ORC Canal Rally 2026 Report

Last weekend Scott Barnes and Bill Paynter picked up a fantastic result at the ORC Canal Rally, bringing the little 106 home first in class.

The event based in Oostrozebeke Belgium had attracted a jam packed entry this year, with 110 crews including some of Belgium’s top talent. There would be 12 stages run throughout the day on the Sunday, with 100 flat out stage kilometres.

The day started well with a solid and consistent run throughout the first loop of three stages. Having not driven the car in 6 months, Scott played himself in, yet still immediately topped the class rankings.

On the second loop the pace really ramped up, with both crew and car back on top form. An excellent feeling in the car, and strong times set, mixing it with the Rally 2 and Rally 3 machinery.

The first stage of the third loop however brought trouble. Following a gravel section of the stage, the Peugeot’s clutch started slipping. Scott nursed the car through the stage, dropping around 15 seconds. Following this stage the team were unsure on whether to continue. Once the car had cooled however, Scott struggled to replicate the issue on the road section at low speeds, so it was agreed to give it a try in the shorter second stage of the loop.

Fortunately, the clutch appeared to be back behaving itself. Initial theory is that the clutch overheated when used on the gravel section, and now cooled down it was working correctly again. The car seemed ok for the rest of the loop, so it was back to service to investigate.

On the fourth and final loop the team found themselves in a close battle with fellow FIRC competitors Guy Anderson and Terry Martin in their Mitsubishi. With some ground to make up, Scott and Bill pushed hard in the final run through the stages, and reduced the deficit to only 4 seconds going into the final stage. This final stage of the loop was reminiscent of single venue UK rallying, with 5 laps round a gravelly and dusty industrial estate. Given the number of laps, traffic was inevitable, and multiple times on this stage the team enjoyed a good game of cat and mouse with FIRC championship rivals Richard Weatherly and Shaun Layland- those Rally 2 car’s really do just get up and go out of corners!

Scott went on a big push in the final run, and was able to take a whopping 20 seconds out of Anderson/Martin in their Mitsubishi.

This landed the team in a fine 21st overall, 1st in class, 1st FIRC 2WD and 2nd overall FWD car, only behind last years Belgian Junior Champion.

It was a fantastic day out on the stages, and an excellent warm up for our next event, the Ypres Rally.

Scott now has his work cut out over the next few weeks, with the car needed a major overhaul, before we take on the big one.A huge thanks to our partners for their continued support- Satchell Engineering, Boyle’s Plumbing and Heating, Performance Automotive and Cleanwheelz.

Our video from the event will be published on Youtube soon, so keep an eye on the @bprally Youtube channel for our story from the event.