News

The Carlisle Stages has been included in the 2025 Fuchs Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship (BHRC) calendar. Planned for 12 April, the Carlisle-based event will form the second round of the season.

The inclusion of the event will go some way to stem the loss of two Welsh rounds towards the start of the season, Get Jerky Rally North Wales and the Severn Valley Stages, both cancelled in recent weeks due to the impact of Storm Darragh on Natural Resources Wales-managed forests.

Organised and promoted by the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club, The Carlisle Stages has been scheduled to fit perfectly within the existing championship dates, running on the Severn Valley Stages original date, ensuring that the BHRC maintains a strong calendar for the season ahead.

Announced last year, the BHRC planned seven rounds, but with the loss of the Welsh forests for the first four months of the year, the tally will now be reduced to six, with five best scores to count.

The Carlisle Stages is well known to BHRC contenders, too, having hosted the final round of the series for several years, usually run in October. Its challenging tests in the daunting Kielder Forest complex are unforgiving and technical, with organisers able to offer a bumper day on the gravel, with 50 stage miles planned over five stages.

“It’s been a difficult time for many events in Wales and the Championships that were due to attend the cancelled rallies,” said Colin Heppenstall, British Historic Rally Championship Manager.

“Our thoughts are of course with them, and we thank them for their support of the BHRC. With two events cancelled from our seven-round calendar, we have been working very hard behind the scenes to come up with an alternative that suits our competitors in what is already a very busy year for Historic rallying. Thanks to the RACRMC, we were able to come up with a solution that offers good mileage on great stages on the right date with the return of the Carlisle Stages

“Of course, we looked at other alternatives, but this was the best all round. We are in regular communication with the Plains Rally [round three] organisers in terms of their access to the forests but for now, we are looking forward to getting our season underway at the Riponian Stages Rally in a few weeks”.

Revised 2025 Fuchs Lubricants British Historic Championship Calendar

1.	9 February	Riponian Stages Rally	Gravel
2.	12 April	Carlisle Stages	Gravel
3.	17 May	Plains Rally	Gravel
4.	20/21 June	Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally	Asphalt
5.	30 August	Woodpecker Rally	Gravel
6.	26/27 September	Trackrod Rally Yorkshire	Gravel

For more information on any of the Championships promoted by the RACMRC, please visit: