The sixth round of the HRCR Clubmans Beginners Series started from The Motorist near Sherburn-in-Elmet, running with the HERO Challenge 3 Club Rally. At coffee, the Beginners results reflected a challenging morning, but by lunch we had several crews well represented near the top of the leader board

Mike and Liz Dixon have now done enough to be declared winners of the 2026 HRCR Clubmans Beginners Series Championship having completed 5 rounds with very consistent scores. 5^th OA and first in class 5 on this event, it could all have been very different as Mike could not find the car he had parked at the coffee stop when it was time to leave. Very kindly, Toby Sleeman reminded him it was an MGB he was looking for, which narrowed down the car park search. They’re not entered for the Ilkley Jubilee, so it’s down to the next 5 crews at the top of the championship table to fight it out for the placings and the scores are very close. Did I also say, the Dixons kept their MGB ahead of no less than 3 Porsche 911s in their class! Liz was a creditable 7^th on regularity for the Club rally.

Mike and Liz Dixon (MGB V8) 5th overall on the HC3 was enough to take the win on the inaugural HRCR Beginners series.  Photo by Will Broadhead.

Dick and Harry Baines (Mini) tasted champagne as 2^nd in the Club rally by just 15 seconds to John King and Mike Cochrane. That gave them the highest points score of the beginners on this event. Harry also took the clock-watcher’s award as the lowest penalty on regularity. They also contributed significantly to Northallerton winning the team award and won class 2.

Dick and Harry Baines (Mini Cooper S) managed a creditable 2nd place on HC3.  Photo by Will Broadhead.

Simon Kennedy and Nick Lunn (Volvo) missed the farm control on reg 4, but shouldn’t feel bad as 3 other championship contenders also did. 34^th OA and 3^rd in class 6, they headed their class in tests 5 to 11, giving them 12th on the tests in the Club rally.

Simon Kennedy and Nick Lunn (Volvo 142) missed the farm but managed 34th overall.  Photo by Will Broadhead.

Dave and Jackie Batchelor in the TR4 came 35^th OA and 4^th in class 3

Toby and Ali Sleeman had their misfortune after the event when a large 4×4 reversed into their Fiat 124 Spider. 39^th OA and 5^th in class 5. They headed their class on test 8

Pete and Gina Wilcocks (Volvo) thought it was a great rally. They found the fast nature of the tests great fun, but drove with caution consistent with driving 3 hours to/from the event. Even driving gently, they slid wide on test 3 and momentarily befriended a bush. They thought regularities provided good level of challenge. An exhaust rubber exited the party midway through test 11 giving an alarming knocking noise. After the event a spare was obtained from the excellent HERO-ERA support team, but as the car was parked over a large pile of rabbit droppings, the team decided to tolerate the noise on the way home. 43^rd OA and 7^th in class 8.