rallyroots.com results@rallyroots.com
rallyroots.com
rallyroots.com

rally results service


Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest

HERO Challenge Three

HERO-ERA

19th September 2026


HERO Challenge Three Inter Club 2026
Inter Club Winners: Mick Valentine/Ryan Pickering (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © HERO/ERA

HERO Challenge Three 2026
Club Winners: John King/Mick Cochrane (Lotus Elan Plus 2)
Photograph: © HERO/ERA

Organiser: HERO-ERA

Date: 19th September 2026

Clerk of the Course: Guy Woodock

Route: 172 Miles (7 Regs & 11 Tests)

Base: The Motorist, Sherburn in Elmet

Starters: 85


The HERO Challenge Three was the sixth round of the HRCR Club Championship and the final counter for the three round HERO Challenge. Contenders were split between an Interclub event, the HRCR round, and a Club Rally, where all competitors could score points in the Challenge series.

The event was based at The Motorist at Sherburn in Elmet, an impressive hub for car and bike enthusiasts near Leeds. The venue provided the location for the start and finish.

After scrutineering and documentation on Friday afternoon, the 85 starters set off on Saturday morning for an event that consisted of seven regularities and eleven tests, all packed into eight hours of competition. There were 29 entries in the Interclub rally, while 56 took the flag in the Club Rally.

Although the two events followed the same route, those in the HRCR round had more demanding navigation and their tests were scored on scratch times, rather than the class improvement system being used on the Club Rally.

INTERCLUB RALLY

Tim Tordoff/Ian Frazer (Peugeot 205 GTi) took first blood on the opening test, but were only a second ahead of top seeds Mick Valentine/Ryan Pickering (Ford Escort) and Ali Procter/Lynsey Procter (Peugeot 205 GTi). By the end of the second test, which was at the same venue, Valentine/Pickering were in front; they were now four seconds ahead of Procter/Procter.

The first regularity was a seven mile affair that started at Little Fenton and finished at Ryther; there were two timing points. The section did nothing to separate the leading runners as after it Valentine/Pickering, Procter/Procter and James Griffiths/James Howell (Mini 1275 GT) all shared the lead.

Action then moved to two tests at the former RAF Acaster Malbis Airfield. Valentine/Pickering were quickest on the first, but lost time on Test 4, allowing Procter/Procter, who had been fastest on that test, into a six second lead. The husband and wife pairing were quickest again on Test 5, which was at York Auction Mart, so that they arrived at the coffee halt with a seven second lead over Valentine/Pickering.

Test 4 claimed the Volvo P1800 of Phillip Wood/Kelvin Phipps; they slid into a ditch, damaging the front quarter of the car and they withdrew. They were to be the only retirement of the Inter Club Rally.

The York Mart break was followed by two regularities, the first starting at Stamford Bridge, and the second, after a short Neutral through Leavening, ran through Open Dale to finish at Wharram le Street.

Procter/Procter were struggling with a Brantz that wasn't reading correctly and they lost more than a minute over the two regs; this dropped them to sixth after Reg 3. By that point Valentine/Pickering had built up a lead of 19 seconds. Griffiths/Howell were now in second place, three seconds ahead of Paul Dyas/Martyn Taylor (Ford Cortina).

The first of two visits to Driffield Airfield followed, where three tests were undertaken. The leaders were fastest on Tests 6 and 8, and second quickest, behind the Escort Mexico of Trefor Griffiths/Dewi Jones, on Test 7. After Driffield Valentine/Pickering had extended their advantage over the field to 48 seconds, with Darell Staniforth/Henry Carr (Toyota Corolla) now in second.

HERO Challenge Three 2026
Inter Club Third Placed: Peter Higton/Oli Waldock (Mazda MX5)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

Reg 4 was a speed table section, where the instructions were only issued at the coffee halt and went from Hutton Cranswick to Beswick. It contained a complex junction and farmyard where timing point (TP 4B) was located. This caused problems for a number of crews. Tordoff/Frazer, Noel Kelly/Phil Savage (Peugeot 205 GTi) and Les Andrew/Mark Dunkerley (Peugeot 104 ZS) were amongst those that failed to locate the control, while Griffiths/Griffiths lost a minute getting the correct route.

Dyas/Taylor were best over the section and this moved them into a clear second place, 23 seconds behind Valentine/Pickering as crews arrived at the lunch halt. The break was taken at Bishop Burton College, near Beverley. Staniforth/Carr were now in third, eight seconds behind the Cortina.

By this point the placings were getting more spaced out, with Andrew Parr/Bob Duck (Mini Cooper S) in tenth place being over three minutes off the lead.

