Barbon Manor 11th July 2026
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 8:57 am
Barbon Manor was bathed in sunshine when I arrived and after a swift recce round the paddock, I headed up the hill to my vantage point overlooking the finish. After a single practice run we were ready for a blistering hot day of class records and Personal Bests (PBs).
Edon Taylor progressed from his Skoda Citigo Sport to an MX5 Sport and after his first two ‘exploratory’ runs he ended up with a respectable PB on his fourth attempt. Meanwhile, Class Record Holder Peter Messer set a new class record on his second run in his well-developed MX5.
John Isherwood led class 1E from the get-go with his Audi TT RS whilst David Taylor held second through-out in his Cayman GTS and on his fourth ascent set a new PB. Third went to Peter Herbert in the glorious 2019 Alpine A110 with Martin Walker fourth in his “bog standard” Cayman and Steve Waite fifth in his turbocharged Toyota MR2 Roadster. In 2A Les Golding was back and took the class win with a new PB after fitting a new diff. Second went to Chris Bramall who was solo in the family Caterham Super 7 as son Chris was ‘enjoying’ the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In Mod Prods Chris Edwards wheeled out the wonderful Mazda 323 GTX 4-w-d in 3C and on his second competition run lowered his own class record by two tenths. Richard Brookes, who made his Barbon debut back in June, brought his MG ZS180 home second. In 3E local resident Simon Butterworth was back with his Porsche Boxster S leading initially however, it was his son Ben who took not only the class win but also shaved three hundredths off his father’s class record in the process.
Into the Racing Car classes and in 5C Ian Butcher, who made his Barbon Single Seater debut with his OMS PR back in June, ground to a halt on his first competition run and failed to reappear. This left Jim MacDiarmid to take the class win in his Force PC and also set FTD. Unfortunately, Jim was involved in an accident in the Paddock as he moved forward to take his third run and consequently sat out the rest of the meeting.
Into the Classic and Historic classes and the well supported class 6A for Road-going Cars attracted eleven entries. Terry Deere’s well prepared Talbot Sunbeam Lotus took the win with Terry setting a new PB just two tenths shy of the class record. Peter Brown grabbed second spot in his Reliant Scimitar GTE taking nearly a second off his PB. Jim Wright took third in the ex-Louise Aitken-Walker Vauxhall Chevette resetting his PB three times during the day. Steve Murphy took fourth in his 1960 Morris Mini Minor as he reset his PB on each of his competition runs. In 6D for the Pre 1962 Road Cars Graham Curwen led initially in his Buckler Mk 5 only for James Naylor in his ‘Little Brown’ MG TC to grab the lead on the second runs and then hold off Graham’s challenge.
The penultimate class for Rally Cars saw Barbon regular Chris Thomas take the win in his Vauxhall engined Talbot Sunbeam. Second went to Barbon debutante Nick Stamper in his Citroen DS3 R5 which climbed the hill in a cacophony of pops, bangs and crackles. Darren Keiller was third in his Honda Civic but was plagued with the curse of the re-run on more than one occasion.
The final class was for the competitors doing the Classic Marques championship. Peter Sherratt took the class win and also was the top scorer in the championship with his BMW M3 – he also reset his PB three times! Second went to Glen Shaw in his Nissan 350Z who finished just over half a second adrift of Sherratt’s BMW - Shaw also finished second in the championship. Third place went to Noor Ali in his Toyota MR2 but he was only fifth in the championship points scores. Emma Ali ground to a halt during her second competition run in the MX5 and was more concerned that husband Noor new she was OK than how they were to get the MX5 back home!
It was very much a Stop Start day on the hill with various incidents on track. We had two medical emergencies in the paddock the second of which saw the Air Ambulance fly in to assist. The combined time of the medical emergencies and the on-track incidents meant we lost just over an hour. Never-the-less the marshals were exemplary in the steaming hot conditions and various ‘water breaks’ kept them hydrated. The organisers again put on a great value for money event and the large number of spectators were able to enjoy some cracking battles throughout the classes. Roll-on 2027 when there will be two more chapters in the History of Barbon Manor for us to enjoy.
