodyard, Sutherbruff Rigg, the quarry, a tight hairpin near Go Ape and a jump over a crossroads before finishing near Dixons Hollow. Issues for Sigurdarson put paid to any hope they had of challenging Payne for the win. Payne emerged from the stage with a 19 second lead over the Icelanders. Al Ginley was a long way back but 3rd overall, just clear of Vassallo, with Hirst now having carved his way up to 5th from 27th.

Dan Mennell and John Roberts were quick in Yorkshire but rolled out…

Deja Vu struck in the historics, as mechanical gremlins started to affect the Lepleys yet again. James was out at the start of Housedale, the beautiful red Evo IV suffering fuel pressure failure. Suddenly Stroud was promoted to 2nd. George was 56 seconds clear of Stroud with just the familiar 6 miles of Staindale left. Surely one of the Mitsubishis would make the finish? One day it will happen, but it wasn’t going to be on the 2026 Trackrod. Almost unbelievably, yet believably, the propshaft gave out on the Galant halfway through Staindale. Both Lepley brothers were out again.

Daniel Sigurdarson and Asta Sigurdarsdottir led briefly but could not stop Payne taking the rally and the Gold Star title.

Matthew Stroud only took up rallying in 2024. Last year he took his first BHRC stage win on the Trackrod, and this year, he established himself in 4th and watched as one by one, Dan Mennell, James Lepley, then George Lepley all retired, and inherited a superb and very popular home victory. This is what keeps the BHRC exciting at the moment. It is obvious that the turbo charged 300bhp 4wd Group A cars are much faster and more technologically advanced than a Mark 2 Escort designed in 1975, but they are complex, and that current mechanical frailty is the only thing stopping them from walking all over the BHRC. Behind Stroud, Henderson took 2nd on his return, Tourish 3rd and Thompson 4th to stay in touch in the title race. Behind them Jack Matthewson and Tom Spencer were a fine 5th overall in the beautiful Fiat 131 Abarth. Ben Smith in the Porsche was 7th but with yet another maximum score in Category 4, he holds on to his overall BHRC lead from Tourish.

Nigel and Kaz Jenkins easily won the Bronze Star category in a one off outing.

Payne cruised through the last stage in Staindale but still set fastest time, winning the Trackrod Forest Stages by a comfortable margin from Sigurdarson, and in doing so regained the BTRDA Gold Star crown, his 4th title in 5 years. Behind him, Alex Vassallo and Chris Lees set a great time in Staindale to snatch 3rd overall from Al Ginley at the death. With the game now up as far as the title was concerned, Hirst and Dear also cruised through the last stage to come home 5th.

Al Ginley and Carl Williamson were 4th on the Trackrod.

With the Bronze Star title already sewn up by Luke Watts, the win for this round was kept in the family as his mum and step dad Nigel and Kaz Jenkins stormed home in the green Nova.

Elliot Payne has grown this season into a true champion. He has learned rally and championship management and won all the crucial moments whilst punishing the minor errors of his opponents ruthlessly. Unlike his earlier titles, he was up against opponents who could equal him for pace, yet he still won 4 out of the first 5 rounds to nail the title in the most efficient manner possinle. With four Gold Star titles in the bag at just 23 years of age, and with his hands on a Fabis RS, his opponents will have to do something pretty spectacular to stop him adding to that tally next year.

Final Results BTRDA Gold Star

1 Elliot Payne/Patrick Walsh

2 Daniel Sigurdarson/Asta Sigurdarsdottir

3 Alex Vassallo/Chris Lees

4 Al Ginley/Carl Williamson

5 Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear

6 Ian Bainbridge/Ross Whittock

7 Daniel Hiorns/ Rob Fagg

8 Joe Cunnigham/Chris Beer

9 Alan Carmichael/Harry Walshaw

10 James McCarville/Arthur Kierans

BHRC:

1 Matthew Stroud/Sam Spencer

2 David Henderson/Will Atkins

3 Damien Tourish/

4 Paul Thompson/Josh Davison

5 Jack Matthewson/Tom Spencer

7 Ben Smith/Steve Smith

BTRDA Silver Star

1 Ben Friens/Osian Owen

2 Tom Constantine/Tony Walker

3 Rian Walker/Paul Gribben

BTRDA Bronze Star

1 Nigel Jenkins/Kaz Jenkins

2 Dale Glover/David Smalley

3 Ed James/Kevin Lane

BTRDA Gold Star Standings:

1 Elliot Payne 148 Points (2026 BTRDA Gold Star Champion)

2 Daniel Sigurdarson 136

3 Dan O’Brien 115

4 Matthew Hirst 112

5 Pete Gorst 100

BTRDA Silver Star Standings

1 Rian Walker 110

2 Baz Jordan 108

3 Bryan Jardine 105

BTRDA Bronze Star Standings

1 Luke Watts 133

2 Dylan Fowler-Bishop 85

3 Dale Glover 84