UK rally news: Malton Forest Rally returns with Payne chasing a fourth win

The Malton Forest Rally runs on Sunday for the first time since 2024, and Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh arrive at the head of a 98-car field chasing a fourth win in Dalby Forest. Protyre has committed to the Asphalt championship title until the end of 2029, the BRDC Driver Academy has opened its rally intake, and Castle Combe closes its entry for seeding on Friday with 78 of 90 places filled.

In this week’s UK rally news:

• Malton Forest Rally returns after a year lost to fire
• Castle Combe prepares for two days and nine stages
• Protyre stays with the Asphalt championship to 2029
• BRDC Academy opens its rally intake for 2027
• Timekeepers wanted, and no maths required

Malton Forest Rally returns after a year lost to fire

Pace notes: The Malton Forest Rally runs on Sunday 1 November for the first time since 2024, when Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh took a third win in a row there. Six stages and 47 miles of gravel are split between Cropton, Gale Rigg and Langdale, with Adderstone Field in Dalby Forest again holding rally HQ and service. It remains an Interclub event across five northern championships.

Splits:

• Payne and Walsh head the seeded list in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, with 2022, 2023 and 2024 wins behind them and the six fastest stage times on the last of those.
• Alexander Vassallo and Chris Lees are second in another Fiesta Rally2, Alistair Ginley and Craig Thorley third in a Skoda RS, Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson fourth.
• Alan Carmichael and Harry Walshaw start fifth in a Hyundai i20N Rally2, one of a handful of modern four-wheel-drive cars in a field built around Escorts.
• Parking covers three spectator areas for the day, with Langdale the main one and catering and toilets sited there.
• The first car leaves Adderstone Field at 0801hrs, and scrutineering runs at Ripon Farm Services in Malton rather than at the forest.

The road ahead: Competitors had to be signed on digitally by Thursday 29 October, and the seeded list was re-issued this week after a withdrawal. Scrutineering and the noise test run the day before at Ripon Farm Services in Malton, with a logging report on Saturday and the final start list that evening. Our event page keeps the seeded order, the spectator map and the timetable in one place.

Castle Combe prepares for two days and nine stages

Pace notes: Bath Motor Club runs the DAE Castle Combe Circuit Stage Rally for a third year on 7 and 8 November, with nine stages and about 50 miles laid out on the circuit and its perimeter roads. Five championships appear on the permit, among them the Formula 1000 Junior field, and the entry stands at 78 from a maximum of 90. Seeding closes at 20:00 on Friday 30 October.

Splits:

• Saturday’s four stages begin at 12:31, each about 5.5 miles, with the Juniors leading the field away and the last of them run after dark.
• Sunday adds five stages from 08:45, the first car due to finish from 15:20 and the awards presented in the Strawford Centre once results are declared.
• The entry is clubman machinery: a Darrian T90 GTR+ for Matt Lloyd and Rhys Edwards, a 1976 Porsche 911 for Richard Williams and Robbie Sandford, and a Mk2 Escort for Sam Cox with Jack Cox.
• General admission includes the paddock, which doubles as the service area, and camping is available on site for the weekend.
• The field is capped at 90 cars against a minimum of 50, with scrutineering running through Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning.

David Whittock, Bath Motor Club chairman, said: “We have also planned two stages in the dark on Saturday, to give challenge and excitement to both competitor and spectator.”

The road ahead: The circuit’s spectator guide says two stages run in darkness, while its earlier preview and the organiser’s own note describe only Saturday’s final stage that way, so the published timetable settles it. Final instructions are due by midday on 2 November. The event page holds the entry list and the spectator detail.

Protyre stays with the Asphalt championship to 2029

Pace notes: Protyre has signed a further three years as title sponsor of the Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship, keeping its name on the BTRDA-run series until at least the end of 2029. That stretches the partnership across twelve consecutive seasons, and the company keeps its on-event tyre service and its rewards for overall and class crews. The seven-round 2027 calendar will follow later.

