History-Making Generation Rally Ladies First

The third running of Rally the Globe’s Generations Rally proved every bit as popular and successful as the two previous editions of an event established specifically to spread the passion for historic motorsport to a younger age group.  What’s more, the 23-25 March event made history not only with the biggest entry to date for a Rally the Globe fixture, but also with an all-female crew taking top honours for the very first time. 

After the Lake District and the North Pennines, for 2024 the event was based further south at the Carden Park Hotel & Spa set in the heart of the Cheshire countryside.  The 90 pre-1986 cars taking the start ranged from a battalion of Bentleys from the 1920s right up to more modern classics from the 1980s such as a Range Rover, Ford Capri, Mini Mayfair and a phalanx of Porsche 911s, all crewed by members of two distinct generations – many from the same family.

Following the completion of technical scrutineering and pre-event paperwork on Friday morning, the first cars were flagged away from a sunny, if chilly, Carden Park at 12:45 with participants heading towards the opening two tests held at the Oulton Park circuit. Two regularities followed as well as a return to Oulton Park and a final closed roads section in the manicured grounds of Carden Hall.

Graham Goodwin, navigated by his daughter’s boyfriend Tommy Stevenson, led the Pre-War class aboard the former’s 1925 Bentley Supersports while father and son team of Roger and Leigh Powley headed the Classic category in their Porsche 911 E. 

By Saturday crews were considered qualified enough to tackle five trickier regularities and two tests along a 173-mile route across the Welsh border which included a trip to the Eryri Snowdonia National Park. The weather added further to the challenge with a typical springtime mix of sunshine, heavy showers, and brief but bruising hailstorms.

When the crews returned to base on Saturday evening, the Powleys still led among the Classics and the 1938 Triumph Dolomite expertly driven by Charlotte de Montmorency with her aunt Philippa Bailey on the maps was now ahead of the big Bentleys among the Pre-War contenders. 

Ensuring an early finish with time for prize-giving in the afternoon and for UK based entrants to travel home, Sunday’s shorter 95-mile route included four further tests and three regularities.  Making Rally the Globe history with top honours among the Pre-War contenders, de Montmorency and Bailey held off the fast-finishing Bentley Supersports of father and daughter Nick and Jess Sleep by just two seconds, with the erstwhile leaders Goodwin and Stevensen ensuring there were two Bentleys in the top three. 

“We’ve had class wins before, but this is our first overall and it’s a big first for me and a big first for Charlotte,” enthused Bailey.  “We didn’t do anything remarkable; we were consistent, and we kept it steady and simple.  We didn’t overcomplicate anything and tried to have a laugh along the way.”

In the equally fiercely fought Classic class, the Powleys were pipped at the post by the rival Porsche 911 of Jack and Simon Brien with the Triumph TR4 of Tomasz and Michal Dzitko finishing third to complete a father and sons podium.