• Father and son/daughter crews share top category honours
• Memorable victories for Alfa Romeo and Porsche in sun-blessed Yorkshire
• Inspiring bloodlines with the passions of endurance rallying  
• 2026 Generations Rally confirmed for new Wye Valley base

As is now tradition, Rally the Globe’s year of epic driving adventures fired up with the fourth running of its award-winning Generations Rally (27-30 March).

The much-loved season opener not only acts as a great curtain-raiser for the year ahead by removing winter dust from both crews and cars, but also as the perfect opportunity for current Rally the Globe participants to introduce newer, younger, blood to the very special camaraderie and competition that such evocative retro driving events have to offer all-comers.

After three highly-acclaimed forerunners set in the Lake District, on the edge of the North Pennines and in the heart of the Cheshire countryside, for 2025 the much-loved Generations Rally – again enthusiastically supported by Kingfisher Private Client – was based at the appropriately named Majestic Hotel & Spa in Harrogate.

The rally’s latest headquarters was ideally situated to take advantage of the incredible traffic-free driving roads and privately-owned venues that ‘God’s own Country’ of Yorkshire has to offer. With such beautiful countryside and so many amazing roads on the doorstep, it served up the perfect appetiser for the mouth-watering array of Rally the Globe main attractions which will take adventurous and affable crews to Ireland, Spain and, finally, on an incredible journey through the Islands of Japan before the year’s end.

Building on past successes, 2025’s impressive entry of iconic pre-1986 cars was not just fully-subscribed but also, as hoped, crewed by members of two distinct generations – and mostly from the same family. While the majority of eager entrants hailed from the UK, such is the innovative event’s international appeal, that others had travelled from Ireland, America, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands to take on locals.

All the famous automotive marques were well represented among the 89 cars assembling outside the Majestic ahead of three memorable days of action in the welcome spring sunshine.

The eye-catching – and nostalgically sounding – line-up ranged in age from a battalion of Bentleys from the 1920s right up to a phalanx of Porsche 911s from the sixties and seventies with a wonderful cocktail including Alfa Romeos, Aston Martins, Ford RSs, Jaguar E-types, MGs, Mini Coopers and Triumph TRs from the decades between. Adding further spice, the tasty entry also included a few curiosities including a 1935 Fiat Balilla, a 1950 Allard J2, a 1972 Fiat Dino Coupe, a 1971 Rolls Royce Corniche, a 1971 Citroen SM and even a 1982 Morris Ital.

After technical and paperwork checks on Friday morning at a local Army Foundation College, the afternoon’s scene-setting action commenced with three appetite whetting Speed Tests at the magnificent Harewood Hillclimb.

Helping novices to discover the old-fashioned fun of motoring, the opening day included various stress-free Passage and Time Controls in the timeless charm of the Yorkshire Dales. The route then climbed over scenic Pock Stones Moor towards another Speed Test at the Pateley Bridge Showground and, finally, a Regularity between a picture-perfect patchwork of dry-stone walls.

As the sun set there were already plenty of stories for participants – new and old – to share over dinner with Graham Goodwin and his daughter’s partner Tommy Stevenson leading the Pre-War Category aboard Graham’s trusty 1925 Bentley Supersports and David Liddell with his son Ed on the maps topping the Classic Category in their 1963 Triumph TR4.

After Friday’s welcoming introduction into the treasured wonders of endurance rallying, Saturday’s packed programme stepped up several gears, gradually asking more and more of cars as well as their drivers and navigators.

Keeping everyone on their toes, a rich cocktail of Speed Tests, Regularities and Time Controls came thick and fast along a magical 170-mile journey through the sweeping Yorkshire Wolds and Moors. Highlights included a pair of exhilarating Speed Tests around Dishforth Airfield, a Passage Control atop Osmotherley Moor and an excellent lunch at Duncombe Park House. Then, after a far more challenging day of driving delights, the action reached an epic finale with an incredible Regularity set on six miles of pristine gravel in Bramham Park.

When the dust settled, it was now the Alfa Romeo 1750 GS of Dermot Johnson and his daughter Rachel which led the Pre-War Category with the 1938 Triumph Dolomite of Philippa Bailey and her niece Rose de Montmorency in hot pursuit. Adding to the intrigue, navigator Bailey took Pre-War honours in the same car 12 months’ earlier but with Rose’s sister Charlotte behind the wheel.

