Rally Yorkshire – A return to the forest …….. at last

Report and Images by David Gowshall

25^th September 2021

Its more than two years since I last stood at the side of a forest track, listened to the high-powered engine of a rally car echoing through the trees rapidly approaching from a distance, and dodged being sprayed from head to foot in gravel as a car sped past.

Rally Yorkshire, the fourth event in the 2021 British Rally Championship was just too much of a temptation, and last weekend I headed north across the impressive Humber Bridge from my home in Lincolnshire to the mighty Dalby Forest, situated north of the North Yorkshire town of Pickering.

Most of my rallying experiences have been in the depths of winter, as described below, so it was a pleasant change beginning my journey, despite it being early morning,  in warm sunshine. 

I have followed rallying since 1984, when I joined four workmates packed into my 205 GTi, paying just £5 / car for the privilege of watching Ari Vatanen in his Peugeot 205 T16 and Hannu Mikkola in his Audi Quattro A2, battle it out for the lead in the same forest in the Lombard RAC Rally.

The experience gained in this initial visit led to annual expeditions at the end of each November to forests and moors all over England, Wales and Scotland on a regular five-day break following Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship.  The routes I took, covering hundreds of miles to seek every special stage possible, at the best possible viewing point, and planned with military precision, were as a result of hours poring over OS Maps in the weeks leading up to the event. 

I didn’t miss a single day’s action on the rally (which changed its name several times) for over twenty five years.  I covered the event on several occasions as Media Representative for the Hull Daily Mail, sleeping in the car for most of the nights “on the road”, before spectators, including me, found ourselves prevented from wandering the forests to seek out our favourite vantage point, and being fenced into designated “safe” Areas.

Being told where to stand took away much of the magic of the event for me and although I’ve visited rally stages since, the sense of freedom that made the event, and the sport , so unique has been lost.

Nonetheless, the sound of high-performance cars echoing through the tree lined valleys of the North Yorkshire forests allow me to nostalgically recall days gone by.

With the Wales Rally GB, as it came to be known, no longer on the WRC calendar, largely due to COVID, the best rallying in this country can now be found in the British Rally Championship.  The same Escorts, Subaru Imprezas and Vauxhalls I watched all those years ago still compete, but the rallying scene is now dominated by their modern equivalents, Fiestas, Hyundais, Skodas and VW Polos.

They might make a bit less noise, but they are seriously powerful machines, reaching speeds in excess of 100mph on the long straights contained within the Dalby Forest complex.

The real action for photographers, however, tends to come on the myriad of corners, curves, humps and bumps that make up the special stages on Forestry Commission gravel tracks. 

The gravel thrown up by the cars negotiating these features at speed and the huge clouds of dust created make a lens filter an absolute must.  Filters are not cheap, but much better to have to replace one of those smashed by a flying piece of stone, than having to have your lens repaired/replaced.

The “safe” Spectator Areas assigned at these events tend to be quite a distance away from the action so a zoom lens comes in handy.  I took both my 70-200 and 150-600 lenses, not knowing exactly what situation I might find myself in. 

My intimate knowledge of the North Yorkshire forests, built up over the years, meant I was able to recall a couple of spots away from the crowds in the Cropton and Dalby forests, and it was these spots I headed to initially, hoping I would find them quiet. Both involved a walk of only a few hundred yards to reach the action.

Parking my car without issues, I ventured to the first of these in the Cropton complex. On arrival there were very few spectators, but, unfortunately, dozens of Media photographers.

I say unfortunately, because whilst I understand their job comes first, they are not always too considerate when choosing where to take their shots from. As it turned out, my view of the cars was not impeded.  The lighting was a bit tricky in this location on a 90 degree left with overhanging trees, but I managed a few shots. 

The second location in the Dalby Forest was centered on the quarry, which has always been a favourite of mine, as it offers so many possibilities for shots.  No Media and only twenty or so spectators meant I could establish myself at the prime spots for action.

An entry list of 180 cars meant the action came thick and fast, with cars competing, not only in the British Rally Championship, but also the Trackrod Historic Cup and the Trackrod Forest Stages.

There was wide choice of cars to choose from, but Escorts, both Mark 1 and Mark 2s, were prominent in the two local events.

The British Championship contenders, headed by two VW Polo R5s, crewed by Matt Edwards/Darren Garrod and Osian Pryce/Noel O’Sullivan, also contained several Fords, albeit Fiesta’s.

One of which was driven by Matthew Wilson who competed in the World Rally Championship for several years from 2007

Wilson finished just outside the top six in the championship for 3 consecutive years between 2009 and 2011.

The three fought out for honours throughout the event, the Edwards/Garrod combination winning by thirty seconds from Pryce and Wilson, who were separated by just 0.8 of a second.

Fourth place overall went to Ollie Mellors and Max Freeman in their bright orange Proton Iriz R5.

The Trackrod Forest Stages proved a triumph for Callum Black and Jack Morton in their Fiesta R5, winning by just over half a minute from George Lepley and Tom Woodburn in their Mitsubishi Evo X, who led home Tom Llewellin and  Ross Whittock in their Mitsubishi Mirage R5 by just 0.5 of a second.

In the Historic Cup event Ford Escorts took the first three places, driven/co-driven by Nick Elliot/Dave Price, who secured a relatively easy victory by twelve seconds over Roger Chilman /David Iwan Jones and over two minutes behind, David Brown and Steve Bielby.

Finally, to end my rally report, a piece of pure rallying nostalgia recalled from the back of my memory, which some of the older rallying followers reading this report can hopefully relate to…..

Sitting on an embankment in the Kershope Forest, which is part of the infamous Kielder complex, in heavy mist on a cold, gloomy November afternoon in 1995, overlooking a valley through which a beck, which separates England from Scotland, flows.

I can hear the unmistakable sound of a Subaru Impreza, echoing through the dense forest long before I can see it.   The blue and yellow car emerges from trees to my left and squirms over the undulating gravel track left to right in front of me before negotiating, with a handbrake turn, a left hairpin over a narrow bridge, at this point leaving Scotland into England.

The car proceeds to accelerate along the other side of the valley at a phenomenal rate, negotiating a series of right/left kinks in a series of outrageous drifts before disappearing into the distance. 

There is a huge grin on every spectator’s face, despite the weather which they have sat in for hours waiting for this brief moment, watching this amazing piece of car control.



I didn’t have a camera with me that day but the memory I have of it is just as clear as if I had taken a photograph. 

The man behind the wheel was the rallying legend Colin McRae, lost to motorsport far too early, but that brief encounter watching a genius at work, as he went on to win his home event, will be retained in my memory forever. 

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