ROGER ALBERT CLARK HISTORIC ASPHALT RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

MANX DOUBLE-HEADER FOR HISTORIC ASPHALT CHAMPIONSHIP

• Historic Asphalt Championship continues on the Isle of Man
• Gareth James heads historic contenders away 
• Double-header round on classic Manx roads

The Roger Albert Clark Historic Asphalt Rally Championship will resume on the Manx National Rally (May 8-9) with a strong entry from across the historic categories.

The new Historic Asphalt Championship takes in five high-profile UK closed-road rallies and is open to competitors in all categories of historic car, including the new Categories 4 and 5. The Manx National Rally is a double-header round of the championship, forming rounds two and three of six, with full points awarded at the end of Friday's leg and again on Saturday.

Heading the championship contenders away will be a trio of very rapid Category 3 Ford Escort Mk2s, all crewed by Welshmen with outstanding pace on asphalt. Gareth James and Dale Gibbons are first up and are immediately followed by East Riding winners Stefan Davies and Michael Gilbey and Will Rowlands and Emyr Hall. All three crews are potential winners, and the battle between them should be a highlight of the rally.

However, close behind will be Michael McDaid and Harry Stubbs in their similar car, and the northern Irishman has previously shown good pace on the Isle of Man. Taking the battle to the Ford Escorts and heading Category 4 will be Will Onions and Dave Williams in their BMW M3, which has recently undergone a complete rebuild ahead of one of Onions' favourite events. Close behind them will be David Jones and Nigel Roberts in their Ford Escort Mk2, hoping to make up for a non-finish in Yorkshire after an off.

Heading Category 2 will be Mark Holmes and Mark Perryman in their Ford Escort Mk1 who only recently moved up from the reserve list for the event. Next up are some more quick Ford Escort Mk2s for Hywel Davies and Dilwyn John and Graham Muter and Mark Mason, while Rhys Morgan and Peredur Davies join the championship in their Ford Escort Mk2. This will be Morgan's third rally but co-driver Davies has extensive experience.

Great variety comes in the form of the splendid Talbot Samba Rallye of Danny Cowell and Paul Holmberg, the Mini Cooper S of Shane Gamble and Michael Diehl, the Peugeot 205 GTi of Paul Clayton and Veera Johnson and the Hillman Avenger of Ian Robertson and Andrew Scott.

With over 135 competitive miles on classic stages throughout Friday and Saturday, it promises to be another epic Isle of Man rally from an overall capacity field of 170 cars. The winners will be celebrated back at the finish at the Andreas Rally Village on Saturday afternoon.

The seeded entry list for the Manx National Rally is here:

https://www.rallies.info/webentry/2026/manxnational/entries?type=s

Event results will be available here: www.rallies.info/res?e=692

More information will be posted on the championship Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/RACRMCrallychampionship