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Three Legs of Mann

HERO-ERA

13th-14th March 2026


Three Legs of Mann 2026
Winners: Bev Blacker/Niall Frost (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

Organiser: HERO-ERA

Date: 13th-14th March 2026

Clerk of the Course: Guy Woodcock

Route: 336 Miles (15 Regs, 30 Tests & 4 TC Sections)

Base: Douglas, Isle of Man

Starters: 47


The weather on the day before the Three Legs of Mann was due to start caused difficulty for everyone concerned as a storm hit the Irish Sea and saw all ferries to the Isle of Man cancelled. This meant that competitors and officials had either to travel over a day early or take the first ferry after the stoppage, this was scheduled to leave Heysham at 01:00 on Friday morning, the first day of the rally.

In fact, the 01:00 sailing was late leaving England and didn't arrive at Douglas until 08:15, only fifteen minutes before the first car was due to leave the start. It was therefore decided to cancel the first four tests and the opening regularity, with the rally starting from TC1/2 at the TT Grandstand.

The first two tests, using the car park/paddock area behind the Grandstand, followed immediately afterwards. Chris Day/Clare Day (Mini Cooper S) shared fastest time on the opening test with two others and then were two seconds quicker than anyone else to establish a three second lead as crews embarked on the opening regularity.

The reg started at Hillberry and ran up to West Baldwin Reservoir before finishing near the coffee halt at Crosby. On home ground, Noel Kelly/Andrew Holmes (Volvo Amazon 122S) were best over the section, but it was Paul O'Kane/Richard Crozier (Porsche 911S) who headed the leader board at the break, although at this early point over twenty crews were within 30 seconds of first place.

Two cars didn't get as far as Crosby; the Escort TC of Graham Richardson/Keith Storer broke a clutch cable just after the start, and Alan Jardine/David Johnson found that their Sunbeam Rally Imp was over fuelling.

After this hesitant start the event got into top gear after the coffee halt, there were six tests and three regularities before the next break. Three of these tests, plus a reg were within the Jurby Airfield, also two tests were on closed public roads.

Dan Willan/Mark Appleton (Volvo PV544) were running at Car 1 as they were the reigning champions having won the previous running of the Three Legs in 2023. Unfortunately, their rally came to an end soon after Crosby as a front wishbone broke; they had it repaired but they didn't feel that the fix was good enough to continue and they withdrew. This was the first retirement for the car after twenty-two successive finishes; this had included seventeen wins.

By the time that competitors reached the Ramsey lunch halt, Mick Valentine/Ryan Pickering (Ford Escort) were in first place, 28 seconds ahead of O'Kane/Crozier. Darell Staniforth/Pete Johnson (Toyota Corolla) were in third, 39 seconds off the lead.

Three Legs of Mann 2026
Ninth Placed: Nick Bloxham/Nick Darkin (Ford Escort Mexico)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

There were five tests and two more regularities during the afternoon before the first of the event's three legs came to a close at the Victory Cafe, at the top of the TT Course above Bungalow Corner.

By the time that the halt was reached, Valentine/Pickering had extended their lead to 51 seconds, with the main challenge now coming from Bev Blacker/Niall Frost (Ford Escort), fresh from their win on the previous weekend's Tour of Cheshire. Blacker/Frost had been hampered by an inaccurate trip on the opening regularity, but this had been fixed and they were now on a charge, moving up from sixth at Crosby, taking six fastest test times on the way.

Nigel Woof/Sally Woof (Volvo PV544) led a gaggle of cars in third place; 28 seconds separated them from David Ward/Graham Raeburn (Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF) in eighth. O'Kane/Crozier had dropped to ninth after failing to note down their time at a Self Start regularity control.

Despite the tough route so far, everyone knew that the rally would be won and lost on Leg 2, which included three closed road tests in Druidale, two tight regularities on the coast between Ramsey and Douglas and then four Time Control sections; these TC sections had a total of fifty miles and the first was all within Jurby.