Edon Taylor progressed from his Skoda Citigo Sport to an MX5 Sport and after his first two ‘exploratory’ runs he ended up with a respectable PB on his fourth attempt. Meanwhile, Class Record Holder Peter Messer set a new class record on his second run in his well-developed MX5.
John Isherwood led class 1E from the get-go with his Audi TT RS whilst David Taylor held second through-out in his Cayman GTS and on his fourth ascent set a new PB. Third went to Peter Herbert in the glorious 2019 Alpine A110 with Martin Walker fourth in his “bog standard” Cayman and Steve Waite fifth in his turbocharged Toyota MR2 Roadster. In 2A Les Golding was back and took the class win with a new PB after fitting a new diff. Second went to Chris Bramall who was solo in the family Caterham Super 7 as son Chris was ‘enjoying’ the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In Mod Prods Chris Edwards wheeled out the wonderful Mazda 323 GTX 4-w-d in 3C and on his second competition run lowered his own class record by two tenths. Richard Brookes, who made his Barbon debut back in June, brought his MG ZS180 home second. In 3E local resident Simon Butterworth was back with his Porsche Boxster S leading initially however, it was his son Ben who took not only the class win but also shaved three hundredths off his father’s class record in the process.
Into the Racing Car classes and in 5C Ian Butcher, who made his Barbon Single Seater debut with his OMS PR back in June, ground to a halt on his first competition run and failed to reappear. This left Jim MacDiarmid to take the class win in his Force PC and also set FTD. Unfortunately, Jim was involved in an accident in the Paddock as he moved forward to take his third run and consequently sat out the rest of the meeting.
Into the Classic and Historic classes and the well supported class 6A for Road-going Cars attracted eleven entries. Terry Deere’s well prepared Talbot Sunbeam Lotus took the win with Terry setting a new PB just two tenths shy of the class record. Peter Brown grabbed second spot in his Reliant Scimitar GTE taking nearly a second off his PB. Jim Wright took third in the ex-Louise Aitken-Walker Vauxhall Chevette resetting his PB three times during the day. Steve Murphy took fourth in his 1960 Morris Mini Minor as he reset his PB on each of his competition runs. In 6D for the Pre 1962 Road Cars Graham Curwen led initially in his Buckler Mk 5 only for James Naylor in his ‘Little Brown’ MG TC to grab the lead on the second runs and then hold off Graham’s challenge.
The penultimate class for Rally Cars saw Barbon regular Chris Thomas take the win in his Vauxhall engined Talbot Sunbeam. Second went to Barbon debutante Nick Stamper in his Citroen DS3 R5 which climbed the hill in a cacophony of pops, bangs and crackles. Darren Keiller was third in his Honda Civic but was plagued with the curse of the re-run on more than one occasion.
The final class was for the competitors doing the Classic Marques championship. Peter Sherratt took the class win and also was the top scorer in the championship with his BMW M3 – he also reset his PB three times! Second went to Glen Shaw in his Nissan 350Z who finished just over half a second adrift of Sherratt’s BMW - Shaw also finished second in the championship. Third place went to Noor Ali in his Toyota MR2 but he was only fifth in the championship points scores. Emma Ali ground to a halt during her second competition run in the MX5 and was more concerned that husband Noor new she was OK than how they were to get the MX5 back home!
It was very much a Stop Start day on the hill with various incidents on track. We had two medical emergencies in the paddock the second of which saw the Air Ambulance fly in to assist. The combined time of the medical emergencies and the on-track incidents meant we lost just over an hour. Never-the-less the marshals were exemplary in the steaming hot conditions and various ‘water breaks’ kept them hydrated. The organisers again put on a great value for money event and the large number of spectators were able to enjoy some cracking battles throughout the classes. Roll-on 2027 when there will be two more chapters in the History of Barbon Manor for us to enjoy.