Lee Holland Memorial Rally 2026
Report by David Harbey
7 March 2026
Photographing a wet and windy Lee Holland Memorial Rally
Anglesey can be gorgeous – Saturday was blue sky, sunshine, a gentle breeze
Sunday for the rally, however, was grey skies, wind and rain – still I’d got the right clothing and my rain cover for the camera.
Having visited Anglesey for a number of race meetings I decided it was time to shoot the Circuit Rally there. It’s a challenging circuit to race on with, on a good day, the Welsh mountains as a backdrop. Add in a decent yump and some of the access roads around the buildings at the top end of the circuit and a challenging day was in prospect for the crews. Perhaps even more so for spectators and snappers.
Lee Holland Memorial Rally Junior Rally
First off, a wander round the paddock as cars were warmed up for the action ahead. There were fewer top class entries, but the entry was supplemented by a large entry of 24 Juniors in sub – 1,000 cc cars.
Were we seeing potential stars of the future ? The Juniors were away first and lined up to check in before moving to the stage start at pit exit. The stage finish was just off the old pit lane.
Lee Holland Memorial Rally
Then it was time for the main event with Michael Igoe bearing #1 leading the queue.
I started out at the approach to The Banking – to get my eye in – not desperately exciting, although with the crews doing multiple laps there was some side by side action from time to time.
Moving across to The Hairpin and in worsening weather with the drizzle giving a softer edge to photos, I found a couple of familiar liveries.
Stages
Having shot cars extensively on the track on recent visits, it was time to focus on the access roads at the top of the circuit including the yump. I didn’t find any stage maps (not did I see a programme on offer) so it was a bit suck it and see. There was no access to the area at Peel and we could not get any further in the car than halfway up the access road parallel to the Tom Pruyce Straight. Time for the 500mm prime then…
The grey sky and intermittent drizzle, added to a strong wind at the top of the circuit wasn’t especially pleasant. Some decent shots obtained though !
The access roads proved challenging for some –
In between stages, it was possible to move to the banked area looking across the the yump looking one way.
Looking the other way, the cars passed right in front of us – actually rather close!
Time for a late lunch In the circuit café. Now under new management, it seems to still provide good, reasonably priced fare. Having covered the non-circuit areas I was planning to shoot and with the forecast indicating rain setting in for the afternoon, it was time to retire for the day. I wasn’t alone …
Photographic Post Script
Photography notes – I was using my usual Nikon D850 and Nikkor 70-200 zoom; for the long shots of the yump I was using the Nikkor 500mm prime. In addition, I used an essential rain cover from Think Tank and 3 Legged Thing monopod.
Mic Pringle also went along to the Circuit Rally Championship Lee Holland Memorial Rally 2026 at Anglesey. Mic went for a study of the event in black and white.
