The 2026 Forest Rally delivered a weekend of unpredictable conditions, mechanical failures and dramatic retirements. In May competitors tackled the second round of both the Western Australian Rally Championship (WARC) and the Australian Rally Championship (ARC). With a healthy field of competitors, challenging forest roads and plenty of action, this year’s event proved that finishing the Forest Rally is an achievement in itself.
The Forest Rally has been a regular fixture on the national championship calendar for many years, attracting competitors from interstate alongside the strong local contingent. Despite the current economic pressures and rising fuel prices the event garnered an encouraging entry list. The Clubman Cup category also featured ten competitors at the start, providing an important pathway for grassroots rally teams.
Weather Challenges Before the Start
The rally’s challenges began before the first competitive stage. Heavy rain fell on Thursday during reconnaissance and continued into Friday. This raised concerns about the notoriously slippery clay-based roads around Nannup.
Friday evening’s official start however, offered a welcome contrast on the Busselton foreshore. Under spectacular weather conditions, competitors and spectators gathered for the opening formalities.
The 2026 Forest Rally was run over two heats, with approximately 200 kilometres of competitive stages spread across the weekend. Clubman competitors contested Saturday only, while WARC and ARC entrants faced both days. Some state teams also entered the national championship, giving them the opportunity to collect points and awards in both competitions.
Heat One: Mechanical Woes and a High Attrition Rate
Saturday morning saw the competition get underway. It didn’t take long for the Forest Rally to claim its first victims.
Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith encountered boost problems in their AP4 Toyota Yaris. Glen and Max Rivers suffered a similar issue when a turbo hose came off their Mitsubishi Galant VR4.
More serious incidents followed. Thomas Loughton and Michael Lloyd lightly rolled their Mitsubishi Evo X on SS3, ending their first heat. Their team worked hard throughout Saturday to repair the car and return on Sunday. Roy Tierney and Stephen Jobson suffered a similar fate in their Evo IX and subsequently retired.
Other state championship casualties included Mark Redmond and Tim Jackson in their Subaru WRX, Peter Thompson and Declan Stafford in a Ford Fiesta R2, and Rod Fowler/Keith Mayes in their Peugeot 206.
Unfortunately, the problems continued for Glen and Max Rivers. A failing trailing arm caused suspension damage to their Galant VR4, forcing them to withdraw from the event.
Clubman – Dropping like flies
The Clubman field experienced its own difficult day. Carter Smith and Brody Ayoub suffered a differential failure in their Ford Escort before SS1, reducing the field to nine. The Wright brothers then encountered steering problems in their Hyundai Excel, while Graham Miles and Daniel Turton retired their Holden Astra on SS4.
By SS5, further mechanical failures had reduced the remaining Clubman competitors to just five. Tyrone Robertson and Jeremy Edwards retired their Toyota Corolla, while Patrick Briccocoli and Steve Vass were forced out in their Subaru Impreza, marking their second consecutive rally retirement.
Despite the attrition, the remaining Clubman crews produced some memorable performances. Michael and David Pilbeam nursed their Peugeot 405 home in fifth place, remarkably using ratchet straps to hold up the gearbox. Steve Champion and Jade White took fourth in their Toyota Corolla, while Nigel Anderson and Chris Parrish secured third in their beautifully prepared Nissan Sunny.
Second place went to Carl Ratenbury and Ash Burton in their Mk1 Ford Escort. Taking the Clubman victory was John Ludlum and Murray Hines in their rotary-powered Datsun 1600, affectionately known as the “Dazda”.
Rullo Family Affair at the End of Heat One
In the state championship, Glenn Alcorn and John Chaleson provided one of the weekend’s standout engine notes in their Toyota Sprinter. Unfortunately, gearbox trouble struck near the end of heat one, forcing them to withdraw and prepare for a restart on Sunday.
Kelly Thomas and Amelia Jordan impressed in their Subaru WRX, with the all-female crew finishing sixth. Frank O’Shea and Murish O’Connell secured fifth in their WRX, while Keith Hamilton and Dave Humphries delivered a mature drive to finish fourth in their Subaru STI hatch.
Rando and Beckwith recovered from their early boost troubles to claim third in the AP4 Yaris.
The top two positions belonged to father-and-son duo Pete and Alex Rullo. Pete Rullo, with Brad Jones alongside, finished second in their Škoda Fabia R5, while Alex Rullo and Jimmy Marquette took the heat victory in their Hyundai i20 Rally2.
With a difficult first day behind them, competitors turned their attention to Sunday’s second heat, hoping to avoid the dramas that had already claimed so many crews.
Heat Two: A Dramatic Turn of Events
Sunday morning greeted competitors with fog and cold conditions. After the unusually high attrition rate on Saturday, there was plenty of interest in seeing which teams had managed to repair their cars overnight and restart the 2026 Forest Rally.
The remaining five stages promised another intense battle, and Alex Rullo wasted little time establishing his pace. He and Marquette set the fastest time on SS7, continuing their strong performance from heat one.
However, their hopes of another successful heat ended on SS8 when mechanical problems forced the Hyundai i20 Rally2 into retirement.
The premature exit handed the lead to Pete Rullo and Brad Jones in their Škoda Fabia R5. They maintained their position through the following stages and looked set for a strong finish. Although, the 2026 Forest Rally would have one more twist in store.
On the final stage (the Power Stage), their Škoda went off the road and struck the surrounding scenery forcing retirement. Both father and son had both experienced frustrating conclusions, despite their promising pace.
They weren’t the only crews to encounter difficulties. Andrew Loveland and Alan Rolich retired their Honda S2000, while Lachlan White and Etienne Mason went off the road in their Charade De Tomaso. The latter managed to recover the car although it cost them valuable time.
Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith Take the Overall Win
Working out the overall results across the two heats required some careful calculations. With points awarded separately across the heats, the combined weekend standings were not as straightforward as a conventional rally classification. We didn’t factor the Power Stage points into our calculations either.
Nevertheless, the overall picture revealed a strong result for Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith. After battling boost issues early on Saturday, the pair recovered to claim third in heat one before putting together a winning weekend in their AP4 Toyota Yaris.
Keith Hamilton and David Humphries (STI hatch) earned second overall after a consistent and clean performance, while Frank O’Shea and Murish O’Connell (WRX) quietly worked their way to third. Their tidy approach paid dividends in a rally where simply avoiding trouble was often as important as outright speed.
Kelly Thomas and Amelia Jordan finished an impressive fourth overall in their WRX. Their performance also secured the ARC Junior honours, making it a particularly successful weekend for the pair.
Alex Rullo finished fifth overall after his heat-one victory and the points accumulated before his heat-two retirement. Robert Foley and Mitch Gray took sixth in their production-spec Toyota Yaris GR, followed by Pete Rullo/Jimmy Marquet in seventh.
Andy Van Kann and Katherine Sayman finished eighth in their production-spec WRX Cup car, while Neil Lenihan and Noel Steenson brought their GC8 Subaru WRX home in ninth. Newcomers Cain and Vivian Poutney rounded out the top ten in their WRX.
A Rally to Remember
The 2026 Forest Rally had a little bit of everything: challenging weather in the lead-up, spectacular conditions for the official start, mechanical failures, accidents and a dramatic final stage. The high retirement rate was unusual for the event and served as a reminder of just how demanding the forest roads around Nannup can be.
For the Clubman crews, the event highlighted both the challenges of grassroots rallying and the determination required to reach the finish. For the state and national championship competitors, it was a weekend where consistency and reliability proved crucial.
Congratulations go to Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith for their overall success, to Kelly Thomas and Amelia Jordan for their outstanding fourth-place finish and ARC Junior honours, and to all the crews who persevered through a difficult weekend.
A big thank you also goes to the organisers, officials, volunteers, service crews and spectators who helped make the event possible. The support of those contributing photographs, video footage and feedback is equally important in helping share the excitement of Western Australian rallying.
As the championship battles continue, competitors will undoubtedly be looking forward. Round 3 this year is the much loved Experts Cup Rally based in Collie.
Until then, the 2026 Forest Rally has once again reminded everyone why rallying is never over until the final stage is complete.
