Round four: Show Time at Great Eccleston
10th Aug 2026
The fourth round of the 2026 BTPA championship tractor pulling series sponsored by Mitas took place recently at Great Eccleston - the home of Lancashire’s largest two-day Agricultural show.
Super Farm tractors kicked-off the weekend’s pulling action on day one of the show, with seven Saturday tractors taking to the track – four of which made it into the pull-off.
Continuing its dominance was class winner Chasing Dreams, driven by Jason Walton, putting just under seven metres on second place Welshman Ifan Thomas, aboard the Evil Donkey. Multiple points champion Redemption, from the Todd stable in Cumbria, took third.
The first of a double-header weekend of points came next, for the Limited Pro Stocks, and Saturday’s class opted to use the floating finish format. While this single-pull arrangement meant no pull-off, it did much to preserve tractor reliability for Sunday’s second round.
Test puller was John Pye on the Blue Donkey, making a picture perfect run to take the sledge to 126m… track officials deemed the sledge was not set, and would be made heavier. Adding weight didn’t deter Blue Donkey who came back to take a convincing first place with a solid run of 113.43m. The Webber family’s Hard Work saw its title race edge ever closer to a potential championship win with a second place finish, and a good haul of points. Third place, and a first time on the podium, went to Mustang Sally, much to the teams’ delight.
In the 3.6t Super Sport class, there was just one competitor competing, that of local tractor No I Deere, and although it struggled to get away from the start line, first place was guaranteed. It was a good opportunity for data gathering, in search of more performance.
On Sunday, numerous classes headed to the track for a solid day’s competitive action. These included Limited Super Stock, 4.5t Super Sport, Pro Stock, Super Stock, Super Sport Trucks, Modified and Light Modified.
First up came the Limited Super Stock class. A new pan-European air restrictor rule for this class has left a lot of the teams with some thinking to do, to re-tune their engine set ups. Local tractor Bad I Deere does look to have figured most of this out, achieving a superb full pull and taking the class win. The Waygood family’s 50/50 Valtra tractor struggled to fully light up and was pulled down prematurely by the sledge – but went far enough to gain second place.
The second half of the Limited Pro Stock double-header almost saw a repeat of the previous day’s performance with second and third going to Hard Work and Mustang Sally respectively, fighting off their rivals in a six-way pull off. First place however, went to 2025 points champion Blue Wicked, with Saturday’s winner Blue Donkey suffering from a failed boost pipe clamp, and the tractor temporarily vanishing from view in a cloud of smoke.
Two competitors fought for 4.5ton Super Sport points – it was a classic red v green battle, as the Parkinson family’s Oh Bonnie IH fought against the Thomas family’s Evil Deceiver JD. The Deere notched up an impressive full pull, leaving the IH coming up short with as the team works out how to get the best from its new tyre set-up.
Just Smoky was the only Super Stock tractor to make the event, and, many others, is still testing new tyres and a new turbo set up. After a flying start the run was aborted by driver David Jones after engine revs spiked mid-track and, rather than damage the tractor, the throttle was pulled back.
Super Sport trucks saw four machines take to the Eccleston track, with three of them making full pulls. Thirsty Turtle took first place ahead of Brutus Thundertruck, with Yellow Viper suffering mechanical problems in the pull off, and ending up in third place.
The modified class saw the local twin-Rolls Royce Griffon-engined Snoopy 3 pull the sledge to 101.58m with a strong run, and as the only Modified tractor, first place was guaranteed.
In the Light Modified class, there were three competitors, with current points leader Aftermath suffering damage to one engine while warming up. With only a single Chevy engine working, the under-powered tractor took third place, as The Knight, with its twin Ford V8 power rode past into second place, with Ellie Pacey onboard On The Limit taking first place with her twin Chevy V8-powered machine.
In the final class of the day, five Pro Stock tractors took to the track, with three of them making full pulls. A pair of fire-breathing Valtra dragons both suffered damage and could not get past the 100m full pull line, leaving the others to battle in a three-way pull-off.
The V8 Perkins-powered Big Boys Toy was up first in the pull off and laid down a distance of 84.18m, before Ifan Thomas drove the Evil Dragon into first place with a storming distance of 107.18m. This proved to be unbeatable, as dad Wyn Thomas struggled to get his menacing black-liveried Evil Dragonfire locked into the track. A fast-spinning single tyre sent the tractor towards the white line, as Wyn could only look on in disbelief, earning a disqualification and last place in the full off.
Next up, the 2026 BTPA championship series sponsored by Mitas returns to the Great Eccleston track on the last weekend in August for the fifth BTPA points round and the Alliance Eurocup finals. For more details, and to get tickets for round five, head over to the events page.
Great Eccleston Show - results
Points totals after Great Eccleston Show
Thanks go to Kenny Wharton and Tim’s Photos for the use of their images.
