Round six: Emley Moor delivers more
25th Sep 2026
The final round of the 2026 Mitas Agri Tires British Tractor Pulling Championship took place in Yorkshire and for the first time was held at Emley Moor near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Saturday September 19 was to be the final showdown, when the champions for the final three BTPA points classes would be decided.
Event promoter Steve Burt, his son Sam and their dedicated team of helpers, are no strangers to pulling, as the venue has been a favoured spot for independent pullers to compete regularly. But for this weekend, the event was expanded to accommodate both the BTPA and the Power Pulling Association over a three-day programme.
Three BTPA points titles were up for grabs – Super Farm, Limited Pro Stock and Super sport Trucks.
Saturday evening’s action got underway with the Super Farm class, where eight machines took to the floodlit track. Runaway points leader - and already confirmed points champion - Chasing Dreams was first on track, notching up a full pull. The silver Ford would be joined by two others, setting up a three-way pull off.
The unassailable silver Ford laid down the distance to beat, of 106.28m, cementing its dominance in the class as Smokey 2, piloted by Mhairi Cameron, took second place with 90.70m. Garry Phillips’ Leyland Jungle Rock, took the final podium place with a distance of 65.86m.
A packed Limited Pro Stock class followed on, with 16 tractors descending on the Yorkshire track from all corners of Britain, to haul the Terminator from Performance sledging, as far as they could. Half the class made it into the pull-off, delighting the crowd. And more was to come. Given the fiercely competitive nature of this class, it was anyone’ guess as to who would pocket the silverware.
After the disappointment of mechanical reliability at Great Eccleston, John Pye’s Blue Donkey was back on top form, and was totally stoked on the start line to take a commanding win with a distance of 101.66m. Pye monstered the class, trouncing secondplace Somerset puller Ed Bateman on Major Madness by over 9m, with a distance of 92.62m. Rounding off the podium was Edward Greaves on Moody Blue with an excellent run, finishing exactly one metre behind Major Madness.
The championship title was clinched by the Dorset-based Hard Work team, which notched up 11 points from a fifth-place finish, holding on to its lead by a margin of nine points. Congratulations go to Tom Webber and his crew for an outstanding season’s commitment to BTPA pulling, with some serious mileage covered along the way.
Several tractors from various BTPA classes took the opportunity to make demonstration runs to give the crowd an insight into BTPA championship pulling, before the Super Sport trucks rounded off the evening’s action.
Brutus Thundertruck was unable to attend the event because of parts supply, with the remaining four trucks putting on a fabulous show to round out the floodlit evening’s action at the Emley Moor venue. The V8 Scania-powered Yellow Viper was the test puller, and laid down a strong 100.98m. Championship leader Thirsty Turtle - powered by a V8 Iveco engine - suffered a bounce that lifted the truck out of the track, reducing the distance pulled to 84.36m. It was enough only for second place and meant that owner Duncan Clitheroe would be 2026 champion, with Tweety and Sledge Hammer taking third and fourth spots respectively on the night.
The BTPA would like to congratulate all the 2026 British champions on their successes, and also thank all the event promoters, clubs and their crews for delivering a fantastic season of top-class competition.
Thanks go to David Laley (aka the Tractor Twitcher) and Tim Spruce for use of their images from the final round of the 2026 Mitas Agri Tires British Tractor Pulling Championship at Emley Moor, Huddersfield.
