Roger Albert Clark Rally 2025

Roger Albert Clark Rally confirms new Carlisle base

The 2025 Roger Albert Clark Rally will have a new base when it moves north to Carlisle for the Saturday, Sunday and Monday legs of the November 20-24 event.

The northern base for this year's rally will be the superb facility at Carlisle Airport, just five miles out of the town. The whole rally will be based at the airport from when competitors arrive on Friday evening or Saturday morning, right through until the end of the event on Monday.

As well as serving as rally base for three days, the airport will be the location of central servicing on both the Saturday and Sunday legs of the rally. It will also be the location for the event finish late on Monday afternoon.

The outstanding facilities are based around the airport’s modern departure lounge, which offers warm rooms, a cafe, toilets and showers for all visitors. There are 450 parking spaces to the front of the building for support vehicles, spectators, officials and media, and a huge area for service on quality hard standing on the airport apron.

Rally manager Colin Heppenstall said: “I am delighted to confirm that the northern base for this year's rally will be at Carlisle Airport, where we have outstanding facilities. There is extensive good quality hard standing for servicing and we have all the facilities that we need for competitors, spectators and officials.

“The airport is only five miles from the centre of Carlisle so those who have already booked accommodation will find the airport a very convenient location. This is another step in the work to continue building the profile of the event and we look forward to welcoming competitors to Carlisle airport when they travel north after the first two days of competition in Wales.”

Entries for Roger Albert Clark Rally to open on March 7 

Entries for the Roger Albert Clark Rally will open on Friday March 7 and the event organisers are expecting unrivalled demand for a place on the entry list for the five-day marathon.

The 16th running of the Roger Albert Clark Rally will be from November 20 to November 24 and cover up to 360 stage miles. The rally will start in Carmarthen in Wales and finish at Carlisle. Competitor interest in the event has been running at record levels and the regulations will be available on the event website from Saturday March 1. Entries will open at 1800hrs on Friday March 7, via the rallies.info website.

A total of 180 places will be available and to secure a place competitors must lodge a deposit of £1000 towards the full entry fee, which is £5250 if paid before July 31.

The allocation of places will include 25 entries for drivers entering the rally for the first time and 15 entries will be allocated at the organisers’ discretion. A further 20 places will be reserved for overseas crews and 15 entries will be for registered contenders in the Bowler Owners’ Rally Championship. The next 80 places will be determined by giving preference to competitors who have previously helped organise the rally or started the event the greatest number of times. The final 25 entries will be determined by random ballot. The final 25 entries will be determined by random ballot. The list of accepted entries who have paid the deposit will be published on Monday March 24.

The opening day, Thursday November 20, will be a shorter day covering around 40 stage miles. Day two, also in Wales, on Friday November 21 will feature 90 stage miles before the event moves north to Carlisle. Each of the three northern legs covering Kielder, the Scottish Borders and southern Scotland will feature between 75 and 85 stage miles per day. There are plans to finish the event with a very long stage in the central block of Kielder on Monday afternoon.

Rally manager Colin Heppenstall said: “We're very pleased to publish the event regulations and open entries for this year's Roger Albert Clark Rally. Judging by the number of enquiries we have taken so far, there is likely to be a high demand for places so we urge every intending competitor to get an entry in and a deposit paid as soon as practical.”

Running alongside the main event will be the MINI Challenge Kielder Rally, which will cover 43 stage miles on Saturday November 22. This will be a round of the 2025 MINI Challenge.