Round five: Rain soaked Eccleston battles on
15th Sep 2026
After months of hot, dry weather, the clouds rolled in to dish-out a typical Bank Holiday soaking as the fifth round of the 2026 BTPA championship tractor pulling series sponsored by Mitas, descended on Great Eccleston.
With the agreement of pullers, Friday night’s action was shuffled around as the threat of rain loomed large, and threatened to scupper the entire weekend’s action. The emphasis was on getting everyone to pull at least once, and so it proved to be with the combined efforts of the NWTPC, BTPA and ETPC – the latter with Alliance Eurocup action scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
As a result, the Limited Super Stock class was brought forward to Friday night’s line-up of Super Farm, Limited Pro Stock and 4.5 Super Sport classes, in an action-packed evening that ran like clockwork.
With its extended program, Friday night’s action was a one-hit, no pull-off scenario – the focus was to get through the additional class and help preserve tractors to run again for those competing in a double-header programme.
Eight Super Farm tractors lined-up for Friday night, with Chasing Dreams laying down a distance of 114.69m, that could not be beaten. Redemption was the nearest as David Todd wrung the red machine to a distance of 105.88m, and Smokey 2, with Ewan Cameron on-board, reaching 101.08m. As it turned out, Chasing Dreams now has enough of a lead to be British Champion, with a 22-point advantage over Redemption as the class moves on to the last round at new venue, Emley Moor in Huddersfield.
Limited Pro Stocks brought an intense level of action to the night’s proceedings, with 17 tractors in the class. The win was grabbed by the rejuventated True Blue, with Sandy Simpson at the wheel laying down a distance of 97.71m. Major Madness from Somerset-based Ed Bateman fell short at 93.79m with Midnight Mistress taking the third spot on the podium with 88.30m. Eleven tractors sat in the 80-90m zone, separated by just 7.06m.
New ride Bad Manners, with Onky Ankers in the seat, took 13th spot with 81.24m, while championship leader Hard Work had to settle for 12th place with a run of 82.27m – a four-point result still keeps the tractor in the top spot with 97 points, while Jamie Humphrey’s Blue Wicked is still snapping at the heels of Hard Work, with 91 points. It’s a four-horse race going into the last round…
In the 4.5t Super Sport class, Wyn Thomas’ Evil Deceiver JD went head-to-head with Alistair Parkinson’s IH Oh Bonnie, with the Deere taking its seventh successive win, before repeating the win on Sunday with another dominant performance.
Limited Super Stock rounded off the evening, with Freddie Dewhurst’s Bad i-Deere reaching 112.92m, almost twice that of second place 50/50’s 61.57m. Brutus Thunderstruck took the third podium place, with Kevin Haworth’s Ultimate Deere in fourth.
Saturday action got off to a slow start, with rain showers pushing back the start time, with the track sheet seeing more action than intended. As the weather rescinded its threat, the evening’s action got underway with BTPA points, plus Alliance Eurocup action with double-headers planned for ETPC Heavy Modified, Super Stock and 3.6t Super Sport classes.
Among the BTPA points line-up was a single tractor in Eurocup 3.6t Super Sport class, five Light Modified’s including new Whittingham whip called All Torque which puts a single Griffon engine among a V8-powered class, five Super Sport trucks and both BTPA Super Stock tractors tagged on to the end of the Eurocup Super Stock class. Just Smoky suffered with electrical gremlins and decided to throttle off and go again, sacrificing a 17.15m distance for 0.67m, the Clarke Pulling Team’s Red Alert moved the sledge 39.77m, as it continues to slowly restore form after a major fuel system overhaul, along with revised settings.
The evening’s pull ran with a mix of sledges, as the NTTO’s Keep Moving Blue and the UK’s Performance Sledging’s Terminator shared duties – the latter with heavy modified Eurocup tractors and a mean setting, just to prove it is capable of stopping such enormous power outputs, as part of the journey towards receiving gold accreditation. Snoopy 3 joined in with the heavy modified tractors, and as a non-Eurocup competitor, was unofficially – and impressively - third in the class,
Sunday morning brought dark clouds and heavy rain, and again, the day’s proceedings were pushed back, waiting for brighter weather. It eventually came, but it was not without its challenges. BTPA Pro Stock points got the afternoon off to flying start, with Evil Dragon taking the top spot ahead of the Perkins V8-powered Big Boys Toy (87.92m) closely followed by a brace of Shropshire Dragons (83.60m for Diesel Dragon and 79.90m for Iced Dragon), while Evil Dragonfire was tail-end Charlie.
Josh Whittingham took Snoopy 3 to a distance of 96.89m claiming the top spot in the Modified class, while Geoff Ashcroft steered Red Alert further down the track, gaining more useful data.
Super Sport Trucks, also on a double-header for points, were scheduled to run but this class too, was also rained off. The BTPA would like to congratulate all those 2026 Champions who concluded their season at the Great Eccleston Event.
Great Eccleston August Bank Holiday points pull - results
Points totals after round five
It’s not quite the end of the season, and next up, the 2026 BTPA championship series sponsored by Mitas heads to a new venue at Bunkers Hill Farm, Westfield Lane, Emley Moor near Huddersfield. As the last BTPA points round of the 2026 season, the Emley Moor pull will decide championship titles for Super Farm, Limited Pro Stock and Super Sport Trucks on Saturday 19 September.
For more details, tickets and event timings follow the link here:
Thanks go to David Laley (aka the Tractor Twitcher), Mark Rouse and Tim Spruce for use of their images from the August bank holiday points pull at Great Eccleston.