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A Novice Trial

HERO-ERA

1st March 2026


A Novice Trial 2026
Winners: Wesley Berloo/Geert Verdonckt (Austin Mini Cooper)
Photograph: © Paul Freeman Photography

Organiser: HERO-ERA

Date: 1st March 2026

Clerk of the Course: Gethin Phillips

Route: 90 Miles (4 Regs & 3 Tests)

Base: Hellidon Lakes

Starters: 51


Fifty-two crews signed on for the eighth running of the Novice Trial, a weekend designed to introduce newcomers to the art of regularity rallying, there being no way of learning the art other than by competing on such an event.

A Friday evening introduction was followed by a full day of tuition on Saturday; this included classroom training, plus a walking test to allow competitors to get a feel for the communication required between the driver and navigator during a test. There were also two sessions in the lanes to give, outside of competition, a primer on navigation and timing.

This all led up to a mini rally on Sunday, where four regularities and three tests were tackled. The event was based for the second year at the Hellidon Lakes Hotel & Spa, near Daventry. From there the 90 mile route went as far south as Bicester before returning for an early afternoon finish.

From the base hotel competitors travelled nine miles to the start of the first regularity, the start control being near Williamscot. There were two timing points in the eight mile section, which finished at Farthinghoe. It was a Jogularity section, meaning that navigation was by tulip diagrams with timing points being at land marks in the instructions.

Gavin Crawford/Ann Crawford (Volvo 122S) shared honours with Andrew Bayliss/Mike Bayliss (Ford Anglia) for the best performance over the reg; both picked up a total of one second in penalties. The Aston Martin DB2/4 of Lloyd Berger/Simone Berger failed to make the end of the section as a half shaft broke on the car and they were out.

From the reg finish the route took cars through Croughton, picking up a Route Check answer on the way, to the first two tests of the day, which were held at the old Finmere Airfield, west of Brackley. The airfield, disused since 1945, is famous for the plane crash scene in the Jame Bond film, You Only Live Twice.

Every test has a bogey time. Bogey times are usually set as the time it would take a car to complete the test at a 30mph average; 30mph being the maximum average allowed. If the bogey is beaten, then the crew are awarded the bogey time.

Two crews beat the bogey on Test 1; Richard Colburn/Roy Gardner (Austin Mini) were two seconds under the target, while James Dorlin/Ed Pead (Alfa Romeo Berlina) were four seconds under, however they were also penalised for hitting a cone, this carried a ten second penalty, which was added to their bogey time.

Tests were scored on the Class Improvement system where the fastest in each of the four classes would receive zero penalties for the test, the second fastest in each class would get 2 seconds and so on. Christian Pearson/Mark Lillington (VW Golf GTi) were only equal twelfth fastest on the test, but they were quickest in their class and this put them, briefly, into the lead of the rally.

Dorlin/Pead matched their Test 1 pace on Test 2, where they were fastest once again, but shared the honours with Bayliss/Bayliss in the Anglia; this put the latter pair into first place in the overall standings.

A Novice Trial 2026
Test Pilot Winners: James Dorlin/Ed Pead (Alfa Romeo Berlina)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

A second regularity took the route to the mid-point coffee halt at the Preston Bissett Nurseries. The reg circled through Gawcott and Padbury before finishing at Steeple Claydon. There were two timing points and James Colburn/Tom Caldwell (BMW 3.0Si) hit both exactly on their time and it was now their turn to head the leader board. At the halt they held a lead of two seconds over Matthew Todd/Phillippa Todd (Alfa Romeo 2000 GT). The 2023 Novice Trial winner, Charles Eve, with his brother Andrew on the maps in their Alfa Romeo Giulia GT, was in third place two seconds further back.

The Ford Cortina GT of David Mathewson/Claire Balderson had to withdraw before the halt as the car's clutch failed.

The third regularity was to shake up the order, it had a nine mile route, with three timing points. It was the second control that was to cause most difficulty, this was located in the yard of Manor Farm at Hardwick. Five crews failed to find the control at all and added two minutes thirty seconds to their total, this included the leaders, Colburn/Caldwell, who fell to 24th place after the reg. Both Todd/Todd and Eve/Eve also struggled to find their way into the farmyard and dropped to the lower reaches of the top ten.

It was now that the Belgian Mini Cooper of Wesley Berloo/Geert Verdonckt hit the front for the first time, they were to remain there for the rest of the event. They were third best through the section and ended it with a lead of eight seconds over Pearson/Lillington, while Gary Welsby/Diane Welsby (BMW 318i) were in third, 23 seconds off first place.

The final test of the event was at Middleton Stoney, to the west of Bicester. It was three-quarters of a mile long and, in places, muddy and slippery. It was Dorlin/Pead who, once again, were fastest; they were nine seconds faster than Ben Colburn/Adam Parker (Alfa Romeo GTam). This performance sealed the Test Pilot Award, awarded for the lowest test penalty total, for Dorlin.

Meanwhile, Berloo/Verdonckt extended their lead to 14 seconds as they were fifth quickest through the test, second best in their class; this added two seconds to their total.

There now remained just the final regularity, which used ten miles of lanes to the west of Banbury. It was defined by a speed table and tulip diagrams. Berloo/Verdonckt sealed their victory here as they dropped just one second over the three timing points, six seconds better than any other crew. This meant that they came home with a victory margin of 29 seconds over second placed Pearson/Lillington. Crawford/Crawford completed the podium, finishing 48 seconds off the lead, but only one second ahead of Todd/Todd, who were fourth.

Verdonckt secured the Clock Watchers Award for the least penalties dropped over the four regularities; he ended with a total 23 seconds better than any other navigator.

Forty-seven cars made it back to the finish at Hellidon Lakes.


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