With the workshop full of rally cars keeping us busy, our coverage of the 2026 WA Rally Championship has been a little later than planned. But now that we’re in full flow, it’s time to look back at the opening round of the championship — the 2026 Brunswick Rally.
After roughly six months away from competition, the WA rally season finally got underway in April, with competitors heading south to Brunswick for Round 1.
In recent years, the championship has traditionally opened with the Winvale stages, based around Bakers Hill and run on private property. This year, however, the opening round moved several hundred kilometres south to Brunswick, bringing competitors back to an area with a long history of rallying.
The Brunswick area has previously featured in major rally events, including stages of Rally Australia when the World Rally Championship visited WA. It has also hosted several state championship events over the years, with the roads last seeing significant competition around 2020, when they formed part of the Forest Rally during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 2026, Brunswick was being used in its entirety for the opening event, with Round 1 retaining the sprint-style format. Competitors faced four stages, with sections of the same roads used in different directions throughout the day. Both the State Championship and Clubman competitors covered the same overall distance.
A Healthy Clubman Entry
One of the most encouraging aspects of the Brunswick Rally was the Clubman entry.
Around 30 cars lined up for the event, with approximately 10 competing in Clubman and just over 20 in the State Championship. That meant roughly one-third of the field was made up of Clubman competitors — a significant improvement compared with the low numbers seen in the category during parts of last season.
There were plenty of familiar cars and faces among the field, but it was also great to see some new competitors making their way into rallying. Hopefully, the strong opening-round entry is a sign of things to come throughout the 2026 season.
For Rally Action, Brunswick was a little different. We had originally hoped to field three or four cars, potentially more, during the season. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control meant that wasn’t possible for the opening round.
The event was also overshadowed by the sad passing of Hugh Harmer just a few weeks before the rally. Hugh had been part of our team for around eight years, so his loss was felt deeply.
Instead of competing, we headed out to spectate and take in the action.
Early Drama on the Stages
The first stage got underway mid-morning on Saturday, and it quickly became apparent that the long break had left a few competitors needing some time to get back into the rhythm of rallying.
Glen and Max Rivers were among those easing themselves back into competition. Their Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 had a slight encounter with a tree, leaving the car with a minor flesh wound.
The pair hadn’t competed in a pace-noted event for around two years and hadn’t competed at all for the best part of 12 months. During that time, the VR-4 had also undergone considerable development to its driveline and suspension, meaning there was plenty for the crew to adjust to.
They weren’t the only team to experience problems early. Gary Mills and Shawn McMackin suffered driveshaft problems in their Ford Fiesta. Unfortunately, they couldn’t resolve the issue and retired after the opening stage of the 2026 Brunswick Rally. Patrick Brocccoli and Steve Vass also retired after just one stage, with mechanical problems sidelining their Subaru Impreza.
By the end of Stage 2, however, clear leaders had started to emerge in both categories.
Clubman Battle Goes Down to the Wire
In the Clubman competition, Jason Lawther and Ross Burton established a strong early lead in their Toyota Corolla Twin Cam. After two stages, they were 26 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. The pair continued to set the pace and appeared to have the victory within reach. However, rallying can change in an instant.
Near the end of the final stage, an electrical problem struck the Corolla, bringing its impressive run to an unfortunate end. The car could no longer continue under its own power, handing the Clubman victory to Nigel Anderson and Chris Parish in their Nissan Sunny.
Anderson and Parish had enjoyed a steady opening to the event before building their pace as the rally progressed. By the finish, they were consistently trading competitive stage times and had done enough to secure the top step of the podium.
Hayden and Adam Wright put together an impressive drive to finish second, missing out on victory by just 5.7 seconds.
Steve Champion and Jade White took third in their classic Corolla, followed by Graham Miles and Tim Rattenbury in their Holden Astra.
Tyrone Robertson, competing on his first gravel rally with Jeremy Edwards alongside, brought their beautifully prepared Toyota Corolla home in fifth.
Michael and David Pilbeam finished sixth on their first Clubman event in their Peugeot 405, while Carl Rattenbury and Ashley Burton recovered to seventh in their Mk1 Escort after a fuel issue on Stage 2 forced them to withdraw and restart, costing them valuable time.
State Championship Top 10
The State Championship produced plenty of excitement of its own.
Andrew Hannigan and son Elliot brought their Honda Civic home in 10th outright and also claimed second two-wheel-drive honours.
Ninth went to Ronan Sharkey and John Harkin in their Subaru WRX, while Kelly Thomas and Amelia Jordan put in a strong performance to take eighth in their WRX.
Robert Foley and Noel Mulvihill finished seventh in their production-based Toyota Yaris GR-4.
Sixth went to Keith Hamilton and Dave Humphreys, who enjoyed a clean run in their WRX.
Frank O’Shea and Murish O’Connell cracked the top five with their WRX, while Shane Smith and Steph Estebar took fourth in their classic GC WRX.
The battle for the podium was particularly interesting.
Nick Box and Caleb Cash Ash produced one of the standout performances of the rally, taking their two-wheel-drive Nissan Silvia S13 to an impressive third place. They were never far off the outright pace, finishing Stage 1 just 0.7 seconds behind the leaders.
In second were Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith in their Yaris AP4. They immediately showed their potential by matching the fastest time on Stage 1. However, small losses of time throughout the event, along with some hanging dust later in the afternoon, ultimately cost them the opportunity to take the win.
Loughton and Lloyd start with a Victory
That left Tom Loughton and Michael Lloyd to claim the opening-round victory in their Mitsubishi Evo 10.
The pair led more or less from start to finish and produced the consistency needed to stay ahead of the chasing pack. Their 2026 Brunswick Rally result gives them an ideal start to their 2026 championship campaign.
With Round 1 now firmly in the books, the 2026 WA Rally Championship has got off to an interesting start.
A strong Clubman entry, some impressive performances from two-wheel-drive competitors, mechanical dramas and a production-based car taking the overall win all combined to make Brunswick an entertaining way to open the season.
There is still a long championship ahead, and if Brunswick is anything to go by, 2026 could be a very interesting year for WA rallying.
For now, the first round is done and dusted — quite literally.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our coverage of the 2026 Brunswick Rally. Thanks for following along, and we’ll be back with more rally action as the season continues.