There was also a change at the top of the Classic Category leader-board with the black Porsche 911 shared by father and son pairing of Jack and Simon Brien now ahead of the erstwhile leading TR4… but only by a scant two second margin. They, too, were looking to ‘do the double’ having secured Classic Category spoils in 2024.

Meeting the compact nature of the Generations Rally lauded format, Sunday’s schedule was shorter providing ample time for a late lunch, prize-giving and early departure.

After an early morning start – magnified by the clocks going forward by an hour – three Speed Tests (two staged within the Catterick military training area) plus three Regularities took teams on a helter-skelter 100-mile trip back through the sun-soaked Dales.

Despite all the potential pitfalls lining the route, neither of the leading crews stumbled, with the spoils safely shared between different generations of Johnson and Brien families. While fathers and sons have teamed up as winners in the past, the Johnson’s victory will go down in the history books as the first for a father and daughter combo.

“It’s been a great family occasion, although I was shouted at a couple of times!” enthused a delighted Dermot. “The event has been absolutely fabulous and Yorkshire is so beautiful that I want to come back here on holiday.”

True to the spirit of the rally, this was daughter Rachel’s debut in the navigator’s seat. “This was my first rally, and it has been amazing, I’ve really enjoyed it,” she admitted. “I loved the Tests and the scenery has been amazing… as has meeting lots of new people and spending so much time with my father.”

Despite having won 12 months ago in Cheshire, the Briens were equally thrilled with their repeat success.

“This was an amazing result for us. I’m overwhelmed to have won this rally for a second time,” said Jack Brien who, once again, shared the driving with father Simon. “It’s been another magnificent event – incredibly well organised and, as usual, the Rally the Globe team have put together a fantastic route and a great bunch of competitors to share it with.”

After 350 miles of memorable driving through the unspoilt landscapes of Yorkshire – interspersed with some testing competitive sections largely on asphalt surfaces – all the finishers were overjoyed both with their own achievements and the many unforgettable experiences shared.

As well as the overall and individual class prizes, the discretionary Spirit of the Rally Award was presented by Tammy Hickey of Kingfisher Private Client to Stephen and Jordan Willis. They not only overcame a broken drive coupling in their Austin Mini Cooper S but also assisted Celia and Rory O’Neill when towing the latters’ stricken Riley MPH back to the Majestic Hotel on Saturday evening.

In summing up the event, Rally the Globe’s Clerk of the Course, Mark Appleton, praised the entire team for putting together another universally acclaimed triumph. He also thanked all the local volunteer marshals and enthusiastic motor clubs for their roles in ensuring the route ran so smoothly.

“Now four years in, the Generations Rally has become a much-loved fixture on the calendars of so many,” confirmed Appleton. “The proven format works really well and it’s always wonderful to see so many newcomers not only thoroughly enjoying themselves in some wonder period cars but also doing as well as Rachel has done this weekend. Although we say it every year, we will be back with an equally good – or even better – Generations Rally in 12 months’ time.”

With little time to soak up all the plaudits, the Rally the Globe team is already firmly focused on its busy programme of forthcoming events. In little more than six weeks’ time, the Vintage Shamrock (12-15 May) will be well underway in the heavenly surroundings of south western Ireland. A return to Spain follows with the Carrera Andalucia (22 June to 3 July) before the Suffolk Cloverleaf (5-8 August) – an event reserved for Rally the Globe members. The year ends on a massive high with an astonishing trip to the Land of the Rising Sun for the Islands of Japan Marathon (18 September to 16 October).

Looking even further ahead, 2026’s calendar is well advanced, too, with the fifth staging of the Generations Rally already confirmed for 20-22 March, this time based close to Chepstow on the edge of the Forest of Dean with easy access into the classic rallying territory of mid-Wales. Once again the Vintage Shamrock will follow before exciting new rallies in Scandinavia and northern Spain.

While next month’s Vintage Shamrock is another sell-out, entries are available for both the Carrera Andalucia and Islands of Japan Marathon as well as next year’s Generations Rally – those not wanting to miss out are advised to book early. Interested entrants can also pre-register for 2026’s other three rallies.