It seemed that there was going to be a titanic battle for the lead as Blacker/Frost, now with an accurate trip, closed the gap to the leaders by 30 seconds over the two regularities that opened the second leg, but then on the first Druidale test, the Escort of Valentine/Pickering broke a drive shaft and they were out.

This left Blacker/Frost with a lead of 1m42s as crews arrived at the Andreas supper halt, with Ali Procter/Lynsey Procter (Peugeot 205 GTi) now in second. The fight for the runner up spot was close, Procter/Procter were only seven seconds ahead of Nick Pullan/Andy Pullan (Peugeot 205 GT), while Martyn Taylor/Phil Savage (Vauxhall Astra) were twelve seconds further back, they, in turn, were only four seconds in front of Andy Lane/Iain Tullie (Mini Cooper S).

Blacker/Frost were best on the first TC section at Jurby, pulling out a further twelve seconds on the field, while Taylor/Savage moved into second place, with Pullan/Pullan now 32 seconds behind in third. Disaster struck for Procter/Procter as an engine mount broke on their 205 and they had to cut from the second section to the overnight halt at Douglas. They got the problem fixed by the sweeps and rejoined for Leg Three.

At the end of Leg Two, which the leaders reached just before Midnight, Blacker/Frost had established a lead of 4m34s over Pullan/Pullan, while fifteen seconds further back were Taylor/Savage. Lane/Tullie were in a lonely fourth place, 38 seconds off third, but 43 seconds ahead of Staniforth/Johnson, who had put in the fourth best performance over the TC Sections.

Taylor/Savage had to contend with a serious lack of brakes over the night leg and were pleased simply to reach the overnight halt at Douglas. Meanwhile Ward/Raeburn were having to stop to top up the water level on their Fulvia as they had a hole in the radiator; they survived to finish in tenth place at the Finish.

Three Legs of Mann 2026
Leaders After Leg Two: Mick Valentine/Ryan Pickering (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

Running alongside the main event for Leg Two was a Twelve Car Rally for Druidale Motor Club members. This was won by Orry Millward/Adam Yates (Ford Fiesta ST), who were challenged for the top spot throughout by Jess Collister/Finn Collister (Vauxhall Corsa); the two crews were separated by under a minute at the Finish.

Competition was far from over for the Three Legs of Mann contenders as ten tests and six regularities remained to be contested on Saturday. The main features of the day were that Blacker/Frost drew further away from their pursuers, and the struggle for second place as Taylor/Savage reeled in Pullan/Pullan.

There were two early casualties; Edward Vandyk/Chris Wilks had the head gasket fail on their Escort, while a collapsed wheel bearing stopped the AC Aceca Coupe of Alex Leibundgut/Philipp Leibundgut.

Blacker/Frost had a bad start to the morning as on the first regularity they got caught behind a van and picked up a maximum one minute penalty at the following timing point, however they still held a lead of 3m42s at the morning coffee halt at St John's. At this point Taylor/Savage, who had put in the best performance over the opening Leg 3 sections, were ten seconds behind Pullan/Pullan.

By the lunch break, which was taken at Andreas, Blacker/Frost had pulled back some of their early morning loss and were over four minutes ahead. Taylor/Savage had managed to pass Pullan/Pullan, but were only four seconds in front of the Peugeot. After these there was a two minute gap back to Staniforth/Johnson.

The finish was at the TT Grandstand and when they arrived there, Blacker/Frost had a winning margin of four minutes, with Taylor/Savage having managed to hold off Pullan/Pullan for the runner up spot, these two crews were thirteen seconds apart at the end.

O'Kane/Crozier might have taken fourth place, but they failed to note down the final code board on the final regularity, this demoted them to sixth, behind Lane/Tullie and Staniforth/Johnson.

Over the 26 tests Blacker had been almost three minutes quicker than any other driver and duly won the Test Pilot Award. He and Frost had also been quickest over the four TC sections, however it was Andy Pullan who took the Clock Watchers Award for the least penalties incurred over the 15 regularities, his penalties were a minute less than any other navigator.


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