Dry weather leading up to the trial caused the organisers to make some of the sections very tight, especially the first Swordpoint section where it was barely possible to squeeze between the ten marker and a substantial tree. Conditions certainly suited the Lieges with Kevin Barnes winning class seven on his way to third overall.
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.
| Class | Driver/Car | Marks |
| Overall | Nick Farmer (Cannon Alfa) | 3 |
| 0 | Chris Maries (Suzuki X90) | 31 |
| 1 | Charlie Knifton (Peugeot 205) | 29 |
| 2 | Bill Bennett (MG J2) | 18 |
| 3 | Nigel Hilling (Ford Anglia 1172) | 46 |
| 4 | Sam Holmes (VW Beetle) | 32 |
| 5 | Brian Alexander (Suzuki X90) | 34 |
| 7 | Kevin Barnes (Liege) | 9 |
| 8 | Dean Partington (DP Wasp) | 5 |
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