At the end of a long and challenging event everybody could relax. The cars, displayed on the promenade for the final time, were greatly appreciated by those out enjoying the afternoon sunshine, even if after an exhausting day full of challenges, some crews chose not to linger.
With the cars headed back to Llandudno and the finish line there was still the small sting in the tail in the form of two short regularities on the Great Orme where the day had begun with tests. The first followed Marine Drive around the headland, a second ‘lap’ seeing cars sweeping up the zig zag bends of the road that passes St Tudno’s churchyard with the distinctive headstone featuring a winged wheel. It is the burial place of Beatrice Blore Brown who, in 1914, became the first woman to drive an automobile up the course of the tramway, which rises at a gradient of one in three. It was an experience sampled in reverse by competitors departing the Orme and descending to sea level for the official finish line on the promenade.
The provisional results, confirmed before seven o clock in the evening, showed Mark Godfrey and Ryan Pickering (14) as the overall victors with a margin of twenty six seconds from John King and Guy Woodcock in a later Ford Escort (16). It was a larger margin than has sometimes been the case but at the line, none of the leading contenders had been sure which of them had triumphed, so close had the competition been over the three days. Leading earlier in the day, Graham Walker and Sean Toohey in the Lotus Elan eventually took third place overall. A full listing will be published on the Three Castles web site by the results team.
The awards dinner held later in the evening included the formal announcement of the results and the many other awards to be distributed to the winners of the various classes as well as details of the rally's charitable fund raising efforts for this year.
The Three Castles charity for 2026 was Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue. Together, the rally organisation and its competitors raise funds for this all-volunteer service that aims to keep everyone safe in the hills around the Ogwen Valley, through which the event travelled on day 2. A member of their team chose the Three Castles for their first ever rally. Jane Gallop and Chris Thomas (Car 50) had thought finishing at all would be a good result so were delighted, if a little surprised, to find themselves in 45th position overall. They vowed to return to improve the standing of their first attempt.
The total funds raised were dependent on the course of this year's awards evening and, after spirited bidding on a giant facsimile of a Three Castles rally plate, the overall donation, combining contributions from entrants, the auction and a rounding up donation from the rally itself, reached a very satisfactory three thousand pounds.
The response to the charity appeal underpinned and underscored the reputation of the Three Castles as the friendliest of classic rallies. It is one of the things entrants always remark upon, novice crews able to depend on advice, generously offered by fellow competitors in a spirit of camaraderie that is often absent in modern sporting events. It is part of the ethos of the Three Castles and whatever else might change, something that will be a part of next year's Three Castles Trial, scheduled to run 8th to 11th June 2027.