Alex and Stephen Chick fire winning salvo in opening HERO Challenge battle over tight SW roads
*Hail, wind and the ultimate pace of crews in close combat produces podium separated by 18 seconds
*Baines father and son second (Mini Cooper S) with John King and Miles Fieldhouse third (Toyota MR2)
*Defending champs Mike Cochrane (champ nav), James Holt (champ dvr) thwarted by traffic + punctures
*Newcomers scoop awards
A compact yet challenging HERO Challenge One held over the scenic yet tight and demanding lanes of Somerset and Devon, produced a great opening round of the three event championship, despite the blue skies turning dark grey with hail slowing the pace and slippy tarmac keeping crews wary. With some long regularities and fast tests over famous World War 2 airfields used to tow gliders over to Europe on D-Day, the centre piece was undoubtedly Wiscombe Park, the Hillclimb course used in the British Championship.
The slick surface under the trees did not deter class winner and Test Pilot Award winner Nick Bloxham from putting on a spectacular sideways show in his Escort. The pity of it was that Nick had the 2025 HERO Challenge Championship winning navigator Mike Cochrane alongside him for the first time and so were considered favourites. Despite running second at the first halt, traffic held them up again in the afternoon confining them to 6th overall.
Likewise, James Holt, the 2025 Drivers Champion, navigated by Alistair Leckie, were thwarted in the opening defense of Jame’s title when he clipped a kerb and punctured on the super fast initial airfield tests.
Once they suffered another puncture, they had run out of rubber and had to retire.
On their welcome return to HERO-ERA events, Anita Wickens and Malcolm Dunderdale were the leaders at the first halt, with a strong come back finish of fifth and a class win at the end of the day in their Renault 8 Gordini.
Out front, it was a case of the championship winning, event winning experienced crews who were battling away for the podiums. Former HERO Challenge and London to Lisbon Rally winners, Stephen and Alex Chick defied a line fault on one test, after Alex thought ‘we’d stuffed it up.’ But as it was such a long test and they had time in hand, they were OK. Other than that, the family duo just clicked, Alex breezing has way to best navigator of the day, taking the ‘Clockwatcher’s Award.’ The Chicks went on to victory by ten seconds over Dick and Harry Baines.
The Baines were competitive from the off and although they had to deal with some traffic over the tight and twisty lanes in their Cooper S, their 2026 campaign to try and win the HERO Challenge Championship for the first time, has got off to a flying start. The double HERO Cup winner Dick, and Golden Roamer winner Harry will next try to replicate their first big win on the London Lisbon next month.
John King was on it in his Toyota MR2, recently repaired after it alarmingly sheared a flywheel. The RAC Rally of the Tests 2025 winner was delighted with a podium to continue his run of success. He was even more delighted and complimentary about his navigator and 2025 Bob Rutherford Scholarship winner, Miles Fieldhouse, who helped him achieve the podium success on HERO Challenge One.
The HERO Challenge Championship is not just for the experienced crews. There were four crews who were rallying for the very first time. Grant Hatfield and Nik Jarvis were one such crew in their Austin Healey 100/4. They had an absolute ball, their enthusiasm was infectious and at the end of such a competitive rally, they were awarded ‘Best Newcomer Driver and Navigator.’ Add to that, they won their class, and you would say that was an incredibly successful debut!
Winnie Chen was driving her very first rally in a Vauxhall Nova with Sion Matthews navigating, they finished 12th in class. Sophie Rugg (14) was navigating Harry Sherrarin their Audi 80 Quattro for the first time, but Freddie Hancock (15) was the cream of the young rallyists as he successfully navigated his father Jonathan to ninth overall and the class win in their Triumph 2.5 Pi.
Dan Watt and Stephen Patten were on their first ever rally. They were due to compete in a Peerless GT but was it wasn’t ready in time so Dan used his Mercedes Benz SL 230 instead! An amputee and quite an incredible character, Dan loved the day, even when he spun at high speed on one of the tests!
