JERSEY VICTORIOUS AT THE GUERNSEY RALLY
22nd February 2026
by Sue Fossey
JERSEY VICTORIOUS AT THE GUERNSEY RALLY
Jersey remained victorious at the Little Big Group Guernsey Rally with Ross Le Noa, partnered by Derek Le Bailly, retaining the winner’s laurels for the 7th year at the wheel of his powerful Ford Escort Mk II although there were plenty of close battles over the 24 stages and two days of rallying. 15 Jersey Motorcycle & Light Car Club rally crews travelled to our sister Isle and enjoyed both great hospitality and great competition across all the classes. The event was a great success with many enthusiastic spectators braving the fierce weather to watch the rally cars over two days of racing on the closed roads, many of them significantly tighter than Jersey’s lanes.
Photo - Jolie Mars – Mars Media Co.
Friday afternoon’s stages saw Ed Fossey partnered by Guernseyman Will Rutherford in the potent Proton Satria Millington take 3 stage wins to lead by just 5 seconds from Le Noa, with the same number of stage wins. British champion, Damian Cole with Sarnian Ian Hislop, claimed 3rd at this point although he was already finding the stages challenging. Jersey was 4th with the powerful 4wd Skoda of Darry Morris & Kieran Gregory, some 2 seconds ahead of Dave Oliveira and Victor Nobrega. First Guernsey team were Nick Duquemin & Phil Ferbrache – who claimed 5th overall at the end of the two days. Going into the night, Fossey lost some 50 seconds when the car cut out and Le Noa took full advantage. The night ended with Jersey holding all 3 podium positions with Le Noa leading from Morris and then the recovering Fossey. Another noteworthy drive was Joao Rodrigues and Guernseyman Fraser Torode, 6th overall on Friday night in their first outing with the exciting Toyota Starlet. Sadly, they retired before the finish of the event.
Saturday dawned with another challenging weather forecast – heavy wind and monsoon conditions likely to tax the very best drivers. Le Noa consolidated his lead although Fossey attacked from the start, recording 11 fastest stage times over the 14 stages. Final result - Le Noa won by 57 seconds from Fossey with Oliveira 3rd some 1 minute 20 behind. Morris retained 4th spot and the 4WD class win. 8th overall were Richard Le Marquand & Trevor Rabet in the evocative early Escort whilst the similar model of Mark Syvret & Chris Fox took them to 9th – 6 Jersey crews in the top 10.
The early marque Escort also performed exceptionally well for Dave Truscott & Andrew Simpson (12th overall & 6th in class) and Paul Vibert & Nick Le Masurier with the 1400cc model (1st in class and 13th overall). Tim Alderson & Mark Galvin admitted that Friday night’s stages were a big challenge for first time co-driver – 14th overall and 7th in class still a good reward. Another evocative car – the Sunbeam of Keith & Matthew Pinel was certainly a crowd pleaser and 16th overall was their best result in Guernsey to date. Dan Gallichan & Will de la Haye found the Guernsey stages a real challenge in their big BMW and were delighted to finish 22nd, beating their seeding well.
Paul Carre & Zak Simpson were a late entry for their first Guernsey – enjoyed the event despite the weather and finished 25 against a seeding of 40. BMW power for Nathan Nicolle & Romany Stephens who, unfortunately, were unable to exceed their seeding at 15 after an off-road excursion. They achieved 26th overall
Many volunteer officials also travelled to Guernsey to support the Sarnian event and the collaboration between the two Islands to ensure these significant motorsport events are successful continues.
