Rally for the Ages 2025 Rally Report

When her friends ask 12-year-old Beatrix Bloxham what she did at the weekend on her return to school few would expect the answer: “I won my first car rally.”

She is too modest, but if it were required, Beatrix could turn up at a show-and-tell with her HERO-ERA trophy which she collected with her father, Nick Bloxham, at the end of a the third running of the Rally for the Ages.  Just two weeks after her birthday, the young lady from Wolverhampton, eased her way out of the family’s 1972 Ford Escort Mexico and said: “It was fun, I enjoyed it. I just tried to look carefully at the route notes and if I was not sure at a roundabout we would go round it again to be certain. I would like to do more."

Dad Nick has a famous family history in rallying and was understandably immensely impressed.  “Beatrix did a great job, I'm really proud of her. She hardly put a foot wrong – and only stabbed me with her pencil three times!

"She read the rally notes very well, was very clear, very good. I am really chuffed, and the car handled well, we all worked well together, a good day for us.

"Rallying is very much in the family, her grandfather John was British Rally Champion, and for Beatrix to come along and do so well in her first event is very special.”

Apart from their 1^st place overall award, Beatrix lifted high the Clockwatcher Award, for the best overall performance on the tests, while William Drew won the highest placed competitors under 18 award from Evie Drew. Beatrix was one of several 12-year-old navigators and at least ten more were teenagers.

The one-day event took the competitors from Bicester Motion, home of HERO-ERA, through some of England’s most beautiful countryside, through hamlets and villages where many locals moved their sun chairs outside and waved and cheered as the cars edged their way past, many responding to the well-wishers with a wave and a touch of the car horn. 

First there was the a test on the Bicester Motion Airfield, one of four on the day, after the event was flagged away by Patrick Burke, Partner and Sponsorship Director of HERO-ERA, with five regularities to keep crews thinking and very alert as they navigated through the scenery with some tricky corner calls for the not so wary among the high hedges and narrow, historic roads.

As the day wore on, it became a duel in the sun of the Escort Mexicos, that of the Bloxham’s and the 1971 car 28, driven by Tim Sawyer and navigated by Jack Harvey.  Narrow throughout, but by the end, it was the superb ability and experience of Nick Bloxham which saw him collect awards for both the tests and the regularities with help from his excellent daughter.

Third overall was the 1275 GT Mini Clubman crewed by Roland and Tamzin Thomas, another of several brother and sister crews who drove very well.

“You’re not a bad driver,” said Tamzin. “And you are not a bad navigator,” said Roland who stepped in to navigate for his father, some years back, then drove as Tamzin moved into the left-hand seat. “Both parents rallied so we decided to have a go,” says Tamzin.

James Portway, with son Lorcan navigating, has plenty of rally experience in other forms but this was his first HERO-ERA event but most certainly not his last. Driving the oldest car in the field, a beautiful blue 1922 Vauxhall 30/98 which was once the fastest in Britain, he and son Lorcan, won Class 1 for pre-1960 registered cars, a terrific achievement in a car which is big on power, short on brakes.

“I was aware of the HERO-ERA events, and we wanted to give this a try, and we loved it,” said James.  "We found all the checkpoints; we thoroughly enjoyed the regularities and did not go wrong. The tests were great fun but hard work in a car like this.

"The car is fantastic, and it is quick. It just doesn’t stop very well.  I only have two-wheel brakes.  They invented a terrific engine, but the brakes came later. It is a delight to take part in an event like this, and I would definitely enter another."

The Vauxhall was the pride and joy of James’ father who lovingly rebuilt it and is a family treasure whereas the youngest car in the field was more than a touch different, the 2017 1 litre Ford Fiesta owned by Rosanna Talbot. 

Her preparation? “I put it through the car wash, filled the tank and here we are,” said 25-year-old Rosanna who drove as her “logical friend” Alfie Baker navigated them to the Youngest Crew Award. They were also first-timers and loved the day, finishing third in class 6 for all other vehicles - that is from 1990 on, although they had a big advantage over most of their rivals… air-conditioning.

“A lot of people were envious and when we stopped at the timing points the marshals were putting their heads in to enjoy the coolness.  I'm not sure how others coped without air con,” said Rosanna

“It’s my uni car. Alfie and I were at uni together and we just thought we would give it a go.  Maybe we will have to get a classic and rally that. Why not?"

That included her mum and dad, Ed and Joanna Talbot in their 1974 MGB GT V8. “It was very hot in our car, but I’m pleased that Rosanna and Alfie did so well at their first attempt.”

The father and son team of former F1 Team Director, Nick Fry, who helped rescue the Honda team and turned it into title-winning Brawn with Jenson Button at the wheel, went round in a 1971 Porsche 911. Now Nick is very much a competitive driver and had his second attempt in the Rally for the Ages was with his 14-year-old son Raf who was third in the highest placed competitor under 18 category. Fry who is still involved, but now with McLaren although not on the racing side, proved a very tidy rally man.

“We did the event two years ago and really enjoyed it, had a year off and returned today and we have a had a great time. It is wonderful thing to be able to rally with your son and he did very well to keep us in the hunt. It went well.”

Competitors were there for a variety of reasons, returning to enjoy a fun day or like Julian Ellison and Mark Culley in their Mercedes W123 200 who were novices in test and regularity events, a gateway to more events. “We are definitely racers,” said Julian. We have three Mille Miglias behind us and race at Le Mans, but we want to enter LEJOG, another HERO-ERA event and we have never done this type of rallying before. It was very different to what we usually do but definitely enjoyable.”

HERO-ERA Chairman Tomas de Vargas Machuca was enthusiastically impressed with the event, which is proving immensely popular.

“Every time I see the younger generation doing something outside and not being completely absorbed by a screen makes me a very happy man. Whether it’s a car, a bicycle, or skiing, it is great! And we are offering the Rally for the Ages which is attracting so many young people. Today we have fathers and mothers with their children, uncles, siblings driving with each other, you have a family thing, friends. 

“It brings youngsters into the real world, the next generation coming through. Wonderful. They learn, they grow, they succeed and then they show the adults how it is done. We give free entry to a crew whose combined age is not more than 70. This to encourage people to try this, to enjoy their cars. This is an event that is bringing in so many.”

Tomas had a up-close look at the cars as they passed through his nearby home at Hardwick Manor in what proved a tricky little diversion for crews, some of whom missed the entrance, some the exit.  And there could be more happening around the Manor next year.

The HERO-ERA Competition Director, Guy Woodcock said: “It has been a great event. We were blessed with good weather; not too hot I thought. We had a great turnout, some returning, but a lot of new faces. It is a tremendous feeder event. It’s an old sport but we need to get more young people, new blood and this rally does that.  I was particularly pleased to see young Beatrix win on her first outing and I’m sure her grandfather John was smiling down on her.”