Ten Falcon crews ventured West to the Forest of Dean for the Ross club’s end of term classic, starting from the services at the end of the M50. Apart from the MCC Falcon tied with Stroud for providing the most entries, which shows how strong we are in the trials world these days. Two of our newer devotees were running near the front of the field in class eight. James Lindsay had his type 4-powered Fugitive, while Ross Nuten bought out his ex-Geoff Margetts Dellow.
At breakfast Falcon members were anxious to glean reactions to the previous weeks March Hare. They were pretty positive and Dudley Sterry and Anthony Young seemed pleased with their awards. Shame yours truly mixed them up! I was able to give March Hare event reports to the people had taken part and was pleasantly surprised to discover how many people had already seen it on the Web. I maybe need to be a little more careful what I write in the future!
Scruitineering was a little painful if you were un-lucky enough to draw the wrong person. John Sargent was OK but the other guy was a bit excruciating, wanting to see things like Beetle batteries which is a long job as it involves removing the complete rear seat. All this was soon forgotten as the field got away under threatening sky’s, for the long run down to the first group of sections. Old Down was certainly new variation. Normally it’s the uphill exit track from Jack and Jill. This time it was a downhill observed section. You went down the hill to stop astride a line, then you had to back up to clear the line before proceeding down again. It was an interesting change and one we could consider for our own classic.
Jack lay in wait at the bottom of the steep descent from Old Down. This is a fearsome ascent through the trees without any fancy stuff like corners to complicate life. There was a deep hole a few yards from the start line and this was the end of the road for over half the entry. Ian Davis was the only Falcon to register a clean but Ross Nuten, David Thompson and Clive Booth all did well to get to the four and James Lindsay and Neil Bray weren’t far behind.
Jean was next on the agenda for classes 6,7 and 8. Nobody climbed it and Peter Fear dropped five, the only marks he was to lose all day. Ian Davis did better in his VW Buggy, getting all the way to the two to take the lead. The hill is a similar affair to Jack, but the start was on the track and there was a steep right-hander before the main part of the section, so there was no possibility to build up speed. This trapped David Thompson who under-steered straight on.
The lower classes tackled Jackson. The slope on this one was much gentler, but it was quite slippery and the ruts were very deep. It was an exciting full throttle drive, but didn’t have much affect on the results as most people cleaned it. By now the rain was falling steadily and this made the first special test quite slippery. The fast times were set by people who were able to spin turn around the bollard in the lane. The three point turners were much slower but didn’t put their bodywork at so much risk! The diff test was just up the lane. It was the normal rollers but it was far from a formality for some half dozen competitors who gave the organisers “cause for concern” and they said so in the results. However, as they were unable to carry out any further testing the let things stand at that.
Pludds followed the diff test. This is one of the Kyrle’s feature hills. Steep, straight and stony. A longer Simms without the spectators? There was plenty of grip, too much if you let the tyres down to much. Neil Bray and Matthew Sharrattt were the only class fours to clean it and from then on indulged in their own private battle for the class, leaving the rest fighting for third place. The yellow and reds had a re-start to spice things up. This defeated John Parsons, who probably had too much power and Clive Booth who probably didn’t have enough!
There was another long road section before the next group of three hills, buried deep in the forest. The rain had started to ease off but they were very, very slippery. Snompers was pretty straight forward but claimed the scalps of Ross Nuten and Murray MacDonald, Murray announcing that he was not having a good day. Tomlins Splash had alternative routes for the different classes. The blues and whites had a gentle, but rough track, the yellows and reds a steep smooth one. There were very few casualties, but one of them was quite a distinguished one, Julian Dommett failing for a four. Cockshoot had not been used on a trial for some years. The bottom was very rutted and rough. A slippery grass hairpin followed the ruts and the rest of the hill was pretty straightforward. Most of the class eight’s got up, but Ian Davis was a noticeable exception as he couldn’t get round the hairpin, dropping three and letting Peter Fear, Mick Workman and Adrian Dommett catch him and tie for a four man equal lead. The lower classes found it pretty difficult . Only two class fours got up, Michael Leete and Matthew Sharratt, and they both suffered quit bad body damage as they scraped up the side of the deep rut. Lunch was next, taken in a nearby picnic area, giving Michael a chance to see how the impact on the front wing had pushed in the double skinned panel in front of the A post.
Bluebell lay just across the road. It started with a very steep, slippery bank, surmounted by only the best of the class eight’s, plus super hero’s Julian Dommett, Adrian Marfell and Giles Greenslade. Most of the others in the lower classes dropped eleven, including Neil Bray, allowing Giles to gain the lead in class four. Adrian Tucker-Peake was marshalling on Cuddleigh Bank which was a very strange section, consisting of a long straight run up a flat muddy track before assaulting an impossibly steep bank. Waterworks was another strange section, weaving through the trees on a slippery camber, always assuming you could get up the steep bank at the start, which most couldn’t. This was probably the toughest hill of the trial, only five people cleaning it, including the incredible Julian Dommett in his side valve Dellow. Ian Davis was one of the un-lucky ones, dropping him from overall contention.
The trial was starting to draw to a close now, but not before another gem of a section, Lane End. If Pludds is a long Simms then Lane End is Darracott with teeth. It starts with a series of hairpins, leading to a straight, rutted sunken lane, all very slippery and pretty rough. Once again most of the class eight’s didn’t have to much trouble, apart from James Lindsay who couldn’t coax the long Fugitive around the hairpins at the bottom, Neil Bray got up OK but Giles Greenslade didn’t, and this allowed Neil to regain the lead in class four. Unbelievably David Haizelden climbed out the top in his Golf, making some people wonder if this machine has four wheel drive!
High Garlic lay at the top of Lane End, severely curtailed this year, emasculated as Anne Templeton used to say. This didn’t present any problems so it was on to the two Deep Dean sections to close the trial. This is the site of the famed “Robsons wall” but there was to be more entertainment this year as almost everyone had problems lower down. A few of the class eight’s cleaned it, but not Ian Davis who couldn’t get round the hairpin at Robson’s wall, dropping him back to fourth in his class. Outside of class eight there were only two cleans, the incredible Julian Dommett and David Haizelden who got up in his amazing Golf. For the rest it was a smoky end as they spun to a stop on the rocks, in full view of spectating competitors as they waited to watch before heading back to the finish at Ross on Wye.
| 1st Overall | Peter Fear | Dingo | 5 marks lost |
| Class 1 & 2 | David Haizelden | Golf Gti | 36 |
| Class 3 | Paul Bartleman | Escort | 36 |
| 2nd in Class 3 | David Heale | Escort | 38 |
| Class 4 | Neil Bray (Falcon) | Skoda | 34 |
| 2nd in Class 4 | Matthew Sharratt | Beetle | 40 |
| Class 6 | Nigel Allen | Beetle | 18 |
| Class 7 | Julian Dommett | Dellow Mk 1 | 9 |
| Class 8 | Mick Workman | GVS Mk 1 | 7 |
| 2nd in class 8 | Adrian Dommett | Ford Special s/c | 7 |
| 3rd in class 8 | Ian Davis (Falcon) | VW Buggy | 9 |
| 4th in class 8 | David Foreshew | GVS Mk II | 9 |
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
Classical Gas 