Stephen and Alex Chick – Datsun 260 Z 1st overall
Alex; “Big thanks to all, particularly the Marshalls for being out there in the unexpected hail storm! We had a really good day, really loads of content, lots of exciting tests, good regularities, we really, really enjoyed it. We had a good time and it all went alright, so we are absolutely happy with the outcome!”
Stephen; “Normally we say at this time it was an accident, it was a bit of an accident because things happened to us, but we were luckily able to get out of most of them, and the one thing that we weren't able to get out of, miraculously, by the power of mathematics, didn't affect our overall score. So we're very fortunate to be here. We had a great day, so a big thanks to everyone.”
Dick and Harry Baines – Austin Mini Cooper S 2nd O/A
Harry; “ A good, good event and a great start to the HERO Challenge Championship which we’ve tried to win for the last few years, but these one day events are really good and it’s great to be in the south west on these challenging roads which can be quite tight. There was some very stiff competition today, all the top boys were here, so it's nice to be on the podium. This result will give us a bit of boost for London to Lisbon.”
Dick; “Everything went well in the car today, it was a great rally with a great result for us. Now we're all ready for the London to Lisbon in our Porsche 911. But the Mini was going well, it was good and we enjoyed the hill climb, it was challenging as it was quite slippy in parts.”
John King and Miles Fieldhouse, Toyota MR2 3rd O/A
John; “We used the MR2 all last year, and then I did the Tour of Cheshire recently, and after great workmanship by myself, the flywheel came off, so I got a proper technician to sort it out, so I was a bit apprehensive, but it went well. It's been a joy to run with Miles, he did a good job.
“There's a lot been said about Miles and many of us know his Dad, and he is a credit, an absolute credit to him. He carries himself well, he's a young lad, but in and around the cab he's excellent, he's got a long, long rosy future ahead of him.”
Miles; “Yes, this is my fifth rally of the year, so I was fairly warmed up and ready for it. I think regardless of what the result was, we had probably the best day in the car that anybody could have had, just the tests were justamazing, I love the car, and yes, there were a lot of jokes along the way. I thought some things could impact on the day, but other than traffic and some bits and bobs, we were pretty much OK, so you’ve got to be happy with that.”
Dan Watt and Stephen Patten – Mercedes SL230
Dan; “It was amazing, we've had such a laugh. We haven't fought at all, Stephen and I made it back!. We've thoroughly enjoyed it. We spun it 360 on the last airfield section in a Merc Pagoda! I mean, “I've had it for 20 years and I've never driven my car like that, it was absolutely hilarious.”
Stephen; “Everything was my fault, but that's the joy of the Navigator, even the potholes were my fault. I've had a hard day, but then we knew nothing before today. We took a couple of wrong turns, and the Mercedes was not an ideal rally car, but then again, it's come home!”
Jonathan Hancock and Freddie Hancock (15) Triumph 2.5 Pi 9th O/A 1st in Class
The father and son Hancock crew were pushing on in their fantastic Triumph 2.5 P1 and loving the rally.
Jonathan; “It's been absolutely amazing. We have had such a great day, you know, few things have gone wrong, other people have bombed us, but we caught another car on the second test, maybe they were a minute down, I suppose. But no major disasters, it's been great and Freddie has done superbly today.”
Freddie (15) “I enjoyed every second. I mean, we came into coffee and I saw that we were fifth, and I was blown away, then I found out that we had a good result, plus we're having a good time. So it's a double whammy!”
George Mullins, Clerk of the Course HERO Challenge One
The overall view of many of the competitors was that the rally was hugely successful, but what was the view of the Clerk of the Course for Hero Challenge One?
“There were a lot of smiley faces. There were a few people getting frustrated who made mistakes, but usually honest enough to say they've made a mistake. It was compact, but still competitive, but I think the longest road sections were seven or eight miles, but then you finished a test and went straight into a regularity, or vice versa, we did that twice.
“As far as the competition was concerned, it's almost like a bit of a niche thing, you get some top class navigators who are very competitive, we have intermediates and today, quite a few first timers. So I think it's a good audience, to be honest. But equally, we've had people on their second rallies or third ever rallies, and they all seem to have enjoyed it.”