Payne gains from Hirst’s pain again…
2025 Woodpecker Rally Report - Words and Images by James Downie for Rally Media UK
Elliott Payne was handed a win fir the second time in three rallies
Saturday 30th August saw the running of the 2025 edition of The Phil Price Memorial Woodpecker Rally. Newtown played host to the Sixty and Worcestershire Motor Club organised event which had its usual very strong entry with almost 160 cars making the start. This years’ “Woody” was a round of several major championships including, BTRDA Rally Series, British Historic Rally Championship, Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship and the Mini Rally Challenge.
The route was even more compact than in previous seasons with eight classic stages in legendary Rally GB territory, run in two (morning and afternoon) loops of four. Three of the stages were in the main body of Hafren Forest, with a 4-mile stage over the road in Tarenig. Sweet Lamb and Ceri were “rested” for 2025.
Barry Jordan secured the British Historic title with an H12 Class win.
Elliot Payne/Patrick Walsh led the field away followed by Gold Star title rivals Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear and Icelandic siblings Daniel Sigurdarson and Asta Sigurdardottir. Tom Williams was next away making a welcome return to the UK rally scene partnered by Michael Gilbey with leading Welsh Championship contenders Liam Clark and Chris Williams at 5.
Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss were expected to be the class of historic crews but David Crossen/Ben Taggart, Paul Barrett/Arthur Kierans, David Henderson/Will Atkins would be sure to give him a good run for his money along with Dan Mennell/John Roberts. Series leader Barry Jordan was also present and was expected to pick up an easy maximum haul in the H12 category in the Mitsubishi Galant.
SS1: Britpart started in the north of Hafren forest then wound South and East for almost 6 miles. Conditions at this point were mild and dry and Hirst was out of the blocks quickly to take a full 6 seconds off Payne and 8 off Tom Williams. Sigurdarson and Clark were 4th and 5th but a long way back. Pryce was an incredible 13 seconds quicker than the next best 2wd crews (Barrett and Mennell) and equal 6th fastest overall but David Crossen was already out with throttle cable problems. James Giddings was second quickest Welsh contender and rounded out the top 10 overall times in his trusty old Evo. Meanwhile, husband and wife team Nigel and Kaz Jenkins were 6 seconds faster than Dylan Fowler-Bishop and Dan Evans to lead the 1400cc Bronze Star Category.
Osian Pryce produced a stunning display in Central Wales
Hirst had clearly laid down a marker though. The stages in mid Wales are made up of those sweeping tightening bends, crests, climbs, drops and hairpins and are tailor- made for the smooth, seemingly effortless style that has put Hirst on a different level since swapping to the Fabia exactly 12 months ago. Severn Way and Maes Nant were stages 2 and 3 – both in the main Hafren complex and Hirst was fastest on both, taking a further 11 seconds off Payne. Although Elliott stole a second back on Tarenig, Matthew led him by 16 seconds at the midway point.
Liam Clark was having a good run and threatening to make it a Yorkshire 1-2-3 at the front, in the process taking himself well clear of Giddings in the Welsh Championship battle, whilst Pryce continued to dominate in the 2wd category; even scoring a remarkable top 5 overall time on Severn Way. Barrett and Mennell were next but unable to lay a glove on Pryce on these stages. The Jenkins’ green Nova continued to lead the Bronze star from Fowler-Bishop in the Micra, in spite of a huge moment on the second stage when they came in too hot at a tightening right and went into the ditch but were fortunate enough to come out without losing any momentum or time.
Matthew Hirst was fastest on 5 of the 8 stages and would have won by almost a minute were it not for a penalty.
It was in the late morning that the rain came. Showers at first but soon torrential rain set in for the rest of the day. Last time out at the Nicky Grist temperatures hit 36 degrees Celsius but these conditions could scarcely have been a greater contrast. Large puddles formed on the surfaces of the forest tracks, along with a layer of mud, reducing grip levels drastically for the afternoon stages. At least one leading competitor described it as “like driving on marbles”.
The first stage of the afternoon looked to have settled the overall outcome. Problems for Elliott Payne’s Fiesta meant that he dropped to over a minute behind Hirst, who took another fastest time from Tom Williams. Clark was a long way clear of Giddings in the Welsh Championship, Pryce was a long way clear of everybody in the 2wd field, and well inside the overall top 10. Nigel and Kaz Jenkins continued to outpace all their bronze star rivals.
Nigel and Kaz Jenkins tool a comfortable bronze star win.
In spite of losing time on SS6 when he was baulked by a competitor who had been off earlier and rejoined, allowing Tom Williams to claim a fastest time. Hirst and Declan Dear walked away with the rest of the rally. Fastest on 5 out of the 8 stages and a long way in front.
Or so we all thought…
At the finish a bombshell was delivered. A 2-minute penalty had been given to Hirst and Dear for an early arrival at a time control, demoting them from 1st to 4th on the final leaderboard. A very bitter pill to swallow.
After the rally, Declan was man enough to publicly take full responsibility for the error. Having sat with Matthew myself for a couple of laps of Blyton raceway back in January, I know I could barely keep my lunch down let alone do everything a co-driver has to do on a rally without any mistakes, so I have the utmost respect for Declan and all rally co-drivers at the sharp end, and I’m not going to criticise anyone.
The net result though was that for the second time this season, Elliott Payne and Patrick Walsh were handed a victory and maximum BTRDA Gold Star points after being soundly beaten on the stages. Fair play to them for being there to pick up the pieces however, and as per the old adage “there’s a lot more to rallying than being the fastest”. And let’s face it, we are now all set for some mouth-wateringly epic battles on the remaining championship rounds…
At the finish Elliott commented “We stayed clean and made it count when it mattered”. Quite.
Tom Williams and Michael Gilbey claimed second overall from Liam Clark and Chris Williams, who took maximum points in the Pirelli Welsh Championship. Rounding out the top 5 behind Hirst and Dear were Irish pairing Vivian Hammill and Darragh Mullen, after a retirement for Sigurdarson.
The performance of the rally though had to be from Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss. 6th overall in a muddy forest rally, in a car designed over 50 years ago, well before 4wd was even thought of as a thing in a rallying, is frankly, awesome. Almost a full minute clear of Barrett and Keirans after 44 stage miles, Osian remarked “The Escort was singing today” … Not half!
Liam Clark was an excellent 3rd overall and claimed maximum Welsh Championship points.
Giddings took 7th overall from Barratt, with Alistair Ginley and Bonnie Papper 9th and Dan O’Brien/Andy Hayes completing the top 10. Nigel and Kaz Jenkins completed a comfortable Bronze Star win in the end from Dylan Fowler-Bishop and Dan Evans.
Congratulations to Baz Jordan and Arwel Jenkins too. Their maximum in the H12 class gives them the 2025 British Historic Rally Championship title.
Classic stages, a compact route, challenging conditions and a popular host venue made this year’s Woodpecker a success. There are some who lament the fact that the Woodpecker is currently unable to use its’ “heritage” stages such as Radnor and Haye Park, but it’s tough to argue against Hafren and Myherin. They are literally as good as anything in the UK as forests go. “These stages are proper rallying – fast, flowing and unforgiving”, as Osian Pryce put it.
See you in North Yorkshire later this month for more of the same…
Video by Nikolay D Nedvechev for Rally Media Uk & Rally Vibes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8naXi7GA0yg
Full Image Gallery
https://www.rallymedia.uk/gallery/2025-phil-price-memorial-woodpecker-stages
