Corbeau Seats Rally

After consultation with our stakeholders including Tendring District Council and Motorsport UK we have decided the rally cannot run in 2020.

The news headlines continue to be dominated by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the likely scale and timing of its peak. The situation is set to become worse as the UK heads towards the peak period, and further government public health interventions and restrictions are likely.

As an event on closed public roads, our rally takes motor sport to the heart of the Tendring and Clacton community that embraced the previous events. We value that relationship and must play our part in supporting the welfare and safety of the residents as well as our competitors and volunteers.

Event Director Tony Clements said: “We’re grateful to our sponsors, competitors, officials, volunteers and local businesses for your fantastic support and commitment to the rally. While we‘re all disappointed to arrive at this position, we feel cancellation is the right thing to do and an early decision removes uncertainty. We’ll now look ahead and focus our planning on the weekend of 24/25 April 2021 for the third running of the event.”

Cllr. Alex Porter, Tendring District Council said “We share your disappointment at the outcome, but it’s the responsible decision, to look after the health of our residents and visitors. We look forward to welcoming you back next year”.

Vic Lee of the title sponsor Corbeau Seats added “This is a brave and sensible decision to make in these unprecedented times for the safety of the community. We’ll continue to support the rally and look forward to its return in 2021”

We hope everyone involved with the rally will understand this decision and we look forward to returning on 24th and 25th April 2021.

Competitors will receive an email about how to obtain a full refund for the 2020 rally.

Published 16:00 16 March 2020

We’re working to prepare for the rally, scheduled for the weekend of 25th and 26th April, against the constant news backdrop of this epidemic .  This includes risk assessment of Coronavirus (COVID-19), as part of motor sport’s continuous focus on safety.

Our ongoing review and response to government public health advice is to protect the welfare of our competitors, volunteers and most importantly the communities of Tendring & Clacton as our hosts for the rally.

We’ll work with relevant bodies, including Tendring District Council and Motorsport UK, to keep the situation under review and post any further updates on this site.

The Organising Team

Item published 10:30 14 March 2020

Our Rally Guide will give you information about accomodation, restaurants and other local services.

Please support these local businesses and let them know you are visiting because of the rally, as the support of the local community is valuable for us all.

The Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton will be joining the prestigious British Rally Championship for our third running on 25th & 26th April 2020.

As the only round of the 2020 British Rally Championship (BRC) in England, Chelmsford Motor Club is delighted to build on the success of our inaugural event in 2018; the first to use new closed roads legislation in England, and our subsequent event in April 2019. We’ll feature a new spectator stage on Clacton seafront on the Saturday evening, run twice, to bring the rally to the heart of the local community.  On Sunday it will go out into the lanes, for three loops of four stages, with a number of designated spectator viewing areas and facilities.

Event Director Tony Clements said “Our first closed road event received a great response from the rally crews and most strikingly from the people of Tending and Clacton who enjoyed a family friendly day out in the sunshine. We’re building on this to bring the headline British Rally Championship to the area as well as catering for our clubman competitors.  The response from our partners and local communities has been fantastic and we’re delighted to bring a round of the prestigious British Rally Championship to the area”.

2019 BRC title protagonist Tom Cave said “2020 has a good mix of events across the year and Clacton will be a brand-new unique challenge. As it will be the first time in the calendar, it will create new stages to compete on and new opportunities to take the BRC to a different part of the country.”

Working with Tendring District Council is core to the success of the rally. Cllr Alex Porter, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Tourism, said “Being part of the British Rally Championship is a real coup for the Corbeau Seats Rally and for Tendring; previous champions include household names like Colin McRae and Ari Vatanen. Becoming a round of the championship that has produced numerous World Rally Champions will mean national and international media coverage for Tendring and will encourage many more spectators to visit the area.”

“We look forward to working closely with the rally organisers, Chelmsford Motor Club, to bring another fun and safe event to Tendring for the third year.”

Further details of the rally will be available early next year.  

Chelmsford Motor Club and Tendring District Council are pleased to share the date for the third running of the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton.

It’s planned to take place on the weekend of 25th and 26th April 2020.

Following the success of the ceremonial start this year, our next development will be for this to lead straight into a special stage on Clacton seafront, run twice, on Saturday evening ahead of the main stages on Sunday.

The rally has an increasing profile and appeal to local people and we’ll be making extra efforts to support newcomers to join the rally as accredited marshals and in other volunteering roles. See the Marshals/Volunteers page.

We’ll keep you updated on the website and through our Facebook and Twitter accounts /tendringrally and @corbeaurally

The competitors, marshals, volunteers and visitors have left and the remaining organisers are dispersing too on the morning after the rally.

We’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to the people of Tendring and Clacton for your support for the rally. It’s a massive undertaking and one that you are as much a part of as our competing cars and crews.

We hope we can work-together again to hold this exciting event with you.

Congratulations to the podium finishers on your achievements today

1. Tom Preston and Carl Williamson – Skoda Fabia R5
2. Michael O’Brien and Mark Glennerster – Ford Focus WRC
3. Craig Jones and Ian Taylor – Mistubishi Evo 9

To follow the times of the cars click on this link.

Rik Coleman, Robert Best and their colourful support team are Rallying Against Cancer.

Their Ford Fiesta is in the scheme colours to add to the effect.

They are supporting Cancer Research UK’s work through the Clacton Relay for Life 2019. This is a fundraising initiative where teams raise money throughout the year culminating in a 24 walk on 13th/14th July at Plough Corner, Little Clacton.

To find out more go their website.

As well as the large screens in Clacton you can watch the rally online with our live streaming from this link