[ MONTH IN CARS ] Events
RAC Rally cemented its status as the historic event the professionals all want to win
An ever-growing roster of international entrants, and drivers more readily associated with new machinery, defined the Roger Albert Clark Rally. Although predominantly a historic event, this year’s edition even saw the UK debut of the latest works-prepared rally Lancia Ypsilon, 32 years after the last stand of the Delta Integrale on the 1993 Lombard RAC Rally.
Ford Escort Twin Cam
This Escort, one of Ford’s original Twin Cam press fleet, was taking part in its first classic rally following extensive restoration. ‘They were built in 1968, and had sequential numberplates,’ said owner George Bryson. ‘The guy I bought it from earlier this year had owned it since 1978.
‘It had just been restored when I bought it, but I had to take it apart again because the gearbox, engine, axles and so on were wrong, not fit for competition. I know it sounds risky to rally a newly restored car with this kind of history, but after its press career with Ford, it was rallied when still relatively new. The guy who bought it in 1978 acquired it as a rally car and competed in it, before selling it and later buying it back. But to me, rally cars should be rallied. That said, while I have the original Lotus engine, it’s currently running a Cosworth BDA unit – it’s better for rallying and I don’t want to risk blowing up that Lotus Twin Cam!’
MG ZR
This ex-works MG hatchback, the only car to have been navigated in period by both of the legendary Roberts brothers, was taking part in its very first historic rally.
‘It was built in 2002 by Safety Devices and run by MG Sports & Racing as a Group N car in the British Rally Championship with Ian Henderson,’ said current driver Max Smart.
‘Then Rhys Lloyd converted it for gravel use, and did the 2006 Wales Rally GB with Gareth “Jaffa” Roberts navigating, winning its class. Dai Roberts, Jaffa’s brother, later navigated it in 2009, before Lloyd converted it for circuit racing in the Dunlop Championship.
‘After Jaffa was killed in an accident on the Targa Florio in 2012, Lloyd put it back in its rally colours in tribute to him, but just left it in his garage in Carmarthen. We’ve restored it to rally specification and this is its first event since Jaffa died. But it’s the only car to have been navigated by both Roberts brothers.’
Tragically, Dai Roberts, 2022 British Championship-winning navigator, was also killed in an accident on the 2025 Jim Clark Rally in May.
Skoda Favorit 136L
Rallying for the first time in the UK, this exworks Skoda is a veteran of the European Rally Championship. ‘It was original driven by Jaroslav Starý in the 1992 ERC,’ said Oldrich Kovarik, who brought the car over from Czechia. 1992 was Starý’s first full ERC season, driving for the worksbacked AMK team.
After scoring nine class podium finishes in this car in 1992-93, culminating in class wins on the 1993 Rallye Castrol Gemer and Rallye Congesta Příbram, Starý was elevated to Skoda’s works Junior team in 1994, beginning a six-year frontline career which included four consecutive Czech national championship wins, from 1996-99.
‘He’s actually doing this rally, in a Datsun 240Z,’ said Kovarik. ‘But we’ve had success in historics in this car too. We finished third overall on the 2023 Acropolis – impressive for a 1.3-litre, front-wheel drive car. But part of the issue of the Acropolis is the way that the dust gets into the mechanical parts of the car, which makes more complex cars a liability. We will just have to see how it deals with British gravel stages.’
Talbot Sunbeam-Lotus
Rallying for the first time following an exhaustive tracking-down and restoration process, this Talbot first took to the stages in 1980. It was originally driven by Richard Edwards, sponsored by Aldon Automotive, but Edwards sold it on after three years of regular engine failures.
Three years ago, Richard’s son Darren, also a rally driver ever since passing his test, asked about UCE 29S on Facebook Sunbeam owners’ groups, and tracked the remains of the car – by this point a bare ’shell – in a garage in North Wales. The father-and-son team then embarked on a home restoration, largely replicating the specification of Richard’s original Eighties rally challenger. However, it now features a two-litre Honda K20 engine from an S2000 sports car. It’s far less fragile than the original 2.2-litre Lotus engine, making comparable power to a Cosworth BDG, and far cheaper.
Vauxhall Nova
This mutant Vauxhall was finally rallying after reliability woes put paid to its in-period career. ‘Stevie Brown had a 1600-class Vauxhall Nova that blew its engine before he could use it on the Scottish Rally Championship,’ said Dave Coutts of DC Motorsports. ‘As a result, it was off the road for a long time before myself and Gary McDonald decided to do the Roger Albert Clark Rally.
‘We bought Brown’s car, but weren’t very happy with the bodyshell condition. So we bought a bare Nova ’shell to transfer the original rally parts over to. It took six weeks and nothing fitted! The only original parts we managed to make work in the new ’shell were the back axle, the steering column and part of the wiring loom – and they all needed a lot of adjustment.
‘It now has a full six-speed sequential gearbox, and a 200bhp XE 16-valve engine from a Corsa, running in the Open class. It proved very, very hard to find genuine period Vauxhall rally parts, so we decided to create a monster!’
Peugeot 205 GTi
This Peugeot may be a replica of a Nineties Group A works car, but it was built and driven by the man behind the original, Jonny Milner, period teammate of Richard Burns.
‘I won the Junior class of the British Rally Championship in 1991 in the original car, but I was unique among the works-supported drivers in building my own cars,’ said Milner, who went on to be both 2002 and 2003 British Rally Champion. ‘So I wanted to build and rally another one as a classic.
‘I tracked down the guy who owned my old car, who lent it to me to copy it. Because I wanted to keep it original, I didn’t go down the 16-valve 306 S16-engined route, so it still has the 1.9-litre eight-valve, making around 200bhp.
‘It’s taken a year to build, and I finished it yesterday, having worked on it from 5am-8pm including full weekends. It’s been both tiring and stressful and the car is now in concours condition, but if I care too much about it then I won’t drive quick enough!’.
Sadly, mechanical woes meant an early RAC retirement for Milner and the Peugeot.
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