Three Legs of Mann 2026 - Preview
*Manx Magic Awaits a Field Full of Talent
The Isle of Man is a special place, unique perhaps. For more than 100 years, almost since the dawn of motoring the Islands roads have been a place where people have gone to chase down their motorsport dreams. There are few places that can lay claim to that sort of history, and all on a rock in the middle of the Irish Sea, that isn’t even half the size of London.
But what the Island lacks in size, it makes up for with Giants; Giants of folklore, Giants of motorcycling and Giants of rallying, whose footprints are vast, and shadows are long. This coming weekend HERO-ERA returns to the Island, three years since it was last here, for another blockbuster Three Legs of Mann rally, a rally in which another batch of hopefuls will follow in their heroes’ footsteps and try to etch their names into their own little piece of Manx motorsport history.
The Three Legs is as the name suggests run over three legs, across two days. The name is also a nod to the Manx Triskelion, the Islands flag that features the famous Three Legs, a nod to the Manx, Celtic and Norse heritage, underlined by the motto Quocunque jeceris stabit, meaning, whichever way you throw it, it will stand. The fifty crews entered this weekend will be hoping for similar, as they throw their classic cars at the 360-mile route, that features 15 regularities and a whopping 30 tests across an intense 36 hours of action.
Intense is perhaps the wrong adjective when you consider just how much is crammed in to such a small space, in such a short amount of time and this certainly amps up the difficulty of this advanced level event. These elements are what attract such a competitive field to make the journey over to the rock, and this year’s entry is no exception. “The entry is a top one” says Clerk of the Course Guy Woodcock, “Within the top 30 seeds everyone is capable of a top ten finish, it is that competitive.” In amongst those hoping for a good result are the winners of the last Three Legs, Dan Willan and Mark Appleton, competing in the Volvo PV that is synonymous with driver Dan. Both of them are former winners of Rally of the Tests and not many can beat Dan around a test. They are a formidable pair, but not unbeatable and in amongst the ranks of the chasing pack a certain Niall Frost, navigating for Bevan Blacker in a Ford Escort, may be keener than most to finish ahead of the driver he often competes with. The Escort they will be campaigning has just been rebuilt by Bevan and the partnership took the car for a shakedown on the recent Tour of Cheshire, an event they also managed to win.
There are plenty of others who will be wanting success, including Ali and Lyndsey Proctor who also went well in Cheshire, plus the likes of Andy Lane and Iain Tullie partnering again in Andy’s Mini, Mick Valentine and Ryan Pickering, and locals Noel Kelly and Andrew Holmes who will be tapping into their in depth knowledge of the Island to help give them an edge. Current Golden Roamer champion Pete Johnson also lives locally and is partnered with Darell Staniforth in Darell’s Corolla and seeded fifth, Nick Bloxham is entered in his Escort Mexico, with Nick Darkin sitting alongside him.
The names keep coming, Martyn Taylor and Phil Savage, Nick and Andy Pullan, Thomas Koerner and Udo Schauss, James Holt and Alistair Leckie, Andy Harrison and Henry Carr, and more besides.
Awaiting all of the hopefuls will be a rally that, in the words of Guy Woodcock “has had the kitchen sink thrown at it.” 15 regularities on the narrow Manx lanes, that are often used for stage rallying, will be a tremendous challenge. Navigation around the island is tricky, with plenty of opportunities to wrong slot, as well as some roads not really looking much like roads at all, putting doubt in crews’ minds. The Island seeks to fox its opponents, and this only increases as night descends, a night that is often accompanied by the infamous Manx fog, Manannan’s Cloak. The propensity of this to drop at will adds another dimension of difficulty as leg two begins, and the crews head into the night to take on the revered time control section of the rally. This intense examination of nighttime navigation is split across four sections, and a total distance of 32 miles, on an island that is only 33 miles in length.
If all of that isn’t enough to satiate the competitors, then there is also a bumper crop of 30 tests to contend with, taking place in most of the usual locations and some that I have been sworn to secrecy over, lest I suffer death by Woodcock. They are all on tar though, and as well as tests at Jurby and the TT Grandstand, there are plenty of closed road sections for the drivers to get their teeth into as well.
Throughout the weekend the Islands motorsport history will be inescapable, especially the TT circuit, such is the scale of the Mountain Course. The scale of the challenge for anyone wishing to do well on the Three Legs of Mann is also considerable, and whilst there may be favourites for the win, the smallest of errors could derail a weekends work. “There’s only so much you can do on an island the size of this” says Guy Woodcock, “But we think we’ve used the absolute best that the Island has to offer on this rally, and with probably the top 30 crews in Europe at the moment in attendance it is going to take a hell of an effort, and some luck, to win it.”
The stage is set then for what should be a fantastic Three Legs of Mann, as 50 hopeful crews seek to claim their own little bit of Manx glory this weekend.
