ON THE ROAD – NRR
NATIONAL ROAD RALLY 2026
Witley wins Silver awards in 2026 National Rally:
What a great day!
Five Witley road riders entered the 2026 NRR (National Road Rally): Ian Hayward (BMW), Gordon Kerr (Honda), Brian Williams (Triumph), Laurie Richards (Triumph) and Gordon Ayshford (Moto Guzzi).
Teams consist of three riders so, for no real reason, Gordon K, Ian H and Gordon A were listed as the Witley MCC team, though all five stuck together all day.
Of the alternatives available over the weekend of Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July, they had chosen to aim for something with a little bit of a challenge, but that promised to be achievable and rewarding; the Silver Award for the Saturday Daytime Rally. The clash with Brooklands had not only ruled out the two-day rally but also the overnight run.
To capture some of the atmosphere of the "Lads' Day Out" that they rode last year – to fill the void created by there being no organised NRR – it was agreed that a Silver was the highest award they could aim for to avoid the stress caused by the tighter schedule that would result from attempting the Gold award level.
This also allowed the schedule to mimic the previous year's social event to include a short leg from the last control to a final destination at a pub early enough for them to have a rest, drink and a burger before heading their separate ways home.
The plan worked! They stayed on schedule throughout the day, despite a slight delay a few minutes after their 09:00 start from the Shell Service station, Peasmarsh, when Ian Hayward's "magnetic" tank bag decided to bale out just as he accelerated on to the A3. Luckily this was the only major disaster of the day! The next control, Liss, was manned, and they bumped into one of the NRR organisers that Gordon A had been corresponding with. A bit like the old days!
Any delay incurred was soon clawed back as the 30 mph average the schedule was based on, was easy to exceed.
A total of 11 controls were visited, taking them to the South Coast at Lee-on-the-Solent (via Petworth and Funtington), then through the New Forest to a lunch break at the Churchill Arms in Alderholt. This leg deviated from the planned route after Ian Hayward revealed some local knowledge; this resulted in him taking the lead for a twisty, enchanting ride down narrow lanes through the Forest, including a ford (though dry due to drought!)
After lunch they headed west and north to Warminster via Shaftesbury, then SE to Amesbury and Winchester, before heading to their final control at The Garage, Sherfield-on-Loddon. This last leg was streamlined when Laurie Richards pointed out that rather than the planned convoluted route to Basingstoke to pick up the A33, they could just drop on the A33 near Winchester and follow that to Basingstoke.
The result was a welcome simplification at that late stage in the tiring day and made arrival at the final control a few minutes ahead of schedule. All control visits had been recorded automatically by the Rally App that was introduced for the first time this year – and despite reservations caused by lack of clear instructions, it worked more or less perfectly for the Witley riders and confirmed they had all achieved their goal of a Silver award by the time they were sitting in the Ely pub on the A30.
Thanks to not having to look for elusive NRR posters to record a unique, control-specific code number at each control this year, the use of the app gave a feeling of freedom and allowed one to be aware of the control surroundings. This, and seeing more groups of bikes on the road who were also riding the Rally, helped to bring back some of the nostalgic feeling of the "good old days".
Roll on 2027, for something a bit more challenging – perhaps?
Gordon Ayshford
Updates from the ACU:
https://www.acu.org.uk/news/2026/01/national-road-rally-45-july/
