Martin McCormack and Barney Mitchell would claim a second British Historic Rally Championship victory in as many weeks with a dominant performance on the Mid Wales based Severn Valley Stages Rally.
Round 3 of the British Historic Rally Championship (BHRC) would see the crews return to Wales for the Midland Manor Motor Club organised Severn Valley Stages Rally where 51 stage miles, largely within the infamous Myherin/Tarenig complex but also featuring 2 quick blasts through Sarnau, lay ahead.
Following the late withdrawal of George Lepley, Martin McCormack and Barney Mitchell would head the Historic entry list, once again aboard the Category 4 BMW M3 E30; a slight surprise having initially expected the MATS prepared machine to be lining up in Portugal for Historic Rally Fafe.
The European Historic Rally Championship’s loss was most definitely the BHRC’s gain however as, after a relatively sedate start in Sarnau, the Northern Irish duo were soon doing what they do best; throwing the M3 stylishly between the Mid Wales scenery to great effect and finding themselves with a commanding 54 second lead by the time the cars reached the Builth Wells service halt.
No longer a surprise package, Damien Tourish and Kevin Duggan were once again on the pace in Mid Wales. Fastest through stage 1 the Irish MK2 Escort pairing would remain the BMW’s closest rivals through the next two stages before unfortunately incurring a 1 minute time penalty for an early check in at TC4; thus leaving them languishing in 6th position overall at the mid rally service.
Tourish and Duggan would however put in the performance of the afternoon as the Welsh mountain weather made a turn for the worse. Up to 5th with fastest time in Stage 6, the BD powered Ford crew were untouchable through the hale, snow and rain of the 18.65 mile Myherin Main finale to snatch category victory with a stage time that was over 8 seconds quicker than anyone else! The best possible way to eradicate the earlier time penalty, Tourish and Duggan were a whopping 16.3 seconds quicker than any other historic crew over the afternoon loop and are surely well in the BHRC title hunt.
The rally was ultimately won in stages 3 and 4 however as McCormack and Mitchell excelled in the fast flowing drier morning conditions of Myherin and Tarenig, stopping the clock a respective 17 and 12 seconds faster than any other crew. And despite not looking quite as dominant in the wet afternoon conditions had more than enough in hand to wrap up a second consecutive BHRC victory. Let’s hope we see the pairing again as the season progresses.
After struggling to match the front running pace on Rally North Wales Paul Thompson and Josh Davison were right in the mix on the Severn Valley. Consistent top 6 stage times throughout the morning had seen them lying 2nd at half distance but there was no stopping the afternoon charge from Tourish. 2nd in category and 3rd overall however represented a great return as the Anglo / Scottish duo maintained their category championship lead.
Nick Elliott and Dave Price would complete the category 3 podium after a super consistent run themselves. Never outside the top six stage times, the Gloucestershire based Fiat 131 crew ended the day just 5 seconds shy of the overall historic top 3. Meanwhile Simon Webster and Jez Rogers would put in a strong performance to claim 4th in category aboard their Ford Escort MK2 whilst round 1 winners Richard Hill and Patrick Cooper, aboard their similar machine, would round out the top 5.
After a barnstorming afternoon on Rally North Wales father and son pairing Ben and Steven Smith were right in the mix for the overall historic podium on the Severn Valley before losing the use of third gear in stage 3. Not able to fix the issue, the Dansport prepared Porsche 911 crew were forced to live without the critical gear for the rest of the event which saw them drop from 3rd to 7th by the time the cars returned to the Llandrindod Wells finish. However the Bedfordshire duo will have been more than content with a category 2 victory margin of over 5 minutes as well as maintaining their overall BHRC championship lead.
Mark Holmes and Mark Broadbent meanwhile would claim the category 2 runner spot (14th position overall) along with class H3 victory aboard their Ford Escort MK1 whilst Jeremy Easson and Mike Reynolds (17th overall) would complete the category 2 podium aboard their awesome Datsun 240z. And rounding up the class victors, Peter Hinton and Ryan Witty would wrap up class H6 aboard their Ford Escort MK2 with 16th overall, Ian Beveridge and Kevin Hogan would claim class H2 (Toyota Corolla TE27) in 19th and Ricky and Dan Evans would come out on top of an all Peugeot 205 battle in class H11 with 20th position overall.
Historic crews would also be found throughout the interclub section of the Severn Valley Stages where Robert Gough and Jonny Tad Evans would cap off a fantastic days work with 5th overall and top historic crew home aboard their H8 class Viking Motorsport entered Ford Escort MK2. Their overall rally time good enough for 5th in the historic section of the event!
Behind, Andy Burnell and Andrew Boswell would snatch second on the final stage in another Ford Escort MK2 to finish 10th overall with the similar machine of Rob Latham and Daniel Thomas just 1 place further back in 11th. Class victories meanwhile would go the way of Tom Todd / Dan Morefield (H5) and Gary Smith / Phil Clarke (H2) in their respective Ford Escort MK1’s.
The Severn Valley Stages would also form the opening round of the British Rally Championship where Osian Pryce and James Morgan would lead home a Castrol MEM Rally Team 1-2 aboard their Toyota Yaris GR Rally2. Just missing out on Rally North Wales victory 2 weeks ago, Meirion Evans and Dale Furniss would once again finish as runners up whilst the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Garry Pearson and Hannah McKillop would complete the podium positions.
And finally, after competing in several events throughout the UK over the last couple of years and committing to the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship for 2026, Neil Commons and co-driver Christian Brown were rewarded with 4th in class 8 after a consistent drive aboard the WB Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2. More importantly however the pairing topped the Welsh Championship class 8 runners to set them up nicely for the season ahead.
Next up for the BHRC crews is a trip to the Isle of Man for the Manx National Rally in early May; a potentially pivotal double points scoring round that could make or break the season for the leading crews …
GALLERY
Paul Commons Motorsport 