A return visit to Driffield provided the final three tests of the event. Valentine/Pickering were fastest on two of these and second quickest on the third. They left the venue with a lead of 42 seconds over Dyas/Taylor, who now had Staniforth/Carr only three seconds behind. Procter/Procter were back up to fourth, a minute off the lead, but well clear of fifth placed Ken Binstead/Sarah Binstead (Datsun 240Z).

Three regularities were tackled as the route wound its way back to The Motorist. The leading runners traded seconds across them. The top positions remained unchanged as they arrived back at the Finish to be greeted by a crowd of hundreds of car enthusiasts who had come to see the competitors return.

Valentine/Pickering took their second HRCR Championship win in a row, following on from their Gremlin win. Dyas/Taylor held off Staniforth/Carr to finish five seconds ahead of the Toyota crew. Taylor also won the Clockwatcher Award for the best performance over the regs, while Mick Valentine took the Test Pilot prize.

Griffiths/Jones finished in seventh place overall and were first in Class 2 (Experts) and Lee Davies/Richard White (Mini 1275GT) were the leading Novices.

CLUB RALLY

With the class improvement scoring system being used for tests, six crews left the opening two at the Gascoigne Wood Mine with zero penalties, having been fastest in their class on both tests. The 2025 Challenge Three winners, James Holt/Alistair Leckie (Porsche 911) were the only ones to maintain their clean sheet after the opening regularity. However, John Lomas/Tim Sawyer (Riley Sprite) and John King/Mike Cochrane (Lotus Elan Plus 2) were only a second behind.

HERO Challenge Three 2026
Club Rally Second Placed: Dick Baines/Harry Baines (Mini Cooper S)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

The two tests at Acaster Malbis Airfield shook things up, with Holt/Leckie dropping five seconds on Test 4, which put them behind Niall Frost/Jocelyn Jones (Volvo 142), who now led. Jones, the 2026 Bob Rutherford Scholarship winner, was having her second outing as part of her prize. They had had a dramatic start to the event when a head gasket failed on the way to Scrutineering. The part was replaced overnight at Bev Blacker Motorsport and they took the start as planned.

Unfortunately, just as they took the lead, the Volvo snapped a bottom arm, they made a temporary repair. They decided that to ensure that they finished and to get some practice on the regularities, they'd continue, but missed out the remaining tests.

Their demise put Holt/Leckie back into the lead after Test 5, with Chris Day/Claire Day (Mini Cooper S) one second behind, while King/Cochrane were another second further back in third.

There were two retirements before the York Mart coffee halt, these were Martin Paterson/Charlotte Crowther (Austin Healey 100/6) who withdrew with engine issues, while a broken carburettor stopped the MG B Roadster of Dave Smith/Suzanne Barker. Other than these two, every other crew made it back to the Finish.

Holt/Leckie maintain their position through Regularity 2, but fell to third after Reg 3, behind Day/Day and King/Cochrane, who were now tied for first place. Day/Day were fastest in their class on all three tests at Driffield, so left the airfield with a lead of two seconds.

As with the Inter Club Rally, Regularity 4, and in particular the second timing point, caused issues. Most significantly Holt/Leckie failed to locate the control and added 2m30s to their total. Amongst others who missed TP 4B were Dave Batchelor/Jackie Batchelor (Triumph TR4) and Paul Bloxidge/James Bloxidge (VW Golf GTi).

HERO Challenge Three 2026
Club Rally Early Leaders: James Holt/Alistair Leckie (Porsche 911)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

At the Bishop Burton lunch halt King/Cochrane had established a 19 second lead over Dick Baines/Harry Baines (Mini Cooper S), while Day/Day were in third a second further back. These top two crews were also the ones who were the lead contestants for the Challenge Championship.

King/Cochrane were fastest in their class on all three tests on the second visit to Driffield, pulling out a further 16 seconds on Baines/Baines, who fell behind Day/Day.

Three regularities remained and these played to Baines' strength, after Reg 5 and 6 they had cut their deficit to the lead from 45 seconds to 14, however King/Cochrane were a second better on the final section, giving them a 15 second victory margin at the Finish.

Oli Waldock hadn't competed on an event in almost a year, having been travelling in Asia, but he showed that he hadn't lost any of his navigational skills by guiding Peter Higton in his Mazda MX5 to the final podium spot.

Lomas/Sawyer finished in fourth, just ahead of Mike Dixon/Liz Dixon (MG B GT V8), while James Thomas/Roland Thomas (Mini 1275GT) completed the top six. All these three won their respective classes.

The win was more than enough to ensure that John King won the Drivers' title in the HERO Challenge Championship, while Harry Baines, gaining extra points for securing the Clockwatcher Award, took the Navigator's title.

Once again, it was Chris Day who took the Test Pilot Award; his total time for the 11 tests was 30 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.

HERO Challenge Three 2026
The Podium Finishers Spray the Champagne
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

RESULTS

Inter Club Rally Results

Club Rally Results