Splits:

• Protyre’s backing began with the championship’s 2018 relaunch, and the BTRDA also gains a further twelve months of support for the Protyre Autocare BTRDA Rally Series.
• Protyre Motorsport, based in Stoke-on-Trent, supplies Pirelli, Michelin and Hoosier competition tyres and attends every round.
• The 2026 awards night is at the Drayton Manor Hotel on Saturday 7 November, around a three-course meal and entertainment that run late.
• The evening carries the Rally of the Year award taken by the Down Rally, the Dai Roberts Memorial Trophy, Best Newcomer, the Junior awards and the Tony Davies Award.

Mike Broad, BTRDA president, said: “Protyre has been an integral part of the Asphalt Rally Championship since its relaunch in 2018.”

Shaun Chetwyn, Protyre Motorsport Manager, said: “For Protyre Motorsport, we see this as a fabulous opportunity to put something back into the sport that we all love and cherish.”

The road ahead: The deal takes the annual question mark off the series’ title backing and gives the BTRDA room to build calendars, incentives and the live stream beyond next season. What it leaves open is the shape of 2027: seven rounds have been promised without dates, so the calendar is the next thing competitors will wait for.

BRDC Academy opens its rally intake for 2027

Pace notes: Applications have opened for the Rally Academy and Kart Academy inside the new BRDC Driver Academy, the joint venture with Motorsport UK that starts work in January 2027. The rally programme takes drivers and co-drivers aged 15 to 28 and is delivered with M-Sport, while the kart intake covers ages 12 to 16. Both close at 5:00pm on Wednesday 25 November.

Splits:

• The academy merges two pathways that ran separately, Motorsport UK’s driver academy and the BRDC’s Rising Stars and SuperStars programmes.
• Andy Meyrick, SuperStars director since 2019, leads the combined body.
• Rally sessions cover pace note preparation, reconnaissance and service scheduling, alongside psychology, nutrition, engineering, sponsorship and fitness.
• The higher Race Academy and High Performance programmes stay invitation-only, with BRDC talent scouts nominating athletes.
• The wider pathway also carries a Girls’ Karting Academy for ages 8 to 15 and the Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence.

Hugh Chambers, Motorsport UK chief executive, said: “Britain leads the world in developing motorsport talent. Today we’re making sure it stays that way.”

The road ahead: The merger ends two parallel routes to the top of the sport and puts one selection gate in front of both. For a young rally crew, the practical change is that a place on the M-Sport-linked programme now sits inside the same structure that produces circuit racers, decided by the same scouts.

Timekeepers wanted, and no maths required

Pace notes: Motorsport UK has made the case for timekeeping as a way into officiating, arguing that the job rewards care with detail rather than mathematical talent. Timekeepers record the times and positions that decide results, often on systems measuring to a thousandth of a second, with training split across four disciplines. On rallies they work with timing marshals posted around the route.

Splits:

• Training can start at 16, with a full licence available from 18 and progression through modules under a mentor.
• The way in runs through a taster day with a chief timekeeper, whose letter of recommendation goes with the application.
• Those already registered as marshals can work up the marshals pathway to a rally timekeeping grade without a separate licence.
• After two years qualified, and with a chief timekeeper’s backing, a timekeeper can train as a National Timekeeper and take charge of a discipline.
• Motorsport UK’s club guidance puts its registered volunteer base at 10,000, supporting 4,500 events a year.

Rachael Furn Bullard said: “Whether you’re using skills you already have, or learning new ones on the job, volunteering in motorsport is a great way to spend the weekend.”

The road ahead: The pitch targets a specific gap, since every stage rally needs a chief timekeeper and a results chain, and progression depends on how many events a trainee can attend. The governing body’s own pages do not agree on how large that volunteer base is, with the club guidance and the volunteer section quoting different totals, but either way the recruitment need is the same.

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Next on the stages

• 31 October — Steve Gornall Memorial Rally 2026 — ANWCC, SD34 and ANCC road rally championships
• 1 November — Malton Forest Rally 2026 — ANCC, ANECCC, ANEMMC and ANWCC Forest championships, HRCR Northern Historic
• 7 November — Salford Van Hire Neil Howard Stage Rally & Fireworks 2026 — Protyre Circuit Rally Championship, ANWCC and SD34
• 7–8 November — DAE Castle Combe Circuit Stage Rally 2026 — ASWMC, ACSMC, TCS Plant, Celtic Micra and F1000 Junior championships