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Cotswold Historic Rally

Tavern Motor Club

5th July 2026


Cotswold Historic Rally 2026
Winners John King/Mike Cochrane with Clerk of the Course Gavin Rogers (Centre)

Organiser: Tavern Motor Club

Date: 5th July 2026

Clerk of the Course: Gavin Rogers

Route: 145 Miles (6 Regs & 8 Tests)

Base: Cirencester

Starters: 71


The Cotswold Historic, Round Four of the HRCR Club Championship, was once again based at Cirencester Rugby Club. It had a 145 mile route containing six regularities and eight tests, four at Kemble and the remainder at South Cerney.

The entry had initially been oversubscribed, but a number of withdrawals meant that seventy-one cars took the start at 08:30 on Sunday morning; twenty six of these were in the Club Rally, where the regularity navigation was by a tulip roadbook, while the Inter Club competitors had a variety of more demanding navigation.

Competition opened with a four ITC regularity, that started just to the south-west of Cirencester and meandered its way to Kemble. John King/Mike Cochrane (Ford Escort) were best here, dropping four seconds, two better than any other crew.

Mike Valentine/Ryan Pickering had been fancied for the win and they were in third after the reg, but then on the first test at Kemble their Escort broke a stub axle and they were out.

Winners of the previous HRCR counter, the East Anglian Classic, Lewis Ayris/Matt Outhwaite (Ford Escort) were quickest on both Kemble 1 and Kemble 2 and, despite King/Cochrane being second fastest on the two tests, Ayris/Outhwaite took the lead. The gap between the two crews was one second.

In the Club Rally James Holt/Alistair Leckie (BMW 325i) were quickest on the test and, as they crossed the finish line, they took the lead, however at precisely that moment the clutch on their BMW failed and they joined Valentine/Pickering on the retirement list. This meant that Jon Harvey/Jack Harvey (VW Golf), who had been best Club competitor on the opening reg, took over first place.

The morning coffee halt was then taken at Crudwell Village Hall, which was also the venue for Lunch. At the stop Peter Higton/Phil Savage (Mazda MX5) were in third, seventeen seconds behind Ayris/Outhwaite, and three seconds ahead of fourth placed Martin Payton/Miles Fieldhouse (Volvo PV544).

The second reg looped to the west of Tetbury, going as far as Marshfield, before the route moved back towards Malmesbury on Reg 3. In the battle for the lead there was very little change; Ayris/Outhwaite extended their advantage by a single second. Nineteen seconds further back there was a mighty fight going on for third place, with Payton/Fieldhouse, Darell Staniforth/Henry Carr (Toyota Corolla) and Higton/Savage, in that order, covered by two seconds.

A second visit to Kemble for two further tests completed the morning's competition. Once again, Ayris/Outhwaite were fastest on Test 3, and, despite being beaten by Nick Bloxham/Gary Evans (Ford Escort Mexico) on Test 4, they further extended their lead over King/Cochrane to nine seconds when crews arrived back at Crudwell for the lunch break. Higton/Savage were back in third, two seconds ahead of Payton/Fieldhouse, with Staniforth/Carr two further seconds back in fifth.

In the Club Rally Harvey/Harvey had extended their lead to 30 seconds, with Dick Baines/Harry Baines (Mini Cooper S) in second.

Cotswold Historic Rally 2026

The fourth regularity started just outside Crudwell and finished after passing through the Cotswold Water Park. It made little difference to the fight for front runners as the top ten remained unchanged at the end of it. The section did see the demise of the MG B GT of David Morris/Jacolyn Wales with mechanical issues and Ian Blakemore/Alistair Blakemore, who had the coil fail on their Mini.

There were then the first two of four lengthy tests at South Cerney. Ayris/Outhwaite were quickest on both and extended their lead over King/Cochrane to 34 seconds. Behind them Higton/Savage were pulling clear of the third place battle and had closed to within 20 seconds of second place.

Harvey/Harvey lost the lead of the Club Rally after they missed a manoeuvre and added two minutes to their total. Oliver Burton/Alan Pettit (MG B GT) now led Baines/Baines by sixteen seconds.

Rod Hanson/Clare Groves became the final retirement of the event when their MG Maestro sprung a fuel leak.

Ayris/Outhwaite pulled further ahead on Reg 5, which looped around Fairford and finished at Bibury. They now held a lead of 40 seconds, while King/Cochrane had increased their advantage over Higton/Savage.

The final regularity was designed as a sting in the tail with the route information for the latter part only issued at the second timing point on the reg. It was 20 miles long and had six timing points.

However, it wasn't the plot 'n bash part that caused the greatest issue, it was the pre-plot at the start of the reg that caught out a number of competitors. The navigation had instructions for following a certain number of green dots around the Coln Rogers area. Most significantly, Ayris/Outhwaite got the course plotting wrong and were seven minutes late at RITC6B; penalties were capped at two minutes, but the error dropped the erstwhile leaders to seventh place. They were not alone, Guy Woodcock/Pete Johnson (Ford Escort), who had been as high as fifth, fell out of the top ten, and Rob Kitchen/Ed Rutherford (MG B) lost the lead of Class E2.

King/Cochrane were now back in first place, but Higton/Savage were only eleven seconds behind. John Haygarth/Martyn Taylor (Opel Kadett Rallye) were now in third having put in a strong performance on the afternoon regs, including being second best, behind Payton/Fieldhouse, on the plot 'n bash section.

The day's competition finished with two further tests at South Cerney. Ayris/Outhwaite were fastest on both and this moved them back up to fifth place at the Finish. King/Cochrane came home to claim their first HRCR win of the year, but Higton/Savage closed to within nine seconds at the end and claimed the runner up spot. Haygarth/Taylor completed the podium, finishing 42 seconds off first and eleven seconds ahead of Bloxham/Evans in fourth. Payton/Fieldhouse took sixth place, having put in the best performance over the six regularities.

Putting in their usual excellent performance on the regularities, Baines/Baines came through to claim their second successive win in the Cotswold Club Rally, 35 seconds ahead of Burton/Pettit.


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