Somerset Stages Rally
Rally History
The Somerset Stages Rally was born from the Minehead Motor Club’s EXMOOR SEEKERS RALLY. Burnham on Sea Motor Club joined forces with Minehead to run the first Somerset Stages in 1977. Originally run in the Autumn it used private tracks and forest roads as well as the Porlock Toll Road. The 1981 event was postponed to the following spring due to a problem with the use of the Toll Road. From that year on it has always run in the Spring – either in March or April. The other year that there was no event was in 2001 when it was cancelled due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.
Each year the event has been in the hands of various Clerks of The Course.
Mike Sweetland was in at the start. He was joined by Ed Hardy in 1982 who took over with assistance from Neal Vile.
In 1985 a new team took over at the helm – Paul Sutcliffe and Martin Stevens. Paul was joined in 1987 by the late Andy Winter. 1989 saw the hot seat taken by Chris House and Les Woodward who saw it through until Geoff Taylor took the task on in 1996. Jason Hayes the current Clerk of the Course took the weight off Geoff’s shoulders in 2002.
The Rally has been fortunate to have much support from local businesses throughout. One of the first sponsors was Heathfield Motors of Bridgwater. A local video company, Dare Video headed by car enthusiast Dick Dare supported the rally in ‘84 and ’85. Martinglass, the double glazing company of Mike Martin stepped in with support in 1986 and continued for four years. Darrel Denning a hardened competitor backed the event in 1990 and 1991 with his local Minehead Business - Mart Road Garage. 1992 saw the start of a long association with local Peugeot dealer, Gliddons Garage of Williton (and Taunton). They were joined by 22Motorsport for the later years. Long term competitor on the event Steve Winter stepped in to give the event the impressive title of the WRCsales.com Somerset Stages in 2003 and followed this with three more years, 2006 being supported by Carbase.Biz, his new car retail business. The 2008 event was sponsored for the second successive year by Betta aquatic products – the manufacturing company of Paul James who also has enjoyed many Somerset Stages as a competitor and continues to do so.
The rally has had tremendous support throughout the years from our local competitors around the South West, many of them fighting for honours in the ASWMC Championship. Over the years we have been joined by contenders for the Central Southern Championship. The rally’s turning point came in 1992 when we were fortunate enough to become a round of the Peugeot GTi Rally Challenge. This boosted our entries and ensured the financial strength the event needed to continue. In 1996 we were invited to become a round of the BTRDA Gold and Silver Star Championships. This allowed us to build on our strengths and continue into the 21st century with the sort of entry numbers that some events could only dream of. We continue to build on our partnership with BTRDA to keep the event alive today in its thirty first year.
Over the years we have always strived to offer the competitor the smoothest and best we can. It has not always been simple. There have been times when parts of the Forestry Commission tracks have not been available. When The Crown Estates would not let us use their sections and most frustratingly when Porlock Toll Road was temporarily lost due to a dispute between farmers.
Only in recent years have the local Forestry Commission staff been able to help us with more meaningful track repair.
Entry fees have changed over the years. A large percentage of it goes to the landowners for the tracks we use. In 1979 the entry fee was £38.00. Today, in its thirty second year the fee is £400.00!
We have seen a wide range of winners – the first in 1977 was Ed Hardy who went on to be a Clerk of the Course. Ray Radford – a legend in the South west in the Eighties took the accolade in 1982 & 1983. Still competing today Stuart Haskins was number one in 1984. Current owner of Lyden Hill rallycross circuit and past World Rallycross Champion Pat Doran cut his teeth on our event and was top dog in 1987,1989 & 1990.
British Rally Champion Jonny Milner won in 1994. Steve Winter, event sponsor for several years, was also our winner in 1997 and 1998. Lately, the one they all come to see – Andy Burton has taken the top spot nine times despite several attempts to beat him! Other winners over the years include Mike Warner, Andy Miers, Andy Orchard, Jeffery George, Clive White, Dennis Moody, Pete Elkins, Derek Cossey and Ian Joel and in 2008 and 2009 Will Nicholls.
Over the 32 years we have had a huge range of competitors. Local lads and well known names. Entry numbers have varied from as low as 58 starters up to 149 crews leaving the start ramp. One year also saw Penny Mallory (as seen on Fifth Gear) driving the Course car.
The Rally has used a variety of places as the on the day HQ. In the early days scrutineering was at Bridgwater Motor Co in Bridgwater with the rally based in Minehead Rugby Club. Mart Road Garage in Minehead became our next technical base with event HQ at The West Somerset Community School. When Gliddons took on the backing of the event the technical stuff was all in their workshops. Rally HQ tried the Beach Hotel and a one off stay at the Hobby Horse Hotel before returning to the Beach Hotel, where we remained until 2007. Development around the hotel made it impractical to continue there and so a deal was struck with Butlins to base the event there for 2008 and again for the following two years.
These years co-incided with the backing of enthusiastic competitor Paul James, proprietor of Betta Aquatic products and Watermarque aquatic super stores.
There are few forest stage rallies that have survived the onslaught of cost and time, particularly in the South West. The Somerset Stages Rally is where it is today because of the hard work of a dedicated organising team and the support of the competitors and sponsors.
For A List Of Somerset Stages Rally Previous Winners, Please Click Here.