After some disappointing
entries for recent events the Ilkley organisers were delighted to have 55
cars, plus 30 bikes for their unique event. 14 of the cars were in Class 0
but this was mainly for competition licence reason as they did the same
sections as the other cars.
It was cold and windy at the
Otley Rugby Club start and this was to continue for the rest of the day
with the added bonus of a little drizzle later in the day. However, with
the possible exception of Brimham Lodge this didn't have much impact on
the dry sections. Tyre pressure limits were specified as 12 psi for the
lower and 15 psi for the higher classes. Unfortunately these were not
checked during the event which is wrong for a championship event.
Langbar
was Narrow
The first section at Langbar
set the scene for many of the sections, a very narrow, tight route through
the markers, with penalties for touching them throughout the event. The
majority of competitors went clean apart from Class 4 where Class Winner
Sam Holmes was the only car to see the exit track, the others loosing grip
on the first tight turn.
Early
Retirements
The mornings route followed
the usual pattern but this year only Class 8 had to tackle the alternative
route at Peels Wood where Mike Chatwin dropped out of contention when he
stopped at the seven. Three cars didn't make it this far. Stuart Bartlett
and multiple MSA Car Trial Champion, Dave Oliver retired at the rough
special test at Highfield Farm. Dave broke the diff on his Peugeot 205 and
Stuart put the fan through the radiator trying to get over the hillock on
the first turn. Last year Dave Haizelden retired his Escort on the first
hill. He managed five this time before the push rod popped out of the
slave cylinder.
New
Section at Longside Wood Decides Result
There was a new section after
lunch, north of Pateley Bridge and the Gouthwaite Reservoir. Called
Longside Wood it was a long, bluebell edged, track, starting and ending
with acute hairpin bends. The bottom one caused a few problems and Charlie
Knifton was one of those who didn't succeed, letting James Shallcross into
the lead of their tight class one battle.
Nobody cleaned the section.
Robert Hodgkinson, passengered by local man John Rhodes were shown
as dropping two in their Marlin, the reality is
that they gave the section a miss when they saw the queue!
Of the clean
sheets so far Nick Farmer came dropped three in his Cannon Alfa, Simon
Woodall (VW Buggy) and Kevin Barnes (Leige) four, Dean Patington (DP Wasp)
and Duncan Stephens (Melos) five.
Kevin and
James fall foul of the Markers
Unfortunately Kevin fell foul
of some of the Ilkleys tightly spaced markers on Watergate 2 in his
supercharged Leige, but so did Duncan Stephens cementing Kevins Class 7
win.
Nick Farmer kept his clean
sheet to the end of the trial to win by two marks from Dean Partington.
Simon Woodall dropped from contention when he had a spring plate break on
his VW Buggy but still managed to limp to the finish.
The drizzle set in during the
afternoon making things unpleasant for James Shallcross as he struggled
with no less than four punctures. He should have been rewarded by a class
win but was caught out by the impossible gap between the ten marker and a
substantial tree on Swordpoint one so Charlie Knifton won Class 1.