RAC Rally of the Tests 2026 – back to the land of Champions

Wales is where the 2025 RAC Rally of the Tests finished and Wales, more specifically Llandudno, is where the RAC Rally of the Tests will start in 2026. There is huge significance in the location as Wales is the undoubted home of rallying past and present, but now more than ever, it is the home of rally champions!

Elfyn Evans (Dolgellau) is the new 2026 World Rally Champion having previously been runner up on no less than five occasions, whilst Osian Pryce (Machynlleth) has recently secured both his second British Rally Championship and the European Historic Rally Championship (Cat 3). It is through this chequered landscape that the 24th edition of RAC Rally of the Tests (2026) will do battle over 30 tests and 22 regularities from 19th –22ndNovember, starting in Llandudno and finishing in Newport.

The entry list reveals a phalanx of winners and champions too, including successful young Bob Rutherford Scholarship victors, both of who could be in with a chance of winning with their drivers; Michael Payton, (Volvo) his navigator Miles Fieldhouse will be up against fellow Bob Rutherford Scholarship for Young Navigators victor Oli Waldock sitting with Nick Bloxham (Escort). Paul Bloxidge + Ian Canavan (VWGolf), Paul Crosby + Ali Procter (Mini Cooper S), Paul Dyas + Martyn Taylor (Ford Cortina), Ryan Pickering alongside Shane Houlihan (Volvo), John King + Matthew Vokes (Lotus Elan +2) Andrew Boland + Mark Appleton (Escort), Jon Dunning + Pete Johnson (Escort), Chris + Claire Day (Mini Cooper S), Ken + Sarah Binstead (MGB), Kevin Haselden + Matt Fowle (Mini Cooper S), Kurt Vanderspinnen and Phil Savage (Lotus Cortina). What a list, take your pick!

For many, the names Epynt, Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells are synonymous with the history of rallying in Wales, and they are all on the Rally of the Tests itinerary. Add Sweet Lamb and the Great Orme, scenes of great World Rally Championship battles and you have a great sporting stage for the toughest and most competitive of HERO-ERA events, the ‘Tests.’With unpredictable November weather too, it will be tough.

As a snapshot of a day, Epynt, Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells are part of a typically hard rally Leg Two on Saturday where there will be an early start to a long and demanding day for crews. Constant tests and regularities will test crews before they head south through rallying heartland with a supper halt in Builth Wells.

That is the pre-curser to one of the huge attractions to rallyists, a night section over the awesome Epynt Ranges!

For those rally historians competing, the overnight halt is in the ‘Hotel of Champions’ the infamous Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells where pictures of rally cars, stars and memorabilia decorate the walls of this home from home of rallying in Wales. The hotel has stood as a beacon of rallying in Wales for over 70 years.

The Prologue is a key part of RoTT as crews can ease themselves into the event and try to get acclimatised in terms of navigation and find out how the car is performing. However, with such a long and relentless rally ahead, those who may appear competitive in this early part of the event may not feature once the rally reaches its conclusion in Newport after three legs. Two regularities and a test on the Great Orme will end the Prologue and conclude with the ‘Welcome Dinner.’

Leg One and the action starts as it intends to go on, in rapid fire. A welcome return to Anglesea, not used since edition ten, this time with circuit tests and four regularities. Amazingly 11 tests will have already been tackled! Then split by a meal halt in Porthmadog, three more sections will teams into the dark. Leg Two is into Mid-Wales and the WRC Sweet Lamb complex for more intense competition and then 60 miles of Epynt Ranges in the dark! These are absolute highlights with more in-between, but at least competitors can see where they went wrong the night before as they compete on the final day and Leg Three over Epynt in daylight! There will be a special regularity on private land before arriving at the Brecon Cattle Market and a blast through the Mart site, then the last three regularities before the run in to the finish line in Newport.

There is a LITE edition of the RAC Rally of the Tests as well, which is back after it was enthusiastically received last year. Running alongside the traditional format, this option offers less night-time driving and simplified navigation, allowing wider accessibility to crews of all capabilities.

The most competitive rally of the year also doubles as the final battleground for the two overall champions of the year, the drivers for the HERO-ERA Cup, and the navigators for the Golden Roamer Trophy. Dick Baines leads Dave Maryon for the drivers whilst Henry Carr is just ahead of Harry Baines by 19.5 points. Dick and Harry Baines have entered the LITE Rally of the Tests so will receive a lower Coeffient of points whatever their finishing position. It will be a close run to the finish.

With crews from the USA, Wales, IOM, Switzerland, England, Wales, Scotland, Holland, Ireland, Belgium and Germany, it will be a truly international event, proving its attraction to rallyists in Europe and beyond. However, it will be a difficult to make any predictions as to who might make it to the podium to take the honours, but it will be thrilling to watch as the rally unfolds.

Guy Woodcock, Clerk of the Course, is excited about the event running through the heartland of Wales; “This year’s running of the event will still be as challenging as you have all come to expect over the past two decades.

“The chance to run an event wholly in Wales is awesome. With over 45 years of rallying in the principality I have used roads, contact and local Motor Clubs to deliver what I hope will be the most enjoyable, testing and challenging ROTT in my 15 years of involvement with the event. The crews will know they have had a challenge at the end of each of the legs, I’m sure!”

Ends