Day 2 Summer Trial – dramatic close fight ends in sad retirement
*Sarah and Ken Binstead take the lead in their Austin Healey 3000
*Paul Wignall and Phil Savage rocket up leaderboard to second - then retire!
*Fantastic roads topped by superb tests at Catterick to end the long day
Great driving roads with tremendous scenery were topped off with cream as competitors savoured their blast around four fantastic tests at Catterick Military Training ground at the end the longest day of the 2026 Summer Trial. Despite regularity four having to be cancelled following a road closure, there were still five cracking regularities and five tests to enjoy.
Sarah and Ken Binstead, with their hood down on their Austin Healey 3000 all day in the cloudy and sometimes cold weather, were pretty sure that hadn’t done enough to lead today, in fact Sarah said she didn’t think they were even in the top three as she said; “we had a pirouette on one of the tests, in fact a complete 360!” Sarah couldn’t be more wrong, they lead by 5 seconds with one day to go.
It was a day of ups and downs, not just over the moors and over hill and dale, but also on the Catterick Ranges for Paul Wignall and Phil Savage. Their rocket like performance in the Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint to propel them up to second place, sadly ended back at the HQ in Durham with a broken axle. This promoted Tim Lawrence and Richard Lambley in the BMW to second place after what Richard described as ‘patchy sort of a day.’
In fact, it was a case of sweet and sour for the Wignall and Savage families. Whilst Paul and navigator Phil Savage had to taste the bitter pill of retirement, Paul’s wife Jayne, a former HERO Cup Champion and Kevin Savage, moved up to fifth overall in the glorious Sunbeam Tiger.
Overnight leaders Jo and Pete Johnson dropped down to third after a slightly difficult time on Catterick; “I don't think we did so well on the last tests at Catterick. We might have hit a cone but I’m not sure, I doubt we're leading now. But we won't know till we see the test results.” Said Pete.
After a first early test at Diggerland, the cars climbed up into the Pennine Hills, everyone getting warmed up in the dull and quite cold conditions. But as the then overnight leader, Pete Johnson explained; “even before the first timing point on the very first regularity, five or six crews dropped time, including ourselves, as we lost six seconds. We just weren't sharp enough!”
The incredible Langley Castle, where some filming of Harry Potter had taken place, was set to revive crews ready for a break before the open moorland and tricky turns over the superb roads that lay ahead.
Great places for a halt at Parkhead Fell, and then descending into Tynedale, Holston Moor, then south for another section of competition, starting from the Teesdale Valley, there were some impressive heights and sights as the rally went around the valley in a loop, then down to Eggleston for lunch in the grounds of a fantastic Georgian Hall.
A twisty and sometimes fast regularity six with plenty of dips and crests past no less than five reservoirs, was a real treat before the final coffee halt of the day at Tan Hill Inn, a17th century Inn, the highest pub in the British Isles at 1,732 feet. It’s where a couple of years ago in the big winter freeze and major snowfall, a lot of people got stuck in the Inn for three days, having to keep warm by drinking the pub dry!
The scenery was sensational over Bowes Moor and Stainmore Forest leading up to the Inn, which proved an incredible piece of road over some very desolate, yet striking looking moors. Rugged yet beautiful. Crews then made the long journey to Catterick through some of the finest villages in the Dales which added to the great driving day in both competition and across the link sections.
Ken and Sarah Binstead, 1st overall. Ken; “It was a long old day and really quite mixed. This morning, we didn't do well on the first test. The regularities were okay, but we were not up to our best, I don't think. But this afternoon we were much better, we were holding our own. Then there was a bit of an odd thing on one of the regs as one of the timing points was out, which threw us a bit, but it threw everybody. However, it wasn't the end of the world. Then the tests down at Catterick were good. We've been on that area before, but not in the Healey, so we struggled a bit.”
Sarah was told that the Healey looked quick and asked if it felt quick from her seat?
“Well, some of the cones came up a bit fast. Certainly, when one had been completely knocked out the way, that was a bit of a surprise and doing a 360 pirouette was equally surprising, so we put a little bit of extra in there. I don't think we will even be in the top three, with spinning on the test.” Happily, how wrong Sarah was and now they have to try and hang on to their five second lead on the final day of the Summer Trial.
Dave and Jackie Batchelor are now fourth in their TR4 after a fine performance since the start, but John Lomas and Mike Cochrane are now in sixth after having been in the podium positions. JLo explained: “So the day has not been too bad. We hit some motorcyclists at the first timing point and dropped us 14 seconds, that was a bit of a nightmare. Catterick felt quick but I just had an absolute mare on one of the slaloms. Mike said he had to use his shouty voice! He kept saying right of K, right of K, and I was going left. So we stopped. We didn't mess the test up, but I had to stop and restart. So that could have really cost us.
“But I mean, phenomenal days rallying as ever. Great roads, good tests for a second day, and again fabulous roads. Amazing. The Summer Trial 2026 has been superb and it’s not over yet!